Feline fantasy

Cats returns as part of the Broadway Comes to Reno series. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical spectacular celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Cats, based on T.S. Elliott’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, centers on the Jellicle Cats, a tribe of felines who meet once a year to celebrate their talents and special traits. During this magical night, the cats also await the arrival of their leader, Old Deuteronomy, who will choose one of the Jellicle Cats to journey to Heaviside Layer to be reborn into a new life. The show, which debuted on London’s West End in 1981, became the longest running musical in the history British theater. It was also the longest running show in Broadway history, where it ran on the Great White Way from 1982 to 2000. Cats, which features the hit song “Memory,” won numerous awards during its long run, including Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Director, the UK’s Laurence Olivier Award for Musical of the Year and other top awards in France and Canada. This weekend’s performances of Cats are sold out, but the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts will release additional seats for all the shows on Friday, March 17. Showtimes are 8 p.m. March 17-18, 7 p.m. March 19 and 2 p.m. March 18-19 at the Pioneer Theater, 100 S. Virginia St. Tickets are $35-$70. Call 686-6600.