London's 'Cats' loses ninth life

"Cats" will go out on a high in London on its 21st anniversary

By CNN's Graham Jones

LONDON, England (CNN) -- London's longest-running musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats," is to close in May after 21 years and 9,000 performances.

The closure follows hot on the heels of the closure of another Lloyd Webber show in London, "Starlight Express," last weekend after being staged 7,406 times.

"Cats" will close on May 11 -- its 21st anniversary.

The closure is being linked to a slump in London theatre attendances with overseas tourists stay away due to foot-and-mouth fears and worries about flying since September 11.

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A spokesman for "Cats" told the UK Press Association: "They wanted it to go out on a high on its 21st birthday."

Adapted from T.S. Eliot's whimsical verses in "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," the London production has taken $197 million at the box office and been seen by more than 8 million people.

The show has been performed in more than 300 cities in 26 countries to a worldwide audience of 50 million. The Broadway production ran for almost two decades before it closed in September 2000.

The show, conceived and composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, opened at the New London Theatre on 11 May 1981 with a cast including Elaine Paige, Brian Blessed, Paul Nicholas, Wayne Sleep, Sarah Brightman and Bonnie Langford.

The performance was interrupted by a bomb scare and the theatre had to be evacuated.

In the industry "Cats" was seen as the show that redefined the modern musical and proved that British productions could match the pzazz of song and dance productions on Broadway.

The stunning costumes have thrilled eight million West End theatregoers

The show's best-known number, "Memory," was a UK Top 10 hit and has been played more than two million times on U.S. radio stations.

The song has been recorded by a variety of over 150 artists ranging from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis to Liberace. Barry Manilow's rendition was a top-40 hit in the United States.

But London theatres have been hit by a fall in the number of tourists, especially from North America, since the September 11 terrorist attacks.

High profile threatrical casualties have included "The Beautiful Game" -- Lloyd Webber's collaboration with Ben Elton which was set against the troubles of Northern Ireland -- which was pulled last year, and Notre Dame De Paris.

"Cats" is the second highest grossing musical of all time, behind "The Phantom Of The Opera." It became the longest running musical in the West End back in 1989, overtaking Jesus Christ Superstar when it hit its 3,358th performance.

The world's longest-running musical, the off-Broadway stalwart "The Fantasticks," closed in New York on Sunday after almost 42 years and 17,162 performances.

New York's version of "Cats," Broadway's long-run champ, notched only 7,485 performances by the time it closed in September 2000.