Leona Lewis confirms Cats departure
Leona Lewis will leave ‘Cats’ next month.
The ‘Bleeding Love’ hitmaker has been portraying Grizabella in the iconic musical on Broadway since July 31, but she will perform the role on the New York stage for the last time on October 9.
She tweeted: "Wow can’t believe less than a month til I leave NY, time has flown by, I’ll miss my @CatsBroadway family like crazy!(sic)"
A replacement for the 31-year-old pop star has yet to be announced.
Leona stepped into the role at short notice after Nicole Scherzinger pulled out to be a judge on UK TV show ‘The X Factor’ and previously admitted the part was "perfect" for her
because she knew it wouldn’t be a lengthy stint on stage.
She said: "I’d just come off a tour, I was having some time off and it just seemed like the perfect role because it’s not a long commitment."
Leona’s performance was recently praised by the show’s composer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.
He said: "She’s doing great. She’s been great fun to work with. She came very much in the last moment and I’m very pleased with what she’s done."
Though the 68-year-old theatre boss recently admitted he was "furious" when Nicole pulled out of the production because it would have been a "great opportunity" for her, he understood her reasoning and would happily work with her again in the future.
He said: "The thing about Nicole is that she’s a wonderfully talented actress and singer. If I could find the right thing for her to work on then I’d love to.
"She really is an extraordinary performer and I in many ways understand why she chose not to do ‘Cats’.
"In many ways I’m sad because it would’ve been a great opportunity for her to be seen in America but at the same time I do understand and we are friends.
"We’ve both moved on and I have worked with her a few weeks ago at a concert in Austria. And do you know she’d be absolutely a number one person for me to call for a lot of roles."
