‘Cats’ Revival to Close at Year’s End

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The first Broadway production of “Cats” was a smash hit that ran for 18 years.

The revival, not so much.

The current production, which opened last July, will close on Dec. 30, after a respectable, but far from record-setting, 609 performances.

“Cats,” with songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on poems by T. S. Eliot, is one of the most famous 20th-century musicals — loved and loathed, mimicked and mocked. The show has a loose plot, about a group of cats, of varying personalities, who vie for the opportunity to begin life anew.

The revival is a rare joint production of the two biggest Broadway theater owners, the Shubert Organization and the Nederlander Organization. Both the revival and the original were directed by Trevor Nunn.

The revival cost as much as $11 million to capitalize, according to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sales have been middling; last week it grossed $759,699, which is 53 percent of its weekly potential, according to figures released by the Broadway League.

The producers said that a national tour would begin in Providence, R.I., in January 2019.

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