As one of the stars of Broadway’s “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” Leiomy hopes to offer theatergoers a crash course in a time-tested art form that’s steeped in decades’ worth of LGBTQ+ history and joy.
“It’s very important for the world to see that there are spaces that are ready to uplift us and celebrate us, especially at a time when they’re trying to erase trans people and our cultures and our history,” she told HuffPost. “It makes me sad, having to constantly remind people that we’re humans. We just want to have a space in this world like everyone else, and we deserve that.”
Known globally as the “Wonder Woman of Vogue” and a judge on HBO Max’s “Legendary,” Leiomy is making her Broadway debut in “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” a must-see revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1982 musical “Cats” that reimagines its feline characters as voguing contestants in a series of queer ballroom competitions.
She portrays Macavity, known originally as “the mystery cat” but seen here as a scene-stealing fashionista, alongside a host of co-stars that includes Tony winner André De Shields and ballroom icon Junior Labeija.
“She’s a crafty diva who steals for her houses, but she actually cares for her community,” she said of her character. “And she’s funny!”
“Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” which opened at New York’s Broadhurst Theatre in April, is one of the year’s biggest hits and is nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Direction of a Musical for co-directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch.
Levingston, whose Broadway credits include “Chicken & Biscuits,” has been a fan of “Cats” ― which Webber adapted from T.S. Eliot’s 1939 book “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” — since childhood.
Although the original “Cats” was one of Broadway’s longest-running shows, its reputation among theatergoers has become checkered over time. Still, Levingston became determined “to reengage with the child inside of me, who watched it every day on VHS for two years” by reviving the show in a way that felt contemporary.
“When you take the ears and the tails away, you’re dealing with humans and the messiness of our own stories,” he said. “I wanted to do something that allowed me to engage with what I believe is the most important political tool we have, which is the broadening of our imaginations.”
He went on to note: “There are people who hate ‘Cats,’ and there are people who are obsessed with ‘Cats,’ and somehow, when they see ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball,’ they meet at the center of a Venn diagram in an interesting way. And in that way, we’re bridging greater divides than Democrats and Republicans.”
As a transgender woman who is Afro-Puerto Rican, Leiomy is particularly heartened by the wide acclaim “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” has received. “Even though my body is beat up, my heart is full,” she quipped.
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Still, she empathizes with “Tempress” Chastity Moore, a fellow trans performer whose absence from this year’s list of Tony nominees has been characterized by numerous entertainment outlets as a snub. As Grizabella, Moore follows in the footsteps of theater legends Betty Buckley and Elaine Paige by delivering a sterling rendition of the musical’s signature song, “Memory.”
“She knows what she has brought to this, and I’m sure she’s not going to let this shake her down,” she said. “Something they need to work on … is celebrating the girls. We’re being celebrated to an extent, [but] I feel like we’re not being uplifted how we should be. A lot of times we’re used to taking things to the next level, but we’re not given those flowers.”
Interestingly, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” arrives amid a resurgence of interest in Webber’s work. Last year, Nicole Scherzinger won a Tony for her portrayal of Norma Desmond in a revival of “Sunset Boulevard,” directed by Jamie Lloyd. In spring of next year, Lloyd will bring his production of “Evita,” starring Rachel Zegler as Argentine first lady Eva Perón, to Broadway after a successful London run.
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“You can listen to a Webber show, and it immediately takes you back to a time in history and pop culture,” Levingston said. “As a generation trying to unpack all of this complicated history to understand where we are now, it makes sense that different artists are drawn to his shows as a conduit to try and do that — at least that’s what it feels like.”
Though she’s committed to “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” for the foreseeable future, Leiomy would like to parlay the musical’s success into a stint in action films, as well as a one-woman, cabaret-style show. “I see myself as a chameleon,” she said. “Anything that’s thrown my way … I will make the best of the best.”
Levingston, meanwhile, is gearing up to direct a production of the rock musical “Passing Strange” in Los Angeles this fall.
“Everything I make is going to have a queer lens to it, because I’m a queer person in the world and there is a kind of queer politic in everything I make,” he said. “Sometimes that’ll be in revivals, sometimes in new works. I just want to continue to trust that without being didactic about it. That’s a bit more of a rigorous and dangerous assignment, but that’s the trajectory I’d rather be on.”
