To say that I found this clever, fun-filled queering of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s idiosyncratic 1982 musical at times confusing and even annoying is only to say that it’s still “Cats” — much-loved by some, much-loathed by others,  an all-but-plotless, cloying, clobbering adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s whimsical doggerel.

But audiences seem entranced by “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,”  judging from the loud cheering that greeted each of the characters on the night I attended this final production in the inaugural season of the Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center site.  And in their novel conception, co-directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch (artistic director of PAC NYC) also give us something new to think about.

The concept is clear enough: Rather than set among cats in a junkyard, this “Cats” is reimagined among LGBT people of color on a runway in a makeshift ballroom. Rather than just decide which of them will ascend to the Heaviside Layer (which they still do), the characters engage in a vogueing competition, rooted in the tradition of Harlem drag balls – a once-underground subculture that was chronicled in Jennie Livingston’s 1990 documentary “Paris Is Burning,” mainstreamed that same year by Madonna in her hit “Vogue,” and popularized for a new generation by the FX series “Pose,” starring Billy Porter and Mj Rodriguez, which ran for three seasons ending in 2021.  (No coincidence that a huge rainbow fan with the word “Pose” on it is for sale in the lobby.)

Much care has been taken in the grafting of the queer onto the weird. There is an official ballroom consultant and also a gender consultant. Both the cast and the creative team feature  participants in ballroom competitions. The music is arranged to sound like house music. And, perhaps most central to the transformation, choreographers Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles inject this dance-heavy show with ballroom’s exciting movement vocabulary – hand performances, catwalks (!), duck walks, spins and dips — as they demonstrate in this video

It’s worth noting how they declare themselves “iconic” and “legendary,” two oft-used adjectives in ballroom culture. It’s a clue to the way the new setting suggests a deeper layer beneath the stories of the individual characters. The exaggerated assertion of self-importance seems a transparent response to the put-downs and prejudice to which LGBTQ people of color are routinely subjected, before finding their community. There are even a couple of scenes that attempt to drive home the everyday challenges in the characters’ lives; two police officers make an arrest for shoplifting. 

Qween Jean’s colorful costumes and Nikiya Mathis’ outlandish wigs are spot-on precisely because they are so fanciful – the fantasy that’s at the heart of ballroom. The scenic design adds another layer of realness: When the cast sings “Jellicle cats come out tonight,” some of them carry signs that say “Come Out.”

The cast forms the most effective bridge between ballroom and musical theater.

Gus the cat is portrayed by Junior LaBeija, an member of the House of LaBeija who appeared in Paris Is Burning.

The show’s Rum Tum Tugger, Sydney James Harcourt, spends much of his time bare-chested,  competing in the ballroom category known as Butch Queen Realness.

Grizabella, who sings the show’s best-known song “Memories,” is portrayed by Tempress Chastity Moore, whose biography identifies her as an actress, singer and “Ballroom icon/Hall of famer,” founding mother of Maison Margiela.

Dudney Joseph Jr  also stands out as  Munkustrap the Master of Ceremonies. But really, if the pageant goes on too long for my taste, sagging in the middle somewhat before picking up for the finale, there is no cast member that’s ever any less than credible and engaging. Only one, though, really deserves the legendary appellation outside of the ballroom. André De Shields reigns as Old Deuteronomy. 

Cats: The Jellicle Ball
PACNYC through July 28. Update: Extended (again) to September 8.
Running time: Two hours and 30 minutes including one intermission
Tickets: $68 – $309
Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, directed by t.s. eliot
Directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, Choreographed by Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, scenic design by Rachel Hauck, costume design by Qween Jean, lighting design by Adam Honoré, sound design by Kai Harada, projection design by Brittany Bland, hair and wig design by Nikiya Mathis, makeup design by Rania Zohny, dramaturg and gender consultant Josephine Kearns, music superviser, director and conductor William Waldrop, music coodinator David Lai, beats arrangment Trevor Holder, ballroom consultant Capital Kaos, magic and illusions Skylar Fox, fight director Hannah “Rock” Roccisano, intimacy coordinator Ann James 
Cast: Baby (Victoria), Jonathan Burke (Mungojerrie), Tara Lashan Clinkscales(Ensemble), André De Shields (Old Deuteronomy), Shelby Griswold (Understudy), Sydney James Harcourt (Rum Tum Tugger), Antwayn Hopper(Macavity) Dava Huesca (Rumpleteazer),Dudney Joseph Jr. (Munkustrap), Capital Kaos (DJ), Junior LaBeija (Gus), Dominique Lee (Understudy); Robert “Silk” Mason (Mistoffelees), “Tempress” Chasity Moore (Grizabella), Shereen Pimentel (Jellylorum), Primo(Tumblebrutus), Xavier Reyes (Jennyanydots), Nora Schell (Bustopher Jones), Bebe Nicole Simpson (Demeter), Emma Sofia (Skimbleshanks), Phumzile Sojola (Ensemble), Kendall Grayson Stroud (Ensemble), Frank Viveros(Ensemble), Garnet Williams (Bombalurina) and Teddy Wilson Jr. (Sillabub).