"La Cage" at City Center
Posted: 4/15/26 at 8:58pm
Melissa25 said: "Orchestra seats are $205!"
….not for this cast.
Also, considering how much this is produced regionally (I recall a really good production in the Berkshires a couple of years ago), is there really much interest?
Updated On: 4/15/26 at 08:58 PM
Posted: 4/15/26 at 9:45pm
Play Esq. : Melissa25 said: "Orchestra seats are $205!"
….not for a his cast.
Also, considering how much this is produced regionally (I recall a really good production in the Berkshires a couple of years ago), is there really much interest?
Yep, I saw the recent La Cage at Barrington so I am good for a while.
Posted: 4/15/26 at 9:48pm
It doesn't appear to be selling well, so hopefully ticket prices go down.
Posted: 4/15/26 at 10:20pm
City Center clearly forgot how few seats Billy sold for Cabaret when setting these prices.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
Posted: 4/15/26 at 10:52pm
I adore this show and I like Wayne Brady. I would be down to see it for a reasonable price. This is absurd.
Posted: 4/15/26 at 11:11pm
iluvtheatertrash said: "I adore this show and I like Wayne Brady. I would be down to see it for a reasonable price. This is absurd.
"
Hopefully Brady can make it through all 2 weeks. his attendance on Broadway has never been good.
Posted: 4/16/26 at 12:27am
I really, really loved the last two Jerry Herman Encores! and given the current Broadway landscape I can't find a reason to complain about seeing this show again, so count me as excited and hopeful. Okay, so Billy has not been the most consistent actor in recent years, but he's due for a comeback and given how well Douglas Hodge and Harvey Fierstein managed to do in the role with *their* singing voices, I'm not that concerned with his vocal shape either. It's a happy show with a beautiful score, it will feel like a hug to me in these dark times if it's any good.
I expect more affordable options soon.
Updated On: 4/16/26 at 12:27 AM
Posted: 5/22/26 at 1:08pm
So exciting to hear those original orchestrations again! Eight violins!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIh-lmtR3Wc&source_ve_path=OTY3MTQ&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.broadwayworld.com%2F
Posted: 6/16/26 at 5:56pm
Turns out this is selling QUITE well in the dates I'm looking at compared to most recent Encores! at this point. Turns out it was a smart choice for Pride 2026 when we could use some comfort. We'll see how the cast does but yes, honestly just the full arrangement is reason enough IMO.
Definitely going access club for this though. $$$. I was wrong about cheaper options popping up, though TDF is currently still down...
Updated On: 6/16/26 at 05:56 PM
Posted: 6/16/26 at 6:02pm
everythingtaboo said: "City Center clearly forgot how few seats Billy sold for Cabaret when setting these prices."
That was also as a third replacement in a mixed-at-best revival. Yes, his “performance” sunk the boat a little faster, but given the material and a director who can Rein HIM IN, then Billy can really cooks. By all accounts, a friend of mine in the cast is saying it been a wonder to watch this come together since everyone was conceptually unsure of how this would work.
Apparently, the all-black concept has been on ice for a while because Arthur Laurents and Jerry Herman dug their heels in refusal. First day of rehearsal though, Harvey apparently came in and said “Well, they’re both dead now.”
Posted: 6/16/26 at 6:37pm
quizking101 said:
Apparently, the all-black concept has been on ice for a while because Arthur Laurents and Jerry Herman dug their heels in refusal. First day of rehearsal though, Harvey apparently came in and said “Well, they’re both dead now.”"
I wonder what their (Arthur and Jerry) thinking was behind refusing an all black concept. It worked for Dolly back in the day.
Posted: 6/16/26 at 7:42pm
quizking101 said: "Apparently, the all-black concept has been on ice for a while because Arthur Laurents and Jerry Herman dug their heels in refusal. First day of rehearsal though, Harvey apparently came in and said “Well, they’re both dead now.”"
