Andre De Shields Shares the Spotlight as Lloyd Webber DJs on West 44th Street
andre de shields was in the room when Andrew Lloyd Webber turned Cats: The Jellicle Ball's May 29 performance into a street-level event, then took the celebration outside with a post-show DJ set on West 44th Street. The night doubled as a public marker for the production's nine Tony Award nominations, with the crowd spillover giving Broadway a rarer kind of awards-season visibility.
West 44th Street Turnout
Lloyd Webber made a cameo at the top of the May 29 performance before stepping outside for a special DJ set. DJ Bill Coleman joined him, along with members of the Cats cast, Ballroom community guests, and Cats musical alumni. The set moved from Lloyd Webber's classics and mashups into Abracadabra Of The Opera, a Lady Gaga-inspired blend that sat beside 1970s and 1980s anthems.
For a Broadway production, that kind of public spillout does two things at once: it turns a regular performance date into an event and it keeps the title visible beyond the theater walls. This was not a quiet bow after curtain call; it was a street party built around the show's current awards profile.
André De Shields in the Cast
André De Shields plays Old Deuteronomy in the production, which officially opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 7 after previews began on March 18. The show is a reimagined revival of Lloyd Webber's musical, with vogueing-infused choreography by Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons and dance music-inspired beats by Trevor Holder woven through the Tony-winning score, including "Memory."
The May 29 appearance also fit a pattern Lloyd Webber has used before. In 2021, he led a street party outside the Majestic Theatre after Phantom of the Opera's first performance back on Broadway following the COVID-19 shutdown, which makes this latest West 44th Street set feel less like a one-off and more like a preferred way to launch a Broadway moment into the public eye.
Nine Tony Nominations
Nine Tony Award nominations gave the night its obvious frame, and the timing mattered because Broadway's Tony Awards night was scheduled for June 7. The May 29 celebration put the production's names and numbers back in circulation before that vote cycle closed, with Lloyd Webber himself helping carry the score into the sidewalk crowd.
For readers tracking the show, the takeaway is simple: Cats: The Jellicle Ball is no longer just a Broadway revival playing inside the Broadhurst. It is being presented as an event with a public-facing push, and the May 29 street set was the clearest sign yet that its Tony run is being marketed as loudly offstage as it is on it.
