The answer is not cut and dried. There will always be an audience for this beloved tale about a ragtag group of junkyard cats, with its quasi-religious themes of forgiveness and redemption. Then, of course, there are the show-stopper musical numbers such as Memory and Magical Mr Mistoffelees.
But the show's absurdly long duration, unconventional structure of several stories-within-a-story and essential lack of plot are likely to have some theatre goers yawning.
So yes, it may appear dated and drawn out to the eyes of contemporary audiences more accustomed to zippy, short-attention-span entertainment fare. But, from a pure production point of view, Toerien and international director Jo-Anne Robinson have put on a show that is simply the cat's whiskers.
The explosion of musical theatre talent that the country has experienced since Toerien first staged Cats in 2000 is nothing short of amazing and is reflected in the casting. The company is dazzling, with standout performances from the likes of Jonathan Roxmouth as Munkustrap, Earl Gregory as Rum Tum Tugger, Jaco van Rensburg as Mr Mistoffelees, Marcus Desando as wise elder feline Old Deuteronomy and, of course, Angela Kilian as the "fallen" cat, Grizabella - the role immortalised by Elaine Paige on London's West End. Her stirring and heartfelt rendition of the bittersweet Memory is likely to have you blubbering.
The whimsically creative rubbish-tip set, complete with items of trash designed to scale from a cat's perspective, has been used in only one other international production. Complete with garish '70s-style Christmas lights, it frames the action that unfolds concerning a tribe of magnificently costumed "Jellicle cats", whose tales are based on poems from TS Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
We are introduced to various cat characters through a selection of numbers, until the Jellicle Ball marks Old Deuteronomy's imminent announcement of the cat that will be chosen to ascend to the Heaviside Layer - essentially, to be reborn.
It is an exuberant display of song and dance, accompanied by a live band under the musical direction of Louis Zurnamer. Through the meandering stories and character studies, and amid the bursts of jollity there runs an undercurrent of nostalgia and meditations on mortality and salvation.
Although musical theatre stalwarts and even children who can sit still long enough will lap it up like so much cream, there is no denying that some newly minted musical converts might think Cats is making a song and dance about nothing in particular.
Still, it remains a stage spectacular of the highest order, and this slick, snazzy production is a wonderful showcase for South Africa's brightest young stage titans.
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