A scene from Cats the Musical. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Cats the Musical will embark on a tour to nine cities around China from October to January, ACO Musical Co Ltd, announced in Shanghai on Monday.

It has been five years since the musical's last tour in China, which took place from 2018 to 2019. ACO Musical, the Chinese live entertainment company promoted the original English production in 113 sold-out shows across the country.

Since its creation in 1981, Cats has become one of the most popular musical shows around the world. With a record of 3,358 performances, it has hit the first milestone as the longest-running musical at the New London Theatre in the UK. To date, Cats the Musical has been translated into over 20 languages and performed in more than 300 cities across over 30 countries. In London alone, it has been staged over 9,000 times.

The upcoming China tour of Cats the Musical will start from Shenzhen in Guangdong province, where the show will take place from Oct 11 to 24 at the Orange Theatre. It will go on to; Zhuhai in Guangdong province, Xi'an in Shaanxi province, Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, Zhengzhou in Henan province, Suzhou in Jiangsu province, and eventually arrive in Shanghai, and perform at the BOCOM New Bund 31 Performing Arts Center from Jan 10 to 26, 2025.

According to Peter McCarthy, associate music supervisor of Cats the Musical, the music arrangement will follow the version 10 years ago, and the Chinese tour of Cats will present to the audience the original authentic world classic version. The creative team and the live band line-up of this tour will be different, and "we look forward to the new team producing new sparks and bringing a different experience to the audience," he said at the press conference in Shanghai.

Lucy May Barker, who plays Grizabella, said that "Cats is the first musical I watched in my life. I can still vividly remember the scene when I was eight years old, watching Cats at the New London Theatre and interacting with the 'cats' in the play."