MADELINE: What about your costumes, ’cause that seems great.
LOUISE: Ooh, unless you’re doing Les Mis.
MADELINE: Or Cats.
LOUISE: Furry spandex with a tail and jazz shoes?
Les Misérables, colloquially known as Les Mis, musical and adaptation of Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel of the same name, by Claude-Michel Schönberg (music), Alain Boublil, Jean-Marc Natel (original French lyrics) and Herbert Kretzmer (English lyrics). The original French musical premiered in Paris in 1980; its English-language adaptation has been running in London since 1985, making it the longest-running musical in the West End. It ran on Broadway from 1987 until 2003 – it had been due to close in March 2003, but a surge of interest postponed its closure until May.
Cats, musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based upon the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. Cats opened to positive reviews in the West End in 1981 and to mixed reviews on Broadway in 1982. It won numerous awards including Best Musical at both the Laurence Olivier and Tony Awards. Despite its unusual subject matter, the musical turned out to be an unprecedented commercial success. The London production ran for 21 years, closing in 2002, while the Broadway production ran for 18 years, closing in 2000.
Louise and Madeline probably don’t think the costumes for these productions would be great to keep, because in Les Misérables, the costumes are mostly the rags of convicts and peasants, while in Cats, they are cat costumes.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 