CAPE PERFORMANCES OF `CATS' CANCELED

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Cape Girardeau performance of "Cats" has been canceled.

"Cats," a long-running musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, was scheduled at the Show Me Center April 9 and 10.

David Ross, manager of the Show Me Center, explained that a scheduling conflict prompted organizers to cut the Cape Girardeau stop from a tour of sports arenas.

"In the process of putting together the arena tour," Ross explained, "the promoter had a double-booking. Since we were the smaller dog in this fight, we didn't win."

The tour will be going to Louisville, Ky., instead.

But Ross said the promoters indicated a "strong desire to play Cape."

He said promoters told him they intend to come back to Cape Girardeau and start the second leg of the tour here in late August or early September.

"We were the western-most city on tour," Ross said. "They were coming from Columbia, S.C. to us. That's about 500 miles, a long range jump."

He said the trip to Louisville was shorter and Louisville is a larger area.

Ross said he found out about the change this weekend. "We thought things were set. In fact, we were planning for tickets to go on sale March 4," he said.

"There was a lot of strong support for the show locally," he said.

"This is unfortunate, but it did provide us with an idea of how much interest there was in seeing a show of this type. I guess I will redouble my effort in bringing in a show like this."

"This is part of the reason why we don't announce shows early. We don't announce until we have a contract," Ross said.

In this case, promoters of the show announced their plans to play Cape Girardeau.