50 Favourite Musicals: 41: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (1983) (Jerry Herman)

The 50 shows that have stood out down the years and, as we get up among the paint cards, the shows that have become the cast recording of my life:

First performed: 1983, Palace Theatre, NY

First seen by me: 1986, London Palladium

Productions seen: four

Score: Jerry Herman
Book: Harvey Fierstein

Plot:  Georges and Albin, a middle-aged, long-term gay couple who run a Riviera drag club, find their public and private worlds clash when Georges' son falls in love with the daughter of a homophobic politician who wants to close the area's gay clubs.

Five memorable numbers: I AM WHAT I AM, SONG ON THE SAND, WE ARE WHAT WE ARE, THE BEST OF TIMES, LOOK OVER THERE

The 1984 Tony Awards for musicals were seen as a clash between tradition and modernity as the two most obvious nominees were Jerry Herman's musical comedy LA CAGE AUX FOLLES and Stephen Sondheim's more austere SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE.  SUNDAY was to lose out - apart from the Design and Lighting awards - to the LA CAGE juggernaut.  When Herman scurried onstage to receive the Best Score award he crowed that it put paid to the rumour that "the simple, hummable show tune was no longer welcome on Broadway" - a not-so-subtle dig at Sondheim.  That certainly coloured my opinion of the show when I saw it's UK premiere at the London Palladium although I certainly enjoyed the delightful starring performances of George Hearn (recreating his Best Actor Tony-winning role as the flamboyant Albin) and Denis Quilley, as well as the fantastic drag chorus 'Les Cagelles' which spotlit performers like Scott St. Martyn as Chantal and Andy Norman as Hanna.   That production famously closed early citing it's failure on the public worry of AIDS; I never bought that reason as the show ran on Broadway for four years - I still suspect that the Palladium was just the wrong house for it.  It was only when I saw Terry Johnson's more intimate - alright, smaller - revival at the Menier then also when it transferred to the Playhouse - that the show's charm really showed.  It's sheer relentless optimistic tone can eventually be wearing - the second act really doesn't know where to go - but with the right performers, Fierstein's book can still make you laugh and Herman's self-referencing score can still charm.  I last saw the show when the Menier production transferred to Broadway and Harvey Fierstein played Albin.  Despite LA CAGE's longevity - the only Broadway musical to win Tonys for Best Musical and then Best Musical Revival for each of it's two subsequent incarnations - Jerry Herman has never written another original musical.  And where do I stand on the LA CAGE versus SUNDAY face-off?  Watch this space...

There is fair amount of video on LA CAGE but here is Denis Quilley from 1986 on the stage of the London Palladium introducing 'Les Cagelles' for the great opening number "We Are What We Are" - I first saw the show on a pro's matinee with West End Legend Nicola Blackman and I still remember the sheer excitement of watching this for the first time...

After SPIDERMOOSE: TURN OFF THE VOLUME it was time for something with a little bit more heart... and we had just the show. Who could turn down the chance of seeing The Queen of Broadway Harvey Fierstein as 'Zaza' in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES?

Harvey won a Tony Award for the LA CAGE book in 1983 and he is now the right age to play Albin, the temperamental diva of the Riviera so when Douglas Hodge left the production at the start of the year, Harvey was the most obvious choice to take over the role.

The night we went he was on his third 'Georges', as 'twhere. He started his run with Jeffrey Tambor who then pulled out sharpish due to a back injury which *ahem* seemed to affect his singing voice. He has since been replaced by Christopher Sieber but he was off on our night so we saw the understudy Chris Hoch.

I am presuming that being so partnered was the reason that Harvey was a trifle, um, unstoppable. As he rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out for the nth time, it suddenly occurred to me that he was reminding me of Harpo Marx! Showboating apart, Harvey gave us a larger-than-life performance, a real star turn and his rendition of "I Am What I Am" was wonderfully touching and heartfelt.I must say I also thoroughly enjoyed the performance of Chris Hoch as 'Georges'. Usually cast as Francis the stage manager, Hoch had a brief run as 'Georges' in the hiatus between Tambor and Sieber and he gave a charmingly urbane performance, holding his own against the Fierstein fireworks without really pulling the focus, well done that Hoch!

I'm not sure where it happened - in the journey across the Atlantic or during it's near-year long run at the Longacre Theatre - but Terry Johnson's production has broadened more than somewhat and has lost some of it's Menier/Playhouse charm.

A prime example of this was shown in the performance of Wilson Jermaine Heredia as the camp butler Jacob. Heredia (the original Angel in RENT) was so busy signaling that his lines were funny that the last thing you felt like doing was laughing. Oddly enough the tricky male ingenue role of Georges' son Jean-Michel, which I had not seen done well here, was effortlessly played by A.J. Shively.The comedian Mike McShane as Deputy Dindon was oddly muted but I enjoyed the glamorous performance of Christine Andreas as Jacqueline the restaurateur.

Les Cagelles were as watchable as ever but I felt again, that the personality and characterful line-up from London had been replaced by the more hard-faced professionalism of the Broadway stage.One of the 'broadening' elements however does work - we were greeted at the door by a chatty 'hostess' who popped up again sitting on the stage as a warm-up for the show, chatting and insulting with the audience. She was great fun and an interesting addition to the production.

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES marks the third time we have followed a show from the Menier to Broadway: previous shows have been SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE at Studio 54 and A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at the Walter Kerr (which is across the road from the Longacre spookily enough!) - I wonder if there will be a fourth?

Congratulations to the Menier Chocolate Factory which has received two New York Drama League Award nominations for Best Musical Revival with their exported productions of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (which has just opened to excellent reviews)


It's odd to think I saw both in the tiny 180-seater before they launched out into the world!

The Drama League Performance Award is a bit idiosyncratic - they nominate for a single performance award and once you have won it you cannot win it again although you can be nominated. This year quite a few favorite names are on the list:

Barbara Cook for SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM
Douglas Hodge for LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
Angela Lansbury for A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Laura Linney for TIME STOOD STILL

This Award has been awarded since 1935, how strange that Cook and Lansbury, two of Broadway's great names, have never won the performance award. Angela Lansbury however did win a Unique Contribution Award last year.

For that matter the three living English Queens of the stage - Maggie Smith, Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench - haven't won either!