It’s giving award-winning partnership!

Tony-winner Cynthia Erivo and Emmy-winner Lena Waithe have signed on as producers for the Broadway transfer of “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” the ballroom-inspired reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. The news was reported across trade and theater outlets as the show prepares to begin previews at the Broadhurst Theatre before an April opening. 

Erivo offered a statement praising the production’s impact and the experience of seeing the piece live: “I am so proud to be joining this production as a producer alongside wonderful creatives such as Lena Waithe. ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’ astounded me and truly was a theater experience unlike any other I have had, so to have the opportunity to support it in its next iteration is an honor. I’m so excited for audiences to have a chance to experience its magic, for the first time or once, twice, three times again.” 

Waithe—who said she first encountered the show after Erivo introduced it to her—added, “I can always trust her taste, so I flew out to see it and was changed. I wasn’t the same person when I walked out of the theater. … Cats needed Ball culture in order for it to finally make sense. And now that I’ve been changed—I want everyone to have the same experience we did.” 

The Broadway staging transports the Off-Broadway Jellicle Ball concept to a larger house, keeping its ballroom, voguing, and runway sensibility at the center of a reimagined show. Directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch with choreography by Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, the production features a mix of theater actors and ballroom performers and will bring Tony winner André De Shields back as Old Deuteronomy, among other returning cast members. Previews are scheduled to begin March 18 with an opening night set for April 7 at the Broadhurst Theatre. 

Erivo and Waithe’s attachments are a testament of how producers with deep ties to Black creative communities are shaping major Broadway transfers. Both creators bring reputations for centering Black voices and for moving fluidly across stage, screen, and production roles—credentials the creative team says align with the revival’s commitment to honoring ballroom culture and recontextualizing the material for today’s audiences. 

The producers’ involvement also raises the show’s profile heading into a critical Broadway run where cultural authenticity and representation are a central part of the play’s conversation.