Watch: Fred Penner brings his cat back to Manitoba Theatre for Young People

"The story of The Cat Came Back is historical. It's about 100 plus years old. In every culture there is a song or a story about the cat who keeps coming back - the whole myth of their nine lives. Cats have always had a mysterious kind of quality." -Fred Penner

Fred Penner is bringing the cat back! And this time that feline will be particularly plush -- because it is a puppet.

Along with actor Jay Brazeau and director Kim Selody, Fred Penner has adapted his legendary song into a musical play which promises to be the cat's meow.

The Cat Came Back runs from February 3 to 12 at Manitoba Theatre for Young People with another set of dates slated to run March 7 to 11.

Winnipeg seems to have a long love affair with The Cat Came Back.  In 1988 Winnipeg-based animator Cordell Barker made a short film called The Cat Came Back, which received an Academy Award nomination and was awarded the Genie (Canada's equivalent of an Oscar) for Best Animated Short.