Jenna Bush Hager Rocks Thigh-High Boots & Gets Down On Her Knees In ‘Cats’ Costume For Halloween Performance

Jenna Bush Hager was almost unrecognizable in the Halloween costume she rocked for a special performance during Friday’s episode of The Today Show.

The show’s anchors paid tribute to some of the biggest musicals on Broadway with their themed costumes. They also put on a show for their fans by dancing, lip-synching, and acting out scenes from some of their favorite shows. All of the jazzy, dramatic, and peppy numbers were later shared on Today‘s Twitter account.

Jenna, 38, chose to dress up as the feline character Grizabella from the popular Andrew Lloyd Weber musical Cats. The outcast kitty was recently portrayed by actress Jennifer Hudson in the 2019 movie adaptation of the play. Jenna’s Grizabella costume included a tattered fur coat in various earthy hues, which she wore over a silver corset trimmed with bits of shredded ribbon. Her footwear was a pair of thigh-high boots decorated with a black striped pattern. She also rocked a pair of opera gloves that matched her boots, along with a long gray wig, a cat ear headband, and even a fuzzy black tail.

Jenna lip-synched the melancholy lyrics to the iconic song “Memory” and didn’t hold back during her emotional performance. She got down on her knees on the Today stage and dramatically moved her arms around as Grizabella, a lonely and downtrodden former member of the Jellicle tribe, reminisced about her glamorous past. The screen behind her portrayed a city skyline, a spinning moon, and a dark sky full of glittering lights.

Jenna revealed that she has dressed up like a cat for Halloween almost every year and she described portraying one of the feline characters from the Broadway musical as her “childhood dream.” She said that her two daughters helped her work on her meows, and her youngest child, 5-year-old Poppy, also advised her to hiss if something happened during her performance that she wasn’t happy about.

As reported by The Inquisitr, Jenna has said that she and her family members are such big Cats fans that they all came up with their own feline names when she was younger. Jenna’s moniker was Stripes, while her father, former President George W. Bush, went by the name Tommy Tough. Her mother, Laura, chose Marmalade for herself.

Jenna shared her excitement over her Halloween Broadway tribute on Instagram in a post that can be viewed here. In the comments section, her followers praised her and remarked on how different she looked in her costume.

“So much fun!! I had to watch twice! Such a transformation, I didn’t recognize you!!” wrote one fan.

“Way to go for it! You were awesome,” another message read.

“Jenna, everyone looked great, but, you were my favorite,” commented a third admirer.