Todd McKenney and Des Flanagan described the 40th-anniversary Australian tour of CATS as a fast-moving, nostalgic escape, with McKenney returning to Perth to perform at Crown Theatre. The Perth engagement ran through December 6, 2025, and has ended; this account does not establish any current Perth dates or ticket availability.
What CATS is about
Based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical follows a tribe of Jellicle cats gathering for the Jellicle Ball. Their leader, Old Deuteronomy, makes the Jellicle choice: one cat will be selected to travel to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn. The score includes “Memory,” one of the show’s best-known songs.
CATS opened in London in 1981, according to PerthNow’s November 12, 2025, interview feature about the tour.
Who performed in the Perth engagement
McKenney played both Bustopher Jones and Asparagus the Theatre Cat. He told PerthNow he had also performed in the original Melbourne season 38 years before the 2025 interview. Flanagan played Rum Tum Tugger. The other cast members named in the report were Gabriyel Thomas, Mark Vincent, Lucy Maunder, Jarrod Draper and Leigh Archer.
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Why McKenney’s return to Perth felt personal
McKenney said he spent the first 20 years of his life in Perth. Returning to perform in front of family and friends, he said, “felt comfy and nostalgic coming home.” He also described revisiting childhood places, including Kings Park, Scarborough and Mandurah.
What the performers said audiences could expect
A brisk ensemble show
McKenney said the musical moves quickly and is best approached as an ensemble piece rather than a story that requires viewers to follow one continuous character-by-character plot. “It’s a true ensemble piece. But the great thing is, it keeps moving at a really cracking pace,” he said.
Escapism rather than realism
Flanagan framed the show as a theatrical escape: “It’s so iconic because it’s unlike any other music theatre show because it’s pure escapism, you are just watching cats on stage and there’s something for everyone to resonate with.” These are the performers’ descriptions of the experience, not independent critical assessments.
McKenney’s account of the makeup routine
McKenney said applying the makeup for his older character initially took about 45 minutes, but he had reduced his own routine to 15 minutes by the time of the Perth interview. He recalled that the early result looked like a “scientific experiment.” Those timings describe his personal experience, not a general production or makeup benchmark.
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Flanagan praised the venue and its audiences: “Sounds like I’m blowing smoke, but this is one of my favourite spaces in Australia to perform, particularly because of the audiences,” he said.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Perth dates and source
PerthNow reported on November 12, 2025, that the Crown Theatre engagement was scheduled to run through December 6, 2025. That run is now past. The interview is a report about the performers and their experience; it does not confirm current touring plans, future Perth dates or ticket availability.
For the article’s reported details and quotations, see PerthNow’s interview.
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