La Cage-Substandard? Just to me?

[goldenboy]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 9:51am

Did anyone else but me dislike this La Cage Revival?

To me it felt like a bad dinner theatre production. 7 musicians made the music sound very thin at $132 per ticket. (Okay I paid 74)

Douglas Hodge to me was over the top, shticky, unconvincing, annoying and swishy in a very irritating way. He did not compare to the other Albin;s I saw: George Hearn, Keene Curtis and of couse Nathan Lane in Birdcage.For the first time watching a La Cage, I found his performance offensive.


The maid (Robin de Jesus) was the least funny of any other maid I have seen in the role.

The curtains-omnipresent at all times could not make me forget I was at the theatre
and ruined all of the son-father scenes.

The Cagelles- who normally make the show had really horrific choreography that pailed to the original. I found myself yearning for a real Broadway Production. Maybe the one from the 80's

Lest you think I hated everything-- I thought Kelsey fine in the role, Veanne Cox and Fred Applegate and the look of the Cagelles-------- but to me-- this was a substandard La CAge that belonged in dinner theatre.

The audience all around me of course loved it and gave it a standing ovation.
I don't get it.

[mallardo]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 9:55am

I haven't seen it in New York but I saw it in London and, although I liked Hodge better than you did, I generally felt the same way. What's the fuss about?

Also like you I was the odd man out. The audience loved it.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 9:58am

No, you aren't alone, though certainly a minority.

I loathed this revival, with the exception of Kelsey Grammer and Christine Andreas.

[Marquise]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 9:59am

Theatergoers reactions to this production are definitely mixed. The intentions of this scaled, stripped down production is going over a lot of people's heads. Some miss the razzle-dazzle of it's predecessors. I guess this production is an acquired taste.

[vodkastinger]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 10:08am

I too hated this production, and not because it 'went over my head'. I thought they only half-committed to the directorial vision, and the cast seemed to be performing in different shows, some cast members playing like farce, some playing like it was Pinter, and I'm not entirely sure what Kelsey Grammer was doing.

The problem with a 'stripped down' show is that the material has to be incredible, and lend itself to the smallness. "La Cage" is a big, campy farce with a heart, and that can be very enjoyable when done right. "A Little Night Music" works when you take it down to its bear essentials, but there just isn't enough to prop up "La Cage" when you take away the glitz and glamour--it's just a mediocre show left standing there in bad drag.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 10:23am

I loved it in London. It was the first production of La Cage I've seen that I actually enjoyed.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 10:43am

Concept-wise, it’s not really stripped down (which reminds me, we need obviously need a black box La Cage!). It’s trashy trying to pass off as glamorous and glitzy, and it succeeds remarkably, not too much unlike the musical itself. As vodkastinger said, the material is far from perfect. But I think that this production is pretty damn close to being a perfectly realized vision. I really can’t say it better than Brantley did in his review: “What makes this version work — transforming a less-than-great musical into greatly affecting entertainment — is its insistence on the saving graces of the characters’ illusions about themselves and, by extension, the illusions of the production in which they appear.”

I feel like some people are over-looking Kelsey’s performance because it’s not flashy and some are over-looking Hodge’s because it’s too flashy. I didn’t find Hodge too over the top at all, especially since there’s a real heartbreaking and emotionally engaging core to it. After all, “what we are is an illusion.”

But you are right, La Cage is a “big, campy farce with a heart.” I guess I just don’t understand how this production isn’t exactly that.

I found myself emotionally engaged but laughing harder than I had at anything else all season. I can’t wait to go back.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 10:52am

I watched the Cagelles on Regis and Kelly yesterday and didn't like them one bit. The choreography they did looked horrendous.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 10:56am

i felt the same. i thought, if this was supposed to be "fabulous" i must not be in the right frame of mind.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 11:07am

The choreography is supposed to be shoddy. Out of all the complaints about the show, the dancing not being perfect is the closest to being totally irrelavant.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 11:11am

But when the clip they put on national television is that, what is one supposed to think? Especially if this is supposed to get people to want to see the show (which it did the exact opposite for me).

[Piper3500]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 11:17am

"The choreography is supposed to be shoddy. Out of all the complaints about the show, the dancing not being perfect is the closest to being totally irrelavant."

i think the complaints are about more than the coreography. yes it is supposed to be shoddy, but it is more than that.

anyway, i think a lot of this "BROADWAY WEEK" on Regis and Kelly was not so great. Hair wasn't good. and today's Fly Away wasn't either, although i loved them talking to Twyla. problem is Kelly and Reg got into the numbers.

just my two penneth...i know i am probably alone.

[poochie4]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 11:23am

You are not alone, although yes I think we are in the minority. I saw the show last night and left thinking, hmmm... what's all the fuss about.

However, I did adore Hodge's performance. It was the only reason to see this production for me.

