I never understood the Andrew Lloyd Webber hate

I never understood the sneering and downright opprobrium that was so often directed at the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber by theatre lovers keen to display a wearisome sense of superiority. The juggernaut international popularity of his myriad shows increasingly irked those who like to keep their interests elite – if the common folk enjoy something, it’s time to move on – and this trend was at its height when I started as a professional theatre critic 25 years ago. Yet, as a glorious new production of Cats stretches its mighty paws at the Open Air Theatre, even the naysayers will have to admit it: Andrew Lloyd Webber is cool again. Drew McOnie, who directs and choreographs the hell out of this production, is of course not single-handedly responsible for the shift in ALW’s fortunes. He is simply the latest in a line of respected directors who have looked again at the music man’s oeuvre and remounted it in fresh and often startling ways. Tim Sheader’s commanding, Sam Ryder-starring version of Jesus Christ Superstar is currently powering away at the London Palladium (Sheader’s version was first presented at the Open Air Theatre in 2016), whereas last summer at the Palladium saw Rachel Zegler starring in Evita for uber-cool director Jamie Lloyd. Lloyd was also behind the startling 2023 revival of Sunset Boulevard, featuring an ethereal, black-clad Nicole Scherzinger. ‘Cats’ is infinitely better in the theatre than onscreen (Photo: Mark Senior/Jo Allan PR) Critics, me included, went wild for these productions, above all Evita, which generated acres of publicity by having Zegler sing the showstopper number “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”, from an open balcony overlooking Argyll Street. Unsurprisingly, given the production’s popularity, Zegler will take up residency on a balcony on Broadway early next year. The recent success of the aforementioned shows meant that Lloyd Webber’s work was being discussed with a fresh urgency and uneasy memories of more recent flops such as Stephen Ward could (thankfully) be banished. Talking of banishment, you can forget all about the disastrous 2019 film of Cats. That crucial suspension of disbelief, of humans faking felines, is infinitely easier in the theatre, a far more metaphorical realm than the stubbornly realist cinema. Unitards, a piece of costuming long lost to the London stage, are back, as are swishing tails, as the sinuous ensemble of Jellicle Cats sing us their individual, character-packed songs. The source material is T.S. Eliot’s infinitely lovable poetry collection Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and the phenomenal energy of McOnie’s production drives us straight through the roadblock of the piece having precious little narrative through-line. Lloyd Webber has an ability to craft songs you never forget (Photo: Mark Senior/Jo Allan PR) These magical, musical moggies lounge languidly over the large metal crescent-shaped structure that forms the backdrop and Sami Fendall’s design presents a beautiful globe of a moon slowly rising above the stage as the night draws in atmospherically around us in Regent’s Park. As the evening progresses and Gus the Theatre Cat (a lovable Gary Wilmot) regales us with stories of the seven appreciative “cat calls” he once received from an audience (as well as, like any old pro, lamenting the inadequate training of today’s “theatre kittens”), a haunting undertow of melancholy pervades this undeniably strange piece about a ramshackle netherworld community. The show – and we – are gearing up for the all-out plangency of blistering mega-hit “Memory”, performed by elderly puss Grizabella (a barnstorming performance from understudy Taziva-Faye Katsande on opening night). You see, that’s another thing that has bizarrely always irked some when it comes to Lloyd Webber: his downright tunefulness and ability to craft a song that you will never forget, even should you want to (a long-ago primary school foray into Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat means that I still, astonishingly, remember every word of every single number). There’s “The Music of the Night” from The Phantom of the Opera, “Any Dream Will Do” from Joseph, “Love Changes Everything” in the oddly under-appreciated Aspects of Love and, of course, “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” from Evita, my personal favourite work from the ALW canon. Let the naysayers mumble away in corners if they will; their voices will be ever more muted now that Andrew Lloyd Webber is back in fashion. ‘Cats’ is playing at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre until 19 September (openairtheatre.com)