CUPP: Cats, the musical has been given the feature film treatment. And the trailer for this hot mess dropped just this week. Now, if you feel like you're on an acid trip when you watch this, I hear you. Who exactly asked for this horrifying movie experience that is attempting to be both for children and adults and I promise will be for neither. Cats, an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats has been terrorizing children for decades. I saw it when I was seven and I think I'm still suffering the trauma. Cats is awful in any form. I am, however, still grateful for it. Cats was the first true mega musical. It pioneered the big production transformational musical experience that paved the way for musicals. I actually love Les Mis (ph), Miss Saigon, Chess (ph), so many others. Cats brought people to the theater in unprecedented numbers. It was a huge commercial success, grossing over 2 billion worldwide by 1994. It was once the longest running production on Broadway and in the West End. And it's because of Cats that we are going to the theater in record numbers. Just last year alone, Broadway grossed nearly $2 billion in ticket sales. There were 38 new productions last year and more than 14 million people saw a show. That doesn't even account for all of the touring and regional productions. From Hamilton and Wicked to Beautiful and Dean Evan Hansen, there is so much great theater right now. Theater that can change people's lives. I know it changed mine. So for that, I say to Cats, you're terrible, but I thank you. All right. That's it for me. One quick programming note before I go, make sure you check out our new original series "THE MOVIES." It continues tomorrow night with the 2000s, you'll hear from the actors and directors for the stories behind the movies that you love. "THE MOVIES" tomorrow night at 9:00 on CNN. Stick around for "THE VAN JONES SHOW." That's next.
S.E. Cupp's Ode To "Cats": Grateful For The Awful.