Beverley Knight Will Take on the Role of Grizabella in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats Revival

Broadway.com has learned that Queen of British Soul and Memphis' leading lady Beverley Knight will headline the previously reported return engagement of Cats in the West End! The revival, which ended its engagement at the London Palladium in April, will once again play the venue this Christmas. Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic show will run October 23 through January 2, 2016. Cats is expected back on Broadway in 2016.

Knight will play Grizabella, the role which has previously been taken on in the musical's latest life by Nicole Scherzinger then Kerry Ellis. Knight made her West End debut in The Bodyguard and received an Olivier nod for performance in Memphis; no word yet on who will be replacing her in the tuner, which is set to close on October 31. Known as the Queen of British Soul, she has sold over a million albums in the U.K., scoring several top 10 hits and four gold certified albums. Knight has released six studio albums to date and her hit singles will include “Greatest Day,” “Get Up!” and “Come as You Are.” She appeared on BBC One’s Just the Two of Us and performed at London’s 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony.

Cats, featuring a score by Lloyd Webber and lyrics by T.S. Eliot, Trevor Nunn and Richard Stilgoe, ran for 21 years in London and 18 years on Broadway. It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Based on Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, the tuner tells the story of the Jellicle cats and each cat's individual quest to be selected as the lucky one who will ascend to "the Heaviside Layer."

With direction by Nunn, Cats is designed by John Napier with choreography by Gillian Lynne.