Camden Co. director nominated for Tony Award for 'Cats: The Jellicle Ball'

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Tony Awards will be handed out this Sunday, celebrating the best and brightest of Broadway.

When the nominees are called, you will surely hear the screams from Camden County, New Jersey.

That's because a celebrated local director is up for his first Tony Award for "Cats: the Jellicle Ball."

"'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' is a joy bomb," says co-director Bill Rauch.

This glittering, fierce reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's groundbreaking Broadway musical "Cats" was a 25-year dream realized for Haddonfield's Bill Rauch.

"They're not cats, they're human beings in our production in Harlem's ballroom scene," he says.

The show remixes the original score with drag, voguing, and runway culture at the Jellicle Ball.

"It's a competition," he says. "It's a ball that happens once a year, and everybody's vying for that grand prize."

And just like the original, these cats are multigenerational.

"The other thing I'm proud of in our production is that we have actors who are about 20 years old and actors who are in their 80s," says Rauch.

That includes veteran actor Andre DeShields, who, at 80 years young, is nominated for his fourth Tony award for his role as Old Deuteronomy.

Rauch co-directs this revival with Zhailon Levingston.

"I feel so lucky that I'm alive at a time when Andrew Lloyd Webber is taking these big risks and letting artists reinterpret his work," says Rauch. "He has been so supportive, so supportive of this show."

"Cats: The Jellicle Ball" opened on Broadway on April 7.

"It's about inclusion," he says. "It's just a big party, a big beautiful party."

The show quickly earned a whopping nine Tony nominations, including Best Direction of a Musical for Rauch and Livingston.

"I feel so lucky that I get to make a living doing the thing that has been my passion since I was a child," says Rauch. "I feel unbelievably blessed."

Rauch got bitten by the theater bug at Haddonfield High School.

His muse and mentor has always been his high school director, Jack Shaw.

"I did six shows directed by Jack Shaw, and they really changed my life," says Rauch. "I learned by example what a great director could be, and it made me want to become a director."

Rauch has been directing professionally for forty years now, but Shaw saw his talent as a teenager.

"I'll tell you what, I've been so proud of him from day one," says Shaw. "I am as proud as anyone could be of his accomplishment. "

This marks Rauch's first Tony Award nomination.

"I watched the Tonys since I was a little kid, every year," says Rauch. "To now have a show that I've been part of be nominated for nine different awards, it's just been such a gift, such a complete and utter joy."

There will also be a special musical number from the cast of "Cats: The Jellicle Ball" during the show.

The Tony Awards are on Sunday, June 7. They will be hosted by GRAMMY-winning pop star and Bucks County native, Pink.