REVIEW: La Cage Aux Folles

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La Cage Aux Folles

I got my half-price ticket at TKTS for La Cage Aux Folles. Great seat, third row!

Boy is this show ever full of Jerry Herman-esque numbers! Uh...wait a minute...that's because it's by Jerry Herman (and Harvey Fierstein who wrote the book)! This show is nominated in four categories for the 2005 Tonys including Best Revival and Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Gary Beach (or was that actress...)

Robert Goulet has recently joined the cast as Georges and his voice is in spectacular form. Listening to him sing, it's really hard to believe he is 72. He has a really nice feeling of being totally relaxed and comfortable on stage and he plays the straight man beautifully. Only a bit of stiffness in his movement suggests he's been at this a long time.

I also really wanted to see Gary Beach as Albin, since I missed him in The Producers as Roger Debris. Albin was played by Nathan Lane in the American movie version of La Cage Aux Folles, called The Birdcagewhich WASN'T a musical, but WAS directed by Mike Nichols who is up for a Tony this year for his direction of Spamalot, which IS a musical...and of course you know Gary and Nathan played together in The Producers.

It was great seeing Gary in a leading role -- his voice is fabulous and he is very funny with great physical humor. I also feel like I got to see a bit of Roger Debris up there on stage last night. (BTW, in Gary's bio in the program it said that the movie version of The Producers is coming out in December: I can't wait!)

However, it was Les Cagelles who stole the show. These are the gender-bending chorus line of male dancers dressed as women who perform in Georges' club.

Holy Transvestite Batman, those guys are amazing!

Kudos to the choreographer, Jerry Mitchell, who is also nominated for a Tony. These guys combined the power and athleticism of male dancers with the flexibility and style and sexiness of female dancers. And they had to do it in heels!

The stage has been extended so the orchestra is exposed in the middle of the stage by two holes (like two nostrils). In one scene the dancers jump over these two holes and land on the other side in splits. You don't hear an audience gasp often, but they did last night. And of courseWilliam Ivey Long went to town on the costumes which garnered him a Tony nom as well.

I have to admit it is not my favorite Jerry Herman score. I think "We Are What We Are" is my fav number. In my opinion, it is not as melodically memorable as his most famous works,Mame and Hello Dolly!. And perhaps not as lyrically clever as the subject matter would suggest. And while the book is very funny, the shock factor has gone out of the subject matter and setting (at least for me), so it really has to stand as a typical love story and clash of the in-laws kind of story. Maybe that's where I felt I wanted more from the score.

Having said all that, I had a really good time, and so did the rest of the audience -- so who's complaining? I also get to cross Robert Goulet and Gary Beach off my "must see live" list.

By Suzy Conn on May 22, 2005 7:51 PM | | Comments (0)


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