Heathcliff: The Musical

Heathcliff: The Musical is a comedy stage musical with a book and lyrics by Robert Stainton and George Gately and music by Junior Campbell. It is based off the Heathcliff comic strip, with elements from the second animated series included, such as the Catillac Cats and the theme song. The musical was produced by Apple Live Tours, Inc. (a division of Apple Entertainment, Inc.), DiC Entertainment, and Creators Syndicate.

After an off-Broadway debut in February 1992 at Radio City Music Hall and a subsequent run at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum from February 6th, 1992 to April 2nd, 1992, the show opened on Broadway at the Broadway Theatre in May 1992 and ran for 197 performances. Simultaneous productions in cities across North America, South America, and Europe along with arena and stadium tours followed shortly thereafter, including a production that ran for 2,345 performances.

Pre-Show
This is a detailed synopsis of the original off-Broadway production. It changed in later productions.

Before the show even begins, and while the audience is taking their seats, Cleo is seen licking milk out of a dish and purring while sitting on the stage's center. Two actors dressed as stagehands show up, and tell Cleo that she has to stop licking the milk and get into the dressing room for the final curtain call, as the show is about to begin. Cleo protests, but the stagehands lead her off the stage and into the dressing room, with Cleo meowing and hissing at the stagehands, making an angry face. One of the stagehands apologizes for the interruption, and tells the audience to turn off their cell phones, and enjoy the show.

Act I
In the opening number ("Terrorizing Westfinster"), Heathcliff performs various stealings and crimes, terrorizing the people of Westfinster. Soon, Heathcliff arrives at the home of Sonja, who he presents with roses. She sneezes and causes Heathcliff to fall over. Afterwards, the Catillac Cats are seen helping Cleo break out of her owner's music shop. His owner chases the cats ("Give Me Her Back!") of which he fails to do, as he is quickly slammed into by a bus. Soon, the Catillac Cats are at Riff-Raff's home, preparing to watch a Inspector Gadget marathon. However, when he turns on his television, there's only an emergency test pattern screen.