Drew McOnie skipped school to audition for the original. It launched his astonishing career. Now he\u2019s getting his claws into a no-pussyfooting version of the classic hit<\/p>\n
At the age of 17, Drew McOnie was so determined to be in the musical Cats that he snuck out of school to audition. Four days later, he was on a flight to Germany to join the international production. (Luckily, he was at a performing arts school and they forgave him.) It was a life-changing moment: at that point, McOnie\u2019s stellar career as a dancer, Olivier award-winning choreographer and director began \u2013 and, 23 years later, it\u2019s all about to come full circle. McOnie has created his own version of the musical he\u2019s been obsessed with since childhood.<\/p>\n
For any dancer growing up in the 1980s and 90s, Cats was the<\/em> musical: dance wasn\u2019t just an accompaniment, but instrumental to the show. Gillian Lynne\u2019s original choreography is iconic \u2013 much copied by local dance schools and student shows of the era. Lynne was a force of nature, still doing the splits at 88, four years before she died in 2018. For McOnie, artistic director at Regent\u2019s Park Open Air theatre and famed for his blazing choreography in Jesus Christ Superstar, it takes some nerve to remake it.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/7063d12122567b5b2e971421bb4ade981a74dc40\/990_0_6458_5169\/master\/6458.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=9e2edc96d9998484b5ee38baa6510b02\" "\\"\u2018Never")
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