LA CAGE Reviews

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 12:59am

Today is Sunday, April 18, marking the official opening of La Cage aux Folles, led by the tandem of stage and screen star Kelsey Grammer as 'Georges' and Olivier Award winner Douglas Hodge as 'Albin'. Brought to us by the Menier Chocolate Factory, playing the Longacre following previews that began April 6.

La Cage features music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the play by Jean Poiret. This incarnation, five years after the first B'way revival (starring Gary Beach adn Daniel Davis) is choreographed by Lynne Page and directed by Terry Johnson.

The cast also boasts Fred Applegate as Dindon, A.J. Shively as Jean-Michel, Veanne Cox as Mme. Dindon, Robin de Jesús as Jacob, Christine Andreas as Jacqueline, Elena Shaddow as Anne, and Chris Hoch as Francis.

Also starring as "the notorious and dangerous Cagelles" are Nick Adams, Nicholas Cunningham, Sean Patrick Doyle, Yurel Echezarreta, Terry Lavell, nd Logan Keslar.

"Georges (Kelsey Grammer) is the suave owner of a glitzy drag club on the French Riviera," begins production notes. "Partnered romantically with his high-strung star performer, Albin (Douglas Hodge), the pair live a charmed life — until Georges' son announces his engagement to the daughter of a conservative right-wing politician who's coming to dinner."

This new production played from Nov. 23, 2007 to March 8, 2008, at the Menier Chocolate Factory, earning raves and moving to the West End's Playhouse Theatre on Oct. 30, 2008, where it was nominated for seven 2009 Olivier Awards, winning for Best Musical Revival and Best Actor in a Musical for Douglas Hodge. It won the 2009 Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Musical.

I personally caught the matinee this past Wednesday, and haven't stopped raving since making my way down 48th Street.

My best to all involved.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 10:58am

Here's to the unanimous raves this show deserves!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 2:31pm

That was such a short preview period. Wow.

Best of luck to this show and everyone involved! Can't wait to see it!

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 2:35pm

Saw it again last night..love it so much!

Happy Opening!

[Jersey Girl2]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 3:12pm

Good to hear the reviews-
I'm going today!!

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 3:52pm

Toronto Star is a ... RAVE ...

...In Terry Johnson’s low-rent, warm-hearted production, however, the club is tacky, the “girls” are a butch, frightening collective and the star drag queenZaza is a pudgy middle-aged man with some very tacky gowns.

But that doesn’t matter. Thanks to Hodge as the transvestite star and Kelsey Grammer as his devoted partner, you cut right to the core of the complexity of what makes a relationship endure for decades, be it straight or gay.



Toronto Star

Updated On: 4/18/10 at 03:52 PM

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 4:26pm

What time was the show?

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 4:32pm

It's tonight..6:30
Updated On: 4/18/10 at 04:32 PM

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 4:56pm

THEY HAVE INVADED BROADWAYWORLD!!!

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 5:05pm

Having seen the show twice this past week, I was shocked to find out opening night was tonight. But when I saw the show a second time Thursday night, with Brantley in the audience, I was amazed at just how well in shape it is. I see nothing but raves ahead.

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 6:42pm

The Associated Press is a Rave. A love letter for Hodge.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=10409444

[allofmylife]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 6:56pm

And so it begins. Let's hope they are all as good. Broadway can always use a big hit and this show has so much love baked into it. I saw the fifth performance in 1983 and have never forgotten a minute of it. Now whole new generations will have those songs rattling around in their heads forever.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 7:12pm

Great news so far. I saw it in preview in 1983 plus about a week later and remember it as one of my happiest times in the theatre. I was SO disappointed with the 2005 (?) revival, but chalked it up to, well, maybe it wasn't all that great to start with. This is changing my mind again. Seeing it next Saturday night and cannot wait!!!!!

[once a month]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 7:18pm

Ed...I feel the same way and am seeing it the following Friday night. Saw the original twice with the original cast (brought my Mom once), was disappointed with the revival. Hell...I even came into the city to see the original French movie which played at the Playhouse (?) and read subtitles. Even at that performance when the film seemed so new, the laughter was non stop and uproarious.

Ed-Lets talk tomorrow about Scottsboro Boys!

[Trap-Door Lover]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 7:28pm

I'm so glad to hear this is getting good reviews. I hope to see it sometime in the next two weeks. For those of you who've gone, how's the stage door atmosphere? Is it a zoo or are there not many people? I'd love to meet Kelsey Grammer.

[binau]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 7:33pm

It seemed pretty busy but I looked only from afar during the first week of previews. (Well two instances)

Updated On: 4/18/10 at 07:33 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 8:01pm

New Jersey News Room is Positive

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/movies/petite-la-cage-looks-sweet-on-broadway

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 8:07pm

Variety is Positive. Doesn't like De Jesus though.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117942582.html?categoryId=33&cs=1

[phantom39]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 8:14pm

Now these are some incredible reviews! Looks like Hodge should be looking at the Tony...

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 8:26pm

Backstage is Positive

http://www.backstage.com/bso/content_display/advice/e3iec3c2452ddf8270ca673c400351307a0

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 9:27pm

The Faster Times looks Mixed-to-Negative


http://thefastertimes.com/newyorktheater/2010/04/18/la-cage-aux-folles-review/

[lull89]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 9:34pm

A- from Entertainment Weekly:

"Hodge is practically perfect as the fey Albin, a tricky role in which an actor could easily slip into caricature or sentimentality. Hodge manages a careful balance, delivering a performance that is both hilarious and heartfelt; his character is admittedly over the top, but he always feels real. As his partner, the La Cage manager Georges, Kelsey Grammer proves to be an equal partner in carrying the show. Grammer has a surprisingly strong singing voice (better than his rendition of the 'Frasier' theme song might suggest), and he never makes you doubt his commitment to Albin or his son; you feel the anguish as he seeks to reconcile the conflicting desires of his two loves.

Hodge and Grammer provide a solid grounding for the show, but the rest of the cast offers all the flourishes you'd expect from a show rooted in drag performance. The six Cagelles are an impressively lithe and acrobatic ensemble (the choreography is by Lynne Page), and Robin de Jesus (In the Heights) is uproarious as Albin's devoted butler/maid who aspires to be Cagelle himself. By the end of this well-paced production, it's hard not to concur with the refrain of Albin's second-act number: The best of times is now."


Stage Review La Cage aux Folles Reviewed by Thom Geier

[WayTooBroadway]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 9:43pm

Mandell seems to be the next Matthew Murray. Seriously.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 9:44pm

How can they not like De Jesus? He looks adorable.

[Trap-Door Lover]

Posted: 4/18/10 at 9:48pm

Mandell spent most of his review comparing the cast to the cast in The Birdcage... He doesn't seem very objective.