When we saw “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” at PAC NYC last summer, the production didn’t work. The audience overpowered the performers – whooping, hollering, stomping on wooden risers until the vocals were buried and the show became chaos. We left disappointed despite the concept’s promise. The Broadway transfer at the Broadhurst Theatre solves every problem. We loved this production.

The difference is control. At PAC, the audience was in charge from the opening number. At the Broadhurst, the cast commands the proceedings. Dudney Joseph Jr.’s Munkustrap serves as Master of Ceremonies, gracefully leading audience responses throughout. The vocals are clear, the lyrics audible. “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats” opens the show perfectly, and the actors have the audience hooked.

The Broadhurst’s traditional proscenium provides what PAC’s modular space couldn’t: focus. The runway is shortened but effective. The cast uses the aisles successfully. The venue serves the vision rather than fighting it.

Reimagining Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” through the lens of Ballroom culture and voguing is brilliant. This production honors T.S. Eliot’s original poems and Lloyd Webber’s score while centering LGBTQ history – the Stonewall era, police raids on gay bars and balls, chosen family, aging, homelessness. When police storm the Labels category and Old Deuteronomy is wrongfully arrested, the production reminds us how the Ballroom community (indeed, all LGBTQ people) faced systematic harassment and violence.

“Temptress” Chastity Moore’s Grizabella is outstanding. Her “Memory” stops the show, her vocal range epic. Her ascent to the Heaviside Layer – rising off the stage as city traffic sounds and birds chirping grow louder – lands with devastating ambiguity. André De Shields brings gravitas to Old Deuteronomy, Sydney James Harcourt is sensual and often unclothed as Rum Tum Tugger, and Leiomy’s Macavity commands the stage.

The choreography by Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons is very good, though some voguing movements could be more precise. Performances are uniformly excellent, each actor giving their character unique personality. Rachel Hauck’s scenic design works at the Broadhurst. Qween Jean’s costume design honors both the “cats” theme (though sans ears and tails). Adam Honoré’s lighting and Kai Harada’s sound both add dimension to the production.

In Scene 20, Old Deuteronomy reads directly from Eliot’s “The Ad-Dressing of Cats” – a fine tribute reminding us this reimagining exists because of Eliot’s imagination and Lloyd Webber’s willingness to let creative teams reinvent his work. The original “Cats” ran 18 years on Broadway (7,485 performances). Critics mocked actors dressed as cats, but Eliot’s poems were about cats. This production proves the material can hold radically different visions. This is the reimagining Lloyd Webber hoped for when he granted creative freedom. We’re grateful the Broadway transfer gave us the chance to see it work.