Ayo, CATS: The Jellicle Ball is not playing around. The Broadway production pulled up to Tony Awards season with nine nominations, and it earned every single one.
Producer Lena Waithe announced the news on Instagram with a caption that felt exactly right: “9 lives, 9 nominations. We are officially nominees for the Tony Awards!” She called it “a testament to vision, craft, and the undeniable electricity of live performance.” Hard to argue.
The headline nomination is Best Revival of a Musical. That’s the crown, and CATS: The Jellicle Ball is firmly in the conversation for it. This isn’t the CATS from the West End run, or the 2019 movie. You know the one. Directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch rebuilt it from scratch as a full-on live spectacle. The Tony voters noticed. Both directors earned a Best Direction of a Musical nomination.
Levingston has been building his reputation in the theater world for a few years now. A Tony nomination for directing a major revival is the kind of career moment that matters. Rauch brings veteran weight to the pairing. Together, they navigated a production carrying enormous expectations. CATS is one of the most recognizable shows in Broadway history. Reimagining it is a risk. Pulling it off the way this team did is something else entirely.
The choreography nomination is another one worth celebrating. Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons earned the nod for Best Choreography. Check the footage. You’ll understand why. The movement in this show isn’t decoration. It holds the whole production together.
Then there’s André De Shields. The Broadway legend earned a Best Featured Actor in a Musical nomination. De Shields won a Tony back in 2019 for his performance in Hadestown, and he’s been a force in theater since the 1970s. Putting him in this cast was already a statement. Getting him nominated is confirmation.
The design sweep is where things get truly impressive. Rachel Hauck earned a Best Scenic Design nomination. Qween Jean has been a standout in costume and fashion circles for years. She picked up a Best Costume Design nod here. Adam Honoré got recognized for Best Lighting Design, and Kai Harada’s work landed a Best Sound Design nomination. The Orchestrations nomination rounded things out. It went to Andrew Lloyd Webber alongside David Wilson, Trevor Holder, and Doug Schadt.
Nine nominations. Nine departments. That’s a full sweep.
CATS: The Jellicle Ball built its identity around something bold. The production draws on Afro-diasporic ball culture and vogue performance as its foundation. It could have felt like a stunt. It didn’t. Tony voters are treating it like the real thing it is.
Waithe made sure to acknowledge everyone involved. “To the entire company: this is your triumph,” she wrote on Instagram. That’s the right call. A haul like this doesn’t happen by accident. Every department has to deliver.
The Tony Awards ceremony is still to come, and CATS: The Jellicle Ball is entering it as a serious contender. Best Revival of a Musical is the prize. Nine nominations make the argument for it.
Waithe had one more message in her post: “Strut to your seat and secure your tickets!”
That’s the energy. Go see it now. A Tony win is going to make tickets a lot harder to find.