Because of the use of the word "apparently", I'm open to the possibility that this anecdote might be an interesting story, but (hopefully) not true.
It would be heartbreaking to know that gay men might be that closed-minded.
In this interview, Wayne Brady mentions speaking with Harvey Fierstein six years ago about an all-Black production. Brady does not mention any dialog with Fierstein regarding Laurents' or Herman's views about the concept. (That doesn't mean the anecdote is false, though.)
Were Laurents or Herman known to exhibit racism?
Posted: 6/16/26 at 7:47pm
I mean, according to Harvey, Laurents didn't even want gay men in the leads. Or for them to kiss.
A fascinating man.
Posted: 6/16/26 at 8:14pm
No one’s so-called tea is ever as fictional as someone who knows someone in the cast.
Posted: 6/16/26 at 8:39pm
Scarywarhol said: "I mean, according to Harvey, Laurents didn't even want gay men in the leads. Or for them to kiss.
A fascinating man."
I don't think those were Laurents' espoused views, though.
I'm under the impression that those were thoughts resulting from his fear of offending the audience - especially Bostonians in the early 80s.
Bottom line for me is that I'm very happy that there will be an all-Black production of La Cage. I hope it will get an eventual Broadway run.
Updated On: 6/16/26 at 08:39 PM
Posted: 6/16/26 at 11:34pm
I was at the final dress tonight and for now I will say that I expect this to be a divisive production and needs time to cook.
Updated On: 6/16/26 at 11:34 PM
Posted: 6/16/26 at 11:53pm
We all know Harvey’s stories about Arthur Laurents and his attitude towards the dos-and-don’ts of LA CAGE, but we have to remember that when LA CAGE came along, Laurents was in a fallow period. As a director, his longest-running show up to that point only lasted 8 months (WHOLESALE, 20 years prior). He hadn’t written a stage hit since GYPSY in ’59, though had two 70s screen successes as a writer.
I think his LA CAGE insecurities came from wanting to prove to himself and to the larger community that he could be a Big Boy Director at a time when some of the greatest musical theatre directors ever had shows running (Prince, Bennett, Fosse, Tune, Champion, etc). And that the crossover success of the film LA CAGE was not a fluke: it could work on Broadway too.
I’d never heard mention of possibly recasting LA CAGE with an all-Black cast during its original run. Sometimes it can come across as insensitive or gimmicky, but in the case of LA CAGE it makes complete sense to me since the Dindons, Georges, and Albin all have to be the same race for the 2nd act to work without major suspension of disbelief.
Updated On: 6/16/26 at 11:53 PM
Posted: 6/17/26 at 12:03am
Kad said: "I was at the final dress tonight and for now I will say that I expect this to be a divisive production and needs time to cook."
i agree. Needs a LOT of time to cook especially the 2nd act which didn't appear rehearsed. This NEEDS a different director - one with musical experience. Cast is a REAL mixed bag.
Updated On: 6/17/26 at 12:03 AM
Posted: 6/17/26 at 12:37am
I never knew about the under 40 $28 tickets, so I swiped a ticket for next week.
Posted: 6/17/26 at 5:09am
Was the major problem Billy!
Posted: 6/17/26 at 5:33am
east side story said: "No one’s so-called tea is ever as fictional as someone who knows someone in the cast."
I mean, I’ve been friends with this person for enough time where I have no reason to suspect such a detail would be false as they were in the room, but go off I guess
To my understanding, Arthur was just crab-assy about everything, but Herman, with regard to La Cage, was very precious about the material and basically was the anti-Lloyd Webber - not comfortable about any potentially radical reinterpretation
Posted: 6/17/26 at 6:47am
Kad said: "I was at the final dress tonight and for now I will say that I expect this to be a divisive production and needs time to cook."
I'm debating going Sunday, June 28. Lots of seats available. But the rehearsal videos did not sell me on a ticket.
Posted: 6/17/26 at 7:28am
I presume Billy Porter is insufferable in this?
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