Cats(stylizedasCATS)isamusicalcomposedbyAndrewLloydWebber,basedonOldPossum'sBookofPracticalCatsbyT.S.Eliot.Itintroducedthesongstandard"Memory".CatsfirstopenedintheWestEndin1981andthenonBroadwayin1982,eachtimedirectedbyTrevorNunnandchoreographedbyGillianLynne;itwonnumerousawards,includingboththeLaurenceOlivierAwardandtheTonyAwardforBestMusical.TheLondonproductionranfortwentyoneyearsandtheBroadwayproductionranforeighteenyears,bothsettinglong-runrecords.ActressesElainePaigeandBettyBuckleybecameparticularlyassociatedwiththemusical.Oneactress,MarleneDanielle,performedintheBroadwayproductionforitsentirerun(from1982until2000).

　　Catsisthesecondlongest-runningshowinBroadwayhistory,andthefourthlongest-runningWestEndmusical.Ithasbeenperformedaroundtheworldmanytimesandhasbeentranslatedintomorethan20languages.In1998Catswasturnedintoamade-for-televisionfilm.