It's a funny thing about musicals. In the opera world, audiences don't complain about seeing another Traviata, Boheme, Lucia, Tosca, Rigoletto or Ring Cycle. Plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Shaw, Miller, Williams and O'Neill get revived with certain frequency on both sides of the Atlantic. But with musicals, there seems to be a group of people I would dub the Revival Police who ponder why a certain title is being revived so soon after the last production, as if there is a statute of limitations under which a musical can be revived.
The producers of the Lupone Gypsy knew that they were facing the challenge of reviving that show so soon after the Bernadette production. The producers of this La Cage know they have the same challenge, coming after the 2004 revival. In both instances, the producers feel their production has/had something new or vital to offer. I saw the '83 and '04 La Cages and saw this upcoming production in London over the summer and found it the most enjoyable of the three productions, simply because the intimacy of it raised the emotional stakes of the material to a completely different level. Doug Hodge's performance has also been celebrated and is part of the reason why this production is coming over. (I saw the very fine Roger Allam and Philip Quast in the leading roles and look forward to Hodge).
From a business standpoint, the 2004 La Cage started out strong in advance sales, indicating I think that people are interested in the title, but it dwindled following the lackluster reviews and I think, general audience disappointment in that production. It limped through about six months of middling sales, won the Tony by default and closed without really making much of an impression or I think exhausting the show's potential audience (for a better production).
As far as Kelsey Grammer... David Hyde Pierce's name value was the only thing that kept Curtains going a mere two years ago. Grammer, in his first Broadway musical, I would expect to have similar drawing power. I think he's a great match for the material and he has more ability than just playing Frasier Crane. Having seen the sly, insouciant performance of Philip Quast as Georges, I can definitely see Grammer taking a similar approach and being very winning in this production.
Those who feel this La Cage revival is happening too soon do have the choice of catching something else in Broadway's other 39 theatres.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Updated On: 12/31/09 at 11:43 AM
