Too Soon for La Cage?? (A Debate About Revivals)- Page 3

[Brick]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 2:01pm

The production looks wonderful.

[algy]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 2:55pm

If a revival is good, worth seeing and deserves a transfer, why should it be forced to wait x many years to be a certain distance away from the last production? Force it to wait and it may lose relevance, never get made, and you may not be able to bring across the star turn - who may be too old or busy with something else.

It doesn't matter if there are other shows that are more "deserving" of a revival, because they haven't yet been done or there's a bigger gap since a production etc. We should (and I am) be pleased that there are producers willing to do a revival this good, rather than hack together another jukebox musical or movie adaptation.

I saw 20 shows last year (I would've seen more if I had the budget, but I don't!) ranging through musicals and plays, Avenue Q to Shakespeare. And this was the one show from the whole year that I wanted to go back to. Having waited for a ticket offer for Douglas Hodge's return, I am kicking myself for not seeing it sooner (like straight after I saw the RVP performance) and having to rush a re-vist after seeing it right at the end of the run. Even my musical phobic boyfriend loved it - he was deeply sceptical about the show before he saw it, but has since had several long and involved conversations with me about it - and that's a first!

Douglas Hodge's performance is amazing, and imho the production merits a transfer. Ergo it should have it's chance. I can't imagine the running costs (bar Grammar's salary) are high, so it's not like it's got to pay a mega chorus line or orchestra. Hopefully Grammar will do a Hyde Pierce and be a draw (I'm not afraid to admit I managed to persuade my sister to see Curtains while we were in New York because he was in it - she's not a Fan of Kander and Ebb - and she's still beating me up over it), even if I'm having slight trouble visualising him doing it.

As usual though, I'm looking forward to reading what the Broadway half of the board have to say about this, (because I read much, much more than I post) to see whether this production gets lost in translation.