When the Post Office asked citizens to vote for events in 1980s Arts and Entertainment worthy of putting on a stamp, Cats racked up 169,357 votes in the poll, high enough to qualify it for the commemorative "Celebrate the Century" series. The Cats stamp was officially released today, Jan. 12, in a special event at the Winter Garden Theatre.

According to postal service spokesperson Cathy Yarosky, Shubert Organization chair Gerald Schoenfeld and members of the Cats cast, in costume, took part in the unveiling. 300 New York City elementary students, made up as "Cats For A Day," also took part.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, based on poems by T.S. Eliot, was voted in as one of 15 stamps devoted to the decade. In the A&E category, "E.T., The Extra Terrestrial" led the field with 239,189 votes, followed by "The Cosby Show" with 194,517. Both Cats and "Hip-Hop Culture" (158,509) made the cut; Country Music and "The Bonfire of the Vanities" did not.

According to spokesperson Yarosky, the stamp depicts "a generic Cat character from the show, in headshot form. The colors are orangey with brown and red in it." Robert Rodriguez is the artist; Carl Herrman the designer.

Theatre lovers were also given a postal present back in March 1999, when the USPS released a stamp dedicated to the acting husband-and-wife team of Alfred Lunt & Lynn Fontanne.