Cats musical debut for Nicole Scherzinger

Singer Nicole Scherzinger has made her West End debut as
Grizabella in Cats - watched by the theatre star who created
the role more than 30 years ago.
Elaine Paige, who was in the original Cats cast in 1981, was
in the audience for the musical's return at the London
Palladium.
"It brings back wonderful memories for me," Paige told the
BBC, at Thursday's opening night.
She described Andrew Lloyd Webber's show as "way ahead
of its time".
Former Pussycat Doll Scherzinger received loud cheers
when she performed Memory - the show's most famous
song.
The West End cast of Cats at the London Palladium
"Without a blemish on her face, she struggles to convince
as a has-been (she's only 36)," wrote the Telegraph's
Dominic Cavendish , in his four-star review.
"In the second half reprise though, she finds something
deep inside and truly makes your hairs stand on end."
Neil Norman, in the Express , described Scherzinger's
delivery of Memory as "spine-tingling".
"As the over-the-hill glamourpuss in Andrew Lloyd
Webber's groundbreaking musical, she totters on like a
feline Miss Havisham, delivering his best song, Memory,
with an internalised regret," he wrote. "Fab," he concluded.
The Daily Mirror's Rod McPhee deemed her performance
"outstanding", adding "the only flaw is the show itself
which... is more than a little thin on plot".
Critic Quentin Letts praised the star's "feline charms": "In X
Factor jargon, Miss Scherzinger nailed it," he wrote in the
Daily Mail .
"The combination of Lloyd Webber airs and TS Eliot verses
is an enduring artistic achievement."
'Innovative'
Cats, which has not been seen in London for 12 years, is
based on TS Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
The musical ran for 21 years in London and 18 years on
Broadway.
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