Cats: The Jellicle Ball Cast and Creatives Discuss the Tony-Nominated Revival’s Revolutionary Spirit

We’re highlighting the 2026 musical Tony nominees this week on The Broadway Show! Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek and Managing Editor Beth Stevens slipped past the velvet rope to confab with the cast and creatives of Cats: The Jellicle Ball, which has nine total nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography. The Jellicle Ball gives Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic musical a Ballroom makeover, celebrating self-expression and community. 

“Cats: The Jellicle Ball has caught fire because it is revolutionary,” opines theater legend André De Shields, who received a Tony nomination for his performance as Old Deuteronomy. "We have been taught to fear revolution, but this is the revolution that we need."

Zhailon Levingston is a first-time Tony nominee for co-directing the production with Bill Rauch. Speaking on the crossover appeal of the revival, he says, “Our tag phrase for this show is 'come one, come all.' It's about coming into a space where people take their chosen identities, elevate them to the highest level and celebrate them.”

Watch the video below to hear more from De Shields and Levingston, as well as Rauch, Tony nominated costume designer Qween Jean and choreographers Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles ahead of the ceremony on June 7:

Get tickets to Cats: The Jellicle Ball!