Broadway just got a glow-up at the Broadhurst Theatre. According to Rolling Stone, comedian Michelle Buteau and drag legend Miss Peppermint judge Cats: The Jellicle Ball, a revival that replaces the junkyard cats with New York's queer ballroom scene.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats has spent decades presenting a plot about felines competing to be reborn in "cat heaven." This reimagining trades human-cat hybrid costumes and meowing choreography for ballroom culture—voguing, runway realness, and judges scoring every moment.
Buteau arrived in a puffy chartreuse dress, adjusting it while prepping at Sardi's upper dining room before the show. "I feel like I'm serving light-skinned realness at a Nigerian wedding," she deadpanned to Peppermint.
Modern ballroom was born in 1970s New York when drag queens, trans women, and queer activists created spaces of community and mentorship—havens when being openly queer was dangerous. Cats: The Jellicle Ball honors that legacy while celebrating the creators who shaped the culture but were never recognized in their own lifetimes.
Eight shows a week, Buteau and Peppermint judge with scorecards in hand on one of the world's biggest stages.
