Beyond listening to the sound track (and imagining myself playing Albin
on stage) a few thousand times, I managed to have other joyous encounters with La Cage. I found the film version of the
French play and watched it a few times. The film, like the play, is in French
but fortunately there were subtitles. Then in 1996 there was the American
remake of the French Film with its English title, The Bird Cage. There were liberties taken, as so often is the case
with American films, but the essence remained and I was able to strengthen my La Cage connection.
Then in 2004 the gods smiled upon me and I was able to take the subway
from my upper west side Manhattan apartment to the Marquis Theatre to see the
revival of La Cage aux Folles. The
show opened in December but was in previews throughout November and I was able
to see a Wednesday matinee during the preview period. It was an important
moment in my life.
I didn’t make it to see the 2010 Broadway revival ( I do, however, have
the cast album), but was thrilled to learn that the production would tour
beginning the Fall of 2011. Well, I was thrilled until I heard the tour would
be featuring George Hamilton. After listening for decades to George Hearn as
Albin, seeing Nathan Lane on film as Albert (the Albin character), and seeing
Gary Beach (The Producers in another
gay role) as Albin and Daniel Davis[1]
(The Nanny) as Georges, the thought
of the star of the 70s comedies Love at
First Bite and Zorro the Gay Blade
who has since come to be known for his tanning addiction playing Georges just
didn’t inspire confidence in me.
As always happens, though, my rush to judgment proved myopic. Thank
whatever stars that guide the theatre world for not allowing me to stubbornly
miss the touring production. On June 23,
2012, in Fort Lauderdale, I saw the show at the Broward Center for the Performing
Arts.
As it turns out, Hamilton was competent. His singing voice was
adequate. His movements were graceful. His character, believable. Actually, my
expectations were so low, I wound up being impressed. I was especially pleased
with how comfortable he was dancing with and kissing another man. Was it acting
skill or just a remarkable lack of homophobia? In any case, George Hamilton
gave a performance with which he can be pleased.
The actor giving body and voice to Albin was Christopher Sieber. I
remember Sieber from the short-lived TV sitcom “It’s All Relative.” That
program was ground-breaking in that it portrayed gay male parents of a young
woman dating someone from a different class background, and both actors playing
the gay couple (Sieber being one of them) were themselves gay, and the program
was a prime-time, major network television show. But, perhaps it was ahead of
its time because in spite of good ratings, it was cancelled after only one
season.
Sieber is an accomplished theatre actor who played Georges opposite
Harvey Fierstein’s Albin on Broadway before beginning the national tour for
which he plays Albin. He was perfect in the role!
The Cagelles (the chorus basically) were a smaller group than I
remembered from the 2004 production (but were as athletic with their dancing
and acrobatics as the first revival Cagelles had been), and the tour had a
pre-show, interactive monologue given by a female impersonator (also new since
2004). And the “orchestra” was really a very small band. But scaling it down
(for the tour or was the 2010 revival just leaner from the start?) didn’t hurt
the quality of the show at all. In fact, I liked having fewer bodies on stage
where each performance was able to shine.
La Cage aux Folles is French
play from 1973 that was later made into a French film. The Broadway debut of
the musical La Cage aux Folles was an
adaptation of the play with book by Harvey Fierstein , music by Jerry Herman,
and it was directed by Arthur Laurents (gay, gay, and gay). The musical won
multiple Tony awards including Best Musical. There was a 1986 run in London
that lasted only 31 performances. In 2004 Beach and Davis starred in the Broadway
revival which won a Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. A London production was
mounted again in 2008, this time proving to be very successful, winning the
Olivier Award for Best Musical. And the 2010 Broadway revival with Kelsey
Grammar and Douglas Hodge also won Best Revival of a Musical. La Cage, to my knowledge, is the only
Broadway musical to win Best Musical (or Best Revival) every time it has been
staged on Broadway!
The story of a drag performer and his life-partner and their night
club, their son and ultra-conservative future in-laws is a compelling story set
to brilliant music; book and music by gay men, and original Broadway production
directed by a gay man. And the closing number for Act 1, “I Am What I Am” is a
powerfully, dramatic moment in this musical comedy and it became the Gay
National Anthem for the 1980s.
The show brought gay people, on stage and behind the scenes to the
forefront of social consciousness and proved that a positive story about Queer
people could be both critically and commercially successful. La Cage has racked up Tony, Drama Desk,
and Olivier Awards over the last 29 years. Two cast albums and a national tour
are now also part of its legacy. And whether listening to the cast album,
seeing it on Broadway, or enjoying it coming to a theatre near you, it remains
a life-affirming piece of powerful theatre. For three decades and counting, I love
La Cage!
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