Reviews: Musical - La Cage Aux Folles
On a gloomy mid-winter evening it was heartening to see the ample Bord Gais Energy Theatre stage glammed up with a riot of fabulous feathers, furs and sequins, as the lithe and leggy Cagelles strutted their androgynous stuff at curtain-up on La Cage Aux Folles.
Bill Kenwright’s production of the 1983 show by Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman opened in Dublin ahead of a UK tour.
The show seems timely in an Ireland post-gay marriage referendum.
Men in drag are very much in vogue, with Rory O’Neill aka Panti Bliss approaching the status of national treasure and gender fluidity has become part of the everyday lexicon.
Men in frocks command the stage of Kinky Boots on Broadway and the West End but I’ll bet that few of that cross dressing cast can sashay as elegantly in their high heels as John Partridge.
The EastEnders actor (he plays Christian Clarke) is the star of the show as Albin, the flamboyant, transvestite lover of George, ‘a plain homosexual’ played by Adrian Zmed.
The best of the humour comes in the second half when the show’s origin in French farce is most apparent.
The unconventional family, George, Albin and ‘their son’ are visited by their prim, putative in-laws culminating in a hilariously awkward dinner party.
The high point is the upbeat show stopper, ‘The Best of Times is Now’ sung by the cast led by Partridge masquerading as mother of the groom-to-be. I would have happily returned to see this scene alone.
The seven-piece band worked hard but at times the volume threatened to overwhelm and I liked it best when the scoring was pared back to allow individual timbres to come through.
I didn’t catch all the dialogue but much of the charm of the production lay in the exuberance of the high kicking dance routines and the physicality of the slapstick humour.
This was a good old fashioned, warm hearted theatre that drew the midweek audience swiftly to their feet in a well-deserved standing ovation.
For production values, ticket price and elegance of venue, West End theatres would find it hard to match it.
- Final two shows today