I feel it lacked the right energy. The audience seemed to adore it though.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 11:47am

I liked this production, but I didn't LOVE it. La Cage is one of my favorite shows, so it's hard for me to actively dislike it. I thought this production was good, but not GREAT, as some people seem to think it is. I loved Doug Hodge, and Kelsey was fine. But does anyone feel like Kelsey is playing the part EXACTLY how Daniel Davis played it in 2004? To me, the performances were practically identical. Overall, I'd give this production 4 stars out of 5. The best revival of the season in my mind is still Finian's Rainbow (followed closely by Night Music), but we all know that it won't get its due come June.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 12:03pm

The revival is brilliant because it taps into the atmosphere of the show. The show is about a trashy drag club whose star is an over-the-top mega-queen. That's exactly what this production gives the audience. But the cast also taps into the humanity at its core. If Douglas Hodge wasn't over-the-top, he wouldn't be Zaza. And the Les Cagelles are perfection. If the dancing were sleek and perfectly executed/choreographed, it wouldn't be fitting. It's all about atmosphere. I was 100% engaged in the story and I also got the nightclub feel. I think this production is absolutely remarkable.

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 2:51pm

^ well said, and I couldn't agree more

[Wishing Only Wounds]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 3:13pm

Well, this was my first time seeing La Cage in any shape or form and I adored it!

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 3:27pm

I saw (and loved) the original production. But this version gave me the most down-and-out, no-holds-barred entertainment of any show I've seen this year. And the love that went back and forth between audience and cast was palpable.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 3:29pm

And the love that went back and forth between audience and cast was palpable.

I agree! I've never felt that kind of energy shared between performer and audience member. Magical.

[TIGGOSAURUS]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 4:04pm

While I haven't seen the current Broadway incarnation (but would love to given half the chance!), I saw the London production with several different leads and ColorTheHours048's precis sums this show up perfectly for me:

"The show is about a trashy drag club whose star is an over-the-top mega-queen. That's exactly what this production gives the audience. But the cast also taps into the humanity at its core. If Douglas Hodge wasn't over-the-top, he wouldn't be Zaza. And the Les Cagelles are perfection. If the dancing were sleek and perfectly executed/choreographed, it wouldn't be fitting. It's all about atmosphere. I was 100% engaged in the story and I also got the nightclub feel."

The love story between Georges & Albin at the core of it all was what really stayed with me, more so than the spectacle or even the songs. It wasn't 100% slick and perfect and polished but, if it had of been, I doubt it would have had as much heart.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 7:19pm

but If i wanted to see a substandard drag show.. I would go to a substandard drag show....
Not a Broadway Show with seven instruments and an offensive lead
in a dinner theatre production at 132. at ticket

Douglas Hodge was the worst albin I have ever seen.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 7:25pm

"but If i wanted to see a substandard drag show.. I would go to a substandard drag show....
Not a Broadway Show with seven instruments and an offensive lead
in a dinner theatre production at 132. at ticket

Douglas Hodge was the worst albin I have ever seen."

If you thought it was a drag show you missed the point by a mile.
And Doug Hodge is incredible, hes Albin was over the top and heartbreaking, i felt his performance much more than anyone i have seen do that role before. It stood head and shoulders above the over produced revival from a few years back.

[alterego]

Posted: 4/30/10 at 10:43pm

The main point, I think is that it isn't a $132 a ticket show. For $132 you want all the trappings that come with that price tag - full orchestra, full chorus...
Updated On: 5/1/10 at 10:43 PM

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 5/1/10 at 3:07am

"The main point, I think is that it isn't a $132 a ticket show. For $132 you want all the trapping that come with that price tag - full orchestra, full chorus... "

I guess I differ from you there, for $132 I want to see good theatre, and a full orchestra and full chorus does not necessarily make good theatre. I would rather be engaged by what is going on on the stage, I want to be emotionally invested in what I am seeing, on some level. If i walk out of the theatre with either or both accomplished, then I consider it money well spent.
If you want a big chorus, flashy costumes, and a large orchestra, go see a booby show in Vegas, they have all of that, with little to no heart.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/1/10 at 7:29am

"Did anyone else but me dislike this La Cage Revival?"


I wouldn't say I disliked it, but I was certainly disappointed after hearing all the hype about it. I'd call it ok, but uninspired. I definitely preferred the original production, and the first revival as well.

"To me it felt like a bad dinner theatre production. 7 musicians made the music sound very thin at $132 per ticket. (Okay I paid 74)"


The music didn't sound nearly as good as it should, and the overture was woeful.

"Douglas Hodge to me was over the top, shticky, unconvincing, annoying and swishy in a very irritating way."

I had mixed feelings about his perfomance. There were things he did well, but I agree with you that at other moments he was quite irritating.


"The maid (Robin de Jesus) was the least funny of any other maid I have seen in the role."

Here I agree with you 100%.


The main problem with this production is that the comedy didn't work. It's supposed to be funny, and this was only mildly amusing.