Cats Musical to Feature Rapping Cat

The hit musical Cats will return to London's West End this summer with a different twist…. A rapping feline called Rum Tum Tugger.

The character would become a street cat in the show. Speaking at a launch event in London, Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber said he has wanted to "rework" a couple of poems, including Rum Tum Tugger for many years, and the show deserves a second run.

"Well it's a joy and all of us want to just re-examine it, and one of the things about cats is that we start with some of the best verse you could ever have. What TS Eliot wrote still is as fresh as anything. It was a show that changed my life it changed all our lives and I kind of just think it should have a second one."

Cats, which has not been seen in London for 14 years, is based on TS Eliots's Old Possum's Book of Practical cats.

As well as adding Rum Tum Tugger, Webber has also "completely rewritten" the song Growltiger's last stand because "it was never his favorite moment of the show."

The original show's director Sir Trevor Nunn said there's a whole new generation of kids who haven't seen or discovered Cats yet.

The musical has been seen by more than 50 million people in more than 30 countries since it premiered in 1981. Running for 21 years in London and 18 years on Broadway.