Picture: Mark Senior
The full cast has been confirmed for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, running from 25 July to 12 September 2026 before touring.
Produced by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre with Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals, the production will be directed and choreographed by the Open Air Theatre’s artistic director Drew McOnie.
The cast will include Fin Adams (Cats, European tour, A Chorus Line, Curve/Sadler’s Wells/national tour) as Alonzo, Carla Bertran (Bat Out of Hell, UK tour, The Cher Show, UK tour) as Electra/co-dance captain, Elliot Broadfoot (Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder, Ambassadors Theatre, Once On This Island, Theatre Royal Drury Lane) as Bustopher Jones, Grace Burrows (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Kilworth House Theatre, Witches of Eastwick, Laine Theatre Arts) as offstage swing, Matthew Caputo (On the Town, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, White Christmas, Dominion Theatre) as Skimbleshanks, Josie Chambers-Sims (professional debut) as Syllabub (Jemima), Briana Craig (42nd Street, national tour/Sadler’s Wells/Toronto, The Artist, Theatre Royal Plymouth) as Rumpleteazer, Katie Dunsden (Moulin Rouge!, Piccadilly Theatre, Grease, Dominion Theatre) as Bombalurina, Joshua-Samuel Freeman (Sleeping Beauty/Little Wolf, Royal Tunbridge Wells) as Tumblebrutus (Bill Bailey), Regan Garcia (Mary Poppins, UK tour, Matilda The Musical, Cambridge Theatre) as Pouncival (Carbuckety), Aaron Jenkins (Chicago, UK and Ireland tour, Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre) as offstage swing, Hannah Joseph (Dream Ballets: A Triple Bill, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) as Victoria, Taziva-Faye Katsande (Bugsy Malone, UK tour, Matilda The Musical, Cambridge Theatre) as Tantomile, Melanie La Barrie (The Lorax, The Old Vic, Hadestown, Lyric Theatre) as Old Deuteronomy, Diante Lodge (MJ The Musical, Prince Edward Theatre, Matilda The Musical, Cambridge Theatre) as Macavity/Admetus, Owen McHugh (Brigadoon, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Doctor Doolittle The Musical, UK tour) as George, Danny Nattrass (Brigadoon, Regent’s Park, Open Air Theatre, Elf, Aldwych Theatre) as Mungojerrie, Millie O’Connell (SIX: The Musical, UK tour/Arts Theatre, Thoroughly Modern Millie, UK tour) as Demeter, Andrew Parfitt (Disney’s The Lion King, Lyceum Theatre) as Coricopat, Charlotte Riby (Jesus Christ Superstar/Carousel, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) as Jennyanydots (Gumbie Cat), Nathan Rigg (A Chorus Line, Curve/Japan tour, Guys & Dolls, Bridge Theatre) as offstage swing, Lucie-Mae Sumner (Mary Poppins, UK tour, Singin’ in the Rain, Kilworth House Theatre) as Jellylorum (Griddlebone), Jaydon Vijn (Starlight Express, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, The Sound of Music, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) as Rum Tum Tugger, Jack Wilcox (Little Dancer, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Singin’ in the Rain, Kilworth House Theatre) as Munkustrap, Gary Wilmot (HMS Pinafore, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, The Wizard of Oz, London Palladium/national tour) as Gus, Rachael Wooding (Military Wives, York Theatre Royal, Pretty Woman, Savoy Theatre) as Grizabella, Jet Yau (Gerry and Sewell, Aldwych Theatre) as Mr Mistoffelees/Quaxo, Taela Yeomans-Brown (Robin Hood, Birmingham Hippodrome, Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre) as offstage swing/co-dance captain and Patricia Zhou (The Nutcracker, Southbank Centre, Dr Semmelweis, Harold Pinter Theatre) as Cassandra.
Announcing the cast, director and choreographer McOnie said: “I’m so excited to welcome this astonishing group of performers to Regent’s Park. Cats has always celebrated the unique talents of its performers, and I can’t wait for our audiences to experience this company’s brilliance in this brand-new production. Each of these cast members will play their own special part in creating animalistic harmony under the Jellicle Moon. It’s going to be quite an adventure and we look forward to welcoming you to join us.”
The creative team for the production also includes associate lighting designer Lucy Adams, resident director and choreographer Josh Baker, associate set designer Tim Blazdell, casting director Will Burton, make-up designer and supervisor Guy Common, associate sound designer Ollie Durrant, set, costume and wigs designer Sami Fendall, sound designer Adam Fisher, lighting designer Jessica Hung Han Yun, intimacy director Ingrid Mackinnon, fight director Kev McCurdy, voice coach Fiona McDougal, associate choreographer Ebony Molina, associate wigs and hair designer and supervisor Georgia Nosal, musical director Geraint Owen and musical supervisor Alex Parker.
The tour will open at the Theatre Royal Plymouth from 6-17 October before visiting Hull New Theatre (20-24 October), Birmingham Hippodrome (27 October-7 November), Manchester Palace Theatre (10-21 November), Bristol Hippodrome (24-8 November), Llandudno Venue Cymru (1-5 December) and Glasgow Theatre Royal (8-27 December).
In 2027 the tour will head for Nottingham Royal Concert Hall (6-16 January), Canterbury’s Marlowe Theatre (19-23 January), Sunderland’s Empire Theatre (26-30 January), His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen (9-13 February), Norwich Theatre Royal (16-27 February), Belfast Grand Opera House (2-13 March), Oxford New Theatre (23-27 March), Southampton Mayflower Theatre (30 March-10 April), Edinburgh Playhouse (20-24 April), Bradford Alhambra Theatre (27 April-1 May), Liverpool Empire Theatre (5-15 May), Woking New Victoria Theatre (18-22 May), Wales Millennium Centre Cardiff (25-29 May), Milton Keynes Theatre (1-5 June) and Newcastle Theatre Royal (8-19 June).
Based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot, Lloyd Webber’s much-loved musical premiered at the New London Theatre in 1981 where it played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances. The ground-breaking production was the winner of the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. The 1983 Broadway production won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical and ran for 18 years.
One of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, Cats has been presented in over 54 countries, translated into 23 languages and has been seen by more than 77 million people worldwide.
Angela Thomas
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