Andrew Lloyd Webber will give a live commentary on a streamed performance of CATS this evening, in memory of his “beloved” cat Mika, who died this week.
The composer announced the tragic news to fans during a video posted to Twitter. In a visibly emotional address, he said: “It’s a rather sad day for me because my absolutely beloved Mika van cat — everybody who knows me knows how close Mika was to me — she was killed on the road this morning.”
Lloyd Webber added there are “an awful lot of secrets I kind of feel I want to really let out of the bag, if you see what I mean — forgive the pun”.
The 72-year-old also shared a letter from Valerie Eliot, wife of TS Eliot, who wrote a letter to say “how pleased she was with CATS”.
The 1999 production of CATS is the latest footage to feature in Lloyd Webber’s The Shows Must Go On series, and will be available to watch on YouTube for 48 hours from 7pm, Friday May 15.
Elaine Paige and Sir John Mills star in the production, which ran for 21 years on London’s West End.
