ANDREW Lloyd Webber’s record-breaking musical Cats is coming to Leeds Grand Theatre direct from its sell-out seasons at the London Palladium.

The show, one of the longest-running musical in West End and Broadway history, is based on TS Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.

The show takes place on the one special night of the year when all Jellicle cats meet at the Jellicle Ball.

Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, makes the Jellicle choice and announces which of them will go up to The Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a whole new Jellicle life.

The show returned to the West End in December 2014 reuniting the original creative team - director Trevor Nunn, associate director and choreographer Gillian Lynne, designer John Napier and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Cats, one of the longest-running shows in West End and on Broadway, received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981 where it played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances.

The production was the winner of the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical.

In 1983 the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony awards including Best Musical, and ran for 18 years.

Since its world premiere, Cats has been presented in over 30 countries, has been translated into 10 languages and has been seen by over 50 million people worldwide.

Both the original London and Broadway cast recordings won Grammy Awards for Best Cast Album.

The classic Lloyd Webber score includes Memory which has been recorded by more than 150 artists from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis to Liberace and Barry Manilow.

Cats is at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, until July 2. Visit leedsgrandtheatre.com or call 0844 8482700 to book tickets.