Odds & Ends: Kerry Ellis to Star in Taipei Run of Cats and More

Here's a quick roundup of stories you might have missed recently.

Kerry Ellis to Take the Stage in Taipei's Cats
Broadway.com Audience Choice Award winner Kerry Ellis will let the memory live again. The Broadway and West End fave is set to reprise her performance as Grizabella in the Taipei return of Cats in June. The tour, which will then play in Kaohsiung and Taichung as part of the musical's 40th anniversary, opened in Seoul last September amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The show followed in the footsteps of The Phantom of the Opera, which also ran in South Korea from March to September 2020. As previously reported, the new documentary The Show Must Go On will cover these productions. Ellis previously played Grizabella in 2015's London Palladium revival of Cats. The show begins performances at the Taipei Arena on June 16 prior to runs at the Kaohsiung National Theatre Opera House (June 24–27) and Taichung Chung-shan Hall (July 8–11).

Taylor Mac's Joy and Pandemic Set for San Francisco
Taylor Mac, whose Broadway debut work Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus garnered a 2019 Tony nomination for Best Play, has another production coming down the pike. The New York Times reports that Joy and Pandemic is slated to be performed at San Francisco's Magic Theater in the fall. Set in a children's art school in Philadelphia during the influenza pandemic of 1918, Joy and Pandemic, which was commissioned for the Magic Theater, has been developed over Zoom between Mac and director Loretta Greco during this last year. Mac will not perform in Joy and Pandemic but will take the stage in The Hang, another world premiere play scheduled to run at New York City's Here Arts Center in January 2022.

Interactive Timeline Marks the Walter Kerr Theatre Centennial
This year marks the Walter Kerr Theatre's 100th anniversary! To celebrate, Jujamcyn Theaters has released an interactive timeline, which serves as a definitive history of the theatrical venue. The timeline features a curated collection of old production photos, sheet music, press clippings and more. Audiences are invited to join the centennial celebration by sending in memories either as short videos (under three minutes), photos and/or short written statements to walterkerrtimeline@jujamcyn.com.