Leona Lewis has shared the first photo of herself as Grizabella in the musical Cats after taking over the role from Nicole Scherzinger. The X Factor winner performed in her first preview show on Broadway on Thursday, and has been keeping fans updated with her involvement in the musical.
Taking to Twitter, Leona shared a photo of herself in the Cats costume, and captioned the post: "Let's work #catsbroadway," accompanied by a cat emoji. She also shared photos of herself meeting and greeting fans after the her first performance in her new role, writing: "On such a high from the most incredible night!"
CLICK TO VIEW GALLERY
© Photo: InstagramLeona shared her Cats costume
Fans were quick to praise Leona's new role, with one writing: "So wish I could see you perform as Grizabella," while another joked: "I had no idea Leona Lewis was in Cats until now but does this mean Memory is officially being replaced by Bleeding Love?"
The star previously told HELLO! Online about how much she was looking forward to seeing her final look, saying: "I've had a fitting of the costume, we haven't got into make-up yet. That will be later down the line. There's sketches and drawings of what Grizabella looks like, so I'm looking forward to really, really getting into character."
© Photo: Getty ImagesThe star will be performing in Cats on Broadway
Leona took the role over from Nicole earlier this year when the former Pussycat Dolls band member left the show before it's Broadway opening to appear as a judge on The X Factor. Although composer Andrew Lloyd Webber initially expressed his disappointment that Nicole had chosen to leave the show, he said he was "very excited" that Leona would be taking over the part.
At the time, Nicole opened up to RadioTimes.com about why she chose to leave Cats. She said: "I had every intention of doing Cats on Broadway but the contract was never finalised. I am incredibly blessed to be given so many amazing opportunities, including Cats, but unfortunately we weren’t able to make it work this time around.
"I adore and respect Andrew, I'm so grateful for our friendship and can't wait for the opportunity to create more magic together."
