Dame Judi Dench has become the latest star to be added to the cast of Tom Hooper’s upcoming Cats film. It has been reported that Dench will play the ancient cat, Deuteronomy – a role that has typically been played by a man in the West End /Broadway productions.
Dench is joined by other A-Listers, including Idris Elba, Sir Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift and James Cordon for the adaptation. The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical version is one of the longest and most iconic shows to have run on Broadway and the West End, premiering at the New London Theatre in 1981. Cats is based on T.S.Eliot’s ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’.
Dench was originally set to play Grizabella in the original West End production of Cats but withdrew after snapping her Achilles’ tendon.
Cats is due for release next year, although an exact date has not yet been announced.
Click on the link below to watch the trailer for the West End version of Cats:
