By James V. Ruocco
The rainbow flag flies high and mighty in The Arts at Angeloria's bright and breezy staging of "La Cage aux Folles," the smash 1983 Jerry Herman Broadway musical that celebrates homosexuality - and all things gay - including long term gay relationships and dressing up in drag - as if it's the most natural thing in the world, which here, it absolutely and positively is.
The point of this musical - up close and personal - is to tell an amusing story about flamboyance, dignity and being true to one's self without any form of prejudice, pronouncement, jockeying or sensationalism. Here, being gay is a lifestyle choice with pros and cons that are no different from the lifestyles of those who are straight, bisexual, lesbian, transgender, non binary, confused or whatever. People are people. The world goes round and round. And no one should have to explain or defend their choices, their identities or their sexuality.
First and foremost, "La Cage aux Folles" is FUN.
It's meant to entertain.
It's meant to make you laugh.
It's meant to excite.
It's meant to make you think.
It's meant to bring a smile to your face.
The Arts at Angeloria's revival does that, and so much more.
Lively.
Celebratory.
Kitschy.
Poignant.
Hilarious.
High-kicking.
This is well written and well staged musical theatre, fueled with feeling, laughter and bounce - the kind you'd get from French farce, English farce, drag show dissolve and LGBTQ iterations.
Taking its cue from the 1973 Jean Poiret play of the same name and the iconic 1978 French film comedy that starred Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault, the stage version, scripted by Harvey Fierstein (an openly gay actor, playwright and director), is pretty watchable stuff with plotting demands and characters that explore gay history, gay pairings and gay legacies with entertaining, oversized consequences. You laugh. You cry. You clap. You scream. You jump for joy. Fierstein wouldn't have it any other way.
Then and now, this is a musical that has to be played straight (no pun, intended), fueled by important dialogue and story arcs, that no matter how campy, how frivolous or how silly, must be orchestrated with complete conviction. Well aware of this conceit, Fierstein crafts an honest, colorful and exhilarating story with verbiage that stings, cajoles, heartens and delights at every single turn. An excellent writer with a cynical voice, a detailed focus and wonderful, wonderful, stand-alone quotes and humor culled from the gay/straight dichotomy, his "La Cage" is fabulously entertaining and checker-board essential, never once losing sight of its origins, its wit, its homosexual content and its technicolored purpose.
Like the original play and the 1978 French film on which it is based, "La Cage aux Folles" tells the playful story of Georges and Albin, a gay St. Tropez couple who own and operate a popular Rivera song-and-dance, drag nightclub known for its notorious late-night shows and very obvious, gay clientele.
With the arrival of Georges' twenty-four-year-old son Jean-Michel (the result of a drunken one-night stand with an attractive woman named Sybil), things are immediately thrown off balance once the boy announces that he is engaged to Anne Dindon, the daughter of a right-wing conservative who isn't terrible fond of gays, drag queens, glitter and boy-loves-boy couples. His goal: to rid the word of such gay notoriety.
But wait, there's more.
An arranged "meet-the-parent's" dinner (planned for the next night) is also cause for alarm once Jean-Michel announces that everyone has to play it straight, act straight, dress straight and get rid of any photos, furniture, paintings and assorted brick-a-brac that cries "homosexual." Acting "heterosexual" is the bill of fare.
Winner of six Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score, "La Cage aux Folles" features 17 musical numbers by legendary composer/lyricist Jerry Herman whose Broadway credits include "Hello, Dolly!" "Ben Franklin in Paris," "Mame," "Dear World" and "Mack and Mabel." They are "Prelude," " We Are What We Are," "(A Little More) Mascara," "With Anne on My Arm," "With You on My Arm," "Song on the Sand," "La Cage aux Folles," "I Am What I Am," "Entr'acte," "Song on the Sand (reprise)," "Masculinity," "Look Over There," "Cocktail Counterpoint," "The Best of Times," "Look Over There (reprise)," "La Cage aux Folles (reprise) and "Finale."
Mixing charm, wit and dazzle with plenty of Broadway energy to boot, Herman's "La Cage aux Folles" songbook offers plenty of swoops, twirls, whirls and orchestral high kicks. Reflective, assertive and brimming with sparkling freshness, every one of the songs including the iconic gay anthem "I Am What I Am" delivers its intended purpose, its multiplicity and its welcoming anticipation. There's ballads. There's production numbers. There's glitter. There's sweetness. There's sentiment. There's sugar. There's niceness. There's power. There's enchantment. It all works. It all comes together. And Herman, master that he is, accentuates everything with total inspiration, thus, communicating his love for music, Broadway, musical theatre, performers, conductors and orchestras.
The employment of Nick Stanford as musical director for this particular staging of "La Cage aux Folles" culminates in a carefully weighted recitative of commanding, smooth gestures, whimsical detailing, artistic spark and knockabout vim and vigor. Addressing the zesty, spirited core of Herman's Tony Award-winning work with storytelling snap and orchestral intensity, he brings an enormity of theatrical realization to the music, basking in its sweetness, its truths, its comedy, its pathos, its advancement, its climax and its articulate pacing. Nothing is too big or too small. Here, Stanford delivers the fun inherent in the music along with a gateway of arcs, thrusts, rhythms, beats and chords that bring added vitality and depth to the "La Cage" music and the story itself.
Backed by a team of dedicated and very talented of musicians - Marc Sokolson, Phil Plott, Harry Kliewe, Jim Lendvay, Sean Haigh, Jordan Brint - Stanford, doubling as keyboardist and conductor - keeps the popular "La Cage" music afresh keyed into its atmospheric pleasures, merriment, action and story act fluidity. In turn, all of the musical numbers reach their required purpose as leads, supporting players and members of the ensemble tap into Herman's melodic, uplifting music with apt, harmonic navigation and confidence.
Staging "La Cage aux Folles," co-director's Lori Holm and Peter Weidt view and address the popular material using a creative mindset and lure that thrusts the musical front and center with a delightful backbone of magic and intuition that celebrates the gay life, gay pride, self-expression and the individuality of Fierstein's book, his characters, his humor and the proud, ripe and lively sound of Herman's iconic musical score. Given the intimate confines of the Arts at Angeloria's stage, Holm and Weidt take a very big musical and adapt it freely to their small, immersive space losing none of the bigness, the luster and the bravura moments associated with the overall production. Jokes fulfill their intended purpose. One-liners and asides are appropriately delivered with zing and stand-up comedy flair. Scenes sashay back and forth with spring and step. The musical numbers fit seamlessly into the fabric of the storytelling. Everything is timed and played out by the entire cast with creative aplomb. The camp and naughtiness of the scenario is programmed with hilarious voice. And no one steps out of bounds - all for the sake of laughter.
"La Cage aux Folles" stars Roger Grace as Albin/Zaza, Ed Rosenblatt as Georges, Joey Abate as Jean-Michel, Jason Michael as Jacob, Nicole Zolad as Anne, Kassiani Kontothanasis as Jacqueline, Stephen Maher as Edouard Dindon and Leann Crosby as Marie Dindon.
In the role of the effeminate Albin, who moonlights as drag queen Zaza, Grace delivers a rhinestone performance of dash and wit that allows him to strut his stuff freely and imaginatively to the beat of Fierstein's hilarious play script with breakneck speed, sincerity and affected, diva-like brilliance. Rosenblatt, cast in the role of Albin's lover Georges, brings charm, dignity and romanticism to the part along with a believable, nicely configured attachment to his co-star, which makes their onstage gay relationship completely and beautifully defined throughout the two-act musical. Vocally, both actors have their share of important showstoppers that are performed with style and lustrous assurance. They include "I Am What I Am" and "(A Little More) Mascara," sung by Grace and "Song on the Sand" and "Look Over There," delivered with heartfelt charm by Rosenblatt.
Joey Abate, in the role of Georges son Jean-Michel, brings an easygoing charm and warmth to the part along with plenty of natural charisma and personality. He also imbues his character with an innate, gentle kindness during the second half of Act II when Jean-Michel finally realizes he's a very lucky young man who's been raised by two very caring and loving gay parents. Vocally, there's slide, engagement and romantic depth to his character's breezy renditions of "With Anne on My Arm" and the reprise of "Look Over There," both performed with the smoothness and persuasion intended by Herman. As Anne Dindon, Jean-Michel's love interest, Zolad perfectly displays the sunny, quiet charm and sweetness associated with the part while Maher and Crosby, as her parents, make their mark in hilariously etched comic roles that are played out to farcical perfection in Act II. Their their comic timing is primed and flawless.
Kontothanasis, as Jacqueline, the proud owner of the elegant French bistro Chez Jacqueline, comes to "La Cage aux Folles" with a command of both vocal technique and artistry that turns the big, whimsical choral number "The Best of Times" into a showcase of style, reference and absolute joy. She also performs part of the show's catchy title song in Act I with flawless range and fluidity that not only heightens the song's appeal but warrants a stand-alone concert of music (with a voice likes her, who wouldn't want to buy a ticket?) one fine night in the not-to-distant future on the Arts of Angeloria's stage. Lastly, there's Michael's showstopping turn as Jacob, the French maid and confidante to Albin and Georges. This is one of those marvelously constructed roles where just about anything goes and Michael amps up the hilarity and dash with affected, girlish gait and merriment that makes everything he does an important piece of the "La Cage" blueprint fly, excite, cajole and delight.
A ground-breaking musical with plenty of gay characters at the forefront, "La Cage aux Folles" gay-on-gay comedic and musical escapades erupt with plenty of froth, glitter and giggly absurdity. Co-directors Lori Holm and Peter Weidt have great fun with the material bringing just the right amount of dizzying, carefree and heartfelt zing to the proceedings, which musical director Nick Stanford admirably continues with his adept musical treatment of fever-pitch, snappy effervescence. Liam Michael Dempsey's campy Follies Bergere-like choreography is enjoyable, inspired, over-the-top drag fun with appropriate dashes of playful ingenuity that reflect his love of big Broadway musicals and cross-dressing oomph, imagination, gloss and glitter. Dempsey also stands out as the tallest member of the Cagelles, the show's outrageous drag chorines whose happily sing and dance their way through several of the musical's broad, attitude-driven production numbers.
And the cast - every single one of them - brings lots of musicality, flair and fun to this backstage affair of classic gay farce from a different era that has nothing on its mind except to entertain, which it does, ever so well.
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