Building a Broadway Show: Inside Day One of Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Like I said I would, I want to show you what it’s really like to build a Broadway show. Not the opening night photos, the red carpet, or the reviews. I’m talking about the early days. The first speeches. The moment when everyone realizes what they’ve actually signed up for.On the first day of Cats: The Jellicle Ball at New 42 Studios, we had our official meet and greet. The cast, creative team, and producers all came together for the first time. The energy was high. It was great to see many of the same cast and band members from our time at the Perelman Arts Center near the World Trade Center. There was a sense of history, but also a feeling that something bigger was about to happen.During the meet-and-greet, Matthew Harrison stood up and read a letter he had written to Andrew Lloyd Webber. Matthew is part of Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals, the producing team of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Michael Harrison. He’s spent his whole life around big productions. He’s not someone who gets impressed easily.Then he said something that made everyone pause and pay attention.“In nearly 40 years of theatre going, I have never experienced a reaction from an audience like it.”He talked about sitting in the audience and watching the people around him. There was a 19-year-old nearby, two men in their 50s, a straight couple on a date, a couple in their 60s with their 20-year-old son, and a group of young women who see every Broadway show. People of different ages and backgrounds, but everyone reacted the same way.People were pointing at the stage, crying, then cheering. They sang “Jellicle Cats” as if it were their own anthem. Some got out of their seats because they couldn’t contain themselves. He counted five standing ovations during the show. Not just at the end, but throughout.He also admitted that he used to roll his eyes when people called the theater a religious experience. He never believed that before. But that night, he understood it.This wasn’t just marketing. He was trying to describe something that truly surprised him.I felt something similar the night I took a night off from playing the show downtown and watched it from the audience. I thought it was fantastic. Seriously. I was cheering like everyone else in the audience, and I was part of the rehearsal process before. But seeing it in full bloom was really special. I never liked the original Cats, but this version makes sense.Matthew put it simply. This isn’t just a revival. It’s a reinvention. It feels new, like Cats is the most relevant musical in New York right now.If you want to work on Broadway, you need to understand this part of the process. Big moments don’t just happen. They start with conviction in a rehearsal studio, long before critics arrive. They begin with producers willing to take risks and artists giving their all before anyone knows how the show will turn out.Sitting there on day one and hearing those words, I felt the weight of it all. It was motivating and grounding. Once the speeches are over, the real work starts: long days, lots of details, adjustments, repetition, and precision.That was just the beginning of week one. We’re in week two now. There’s downtime. There are short sections repeated ad nauseam. It’s fascinating to watch something take shape in real time.Next, I’ll write about the piano vocal book you get on the first day of a Broadway show, especially when there isn’t a drum score yet, and what that means for you as a working musician.If you’re interested in how Broadway shows are really built, keep following. Share this with anyone who wants to learn about the process. And if you want everything explained step by step, that’s why I wrote Broadway Bound and Beyond.You can get it from signaturebrandworks.com or from any other place you buy books online.Clayton Craddock is the drummer for the upcoming Broadway musical Cats: The Jellicle Ball, opening at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 7th. He is also the founder of Broadway Drumming 101 and the author of the forthcoming book Broadway Bound and Beyond: A Musician’s Guide to Building a Theater Career.His Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include tick, tick…BOOM!, Memphis, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Ain’t Too Proud, and The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, along with extensive subbing on shows such as Rent, Motown, Evita, Avenue Q, and the Hadestown tour.Clayton has appeared on The View, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and the TONY Awards, and has performed with artists ranging from Chuck Berry and Ben E. King to Kristin Chenoweth and Norm Lewis.www.claytoncraddock.com Get full access to Broadway Drumming 101 at broadwaydrumming101.substack.com/subscribe