The international hit musical will also visit Aberdeen, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Bradford, Hull, Sunderland, Southampton, Milton Keynes, Woking, Ostend and Dublin with further dates, casting and venues to be announced.

Based on T.S Eliot’s "Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats," Cats is directed by Trevor Nunn, with choreography by Gillian Lynne and set and costume design by John Napier. Re-creating the direction and choreography for the tour is Chrissie Cartwright.

"On just one special night of the year, all Jellicle cats meet at the Jellicle Ball where 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," according to press notes.

Cats opened at the New London Theatre on May 11, 1981, and played almost 9,000 performances. It closed May 11, 2002, having celebrated 21 record-breaking years and winning an Olivier Award for Best Musical (1981). On Broadway it was the winner of seven Tony Awards (including Best Musical and Best Director) and ran for 18 years at the Winter Garden Theatre.

The 2013 tour of the Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Theatre production of Cats is again presented by David Ian.