la cage reviews.....newsdays is up — Page 2

There was nothing simplistic about the original production. It had both the heart and the glitz in equal measure, Hearn and Barry were perfection, Scott Salmon's choreography was sublime, and Theoni Aldredge, in her early 80s glory days, was at her considerable best with the costumes. I also missed certain things in Arthur Laurents' original staging. Now, I had a very good time when I saw the revival, but if the other major critics weigh in saying that the original had a sharper attack, they're not necessarily wrong.

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Ben Brantley (who calls it "alternately garish and pallid ") from the Times:

"WELL, it's about time Broadway turned its attention to the needs of that neglected demographical stereotype, the Tired Businessman. Really, when was the last time that a big show opened with enough cheesecake and hummable, vaguely familiar melodies to penetrate the smog of Maker's Mark and statistics that so many men of Manhattan take with them to the theater?

Finally, there is good news for these weary fellows, who are probably even now groaning over the prospect of another evening of Disney-style anthropomorphism. A revival opened last night at the Marquis Theater with the sauciest, most scantily clad chorus of long-stemmed beauties since, well, probably "The Will Rogers Follies" 13 years ago.

There's one hitch, though, boys. These dolls, who are strutting so magnificently through the new production of Jerry Herman's "Cage aux Folles," turn out to be guys. But just have an extra highball before you go. Then you won't even know the difference.

Actually, even the most convention-bound theatergoers won't need to fortify themselves with alcohol to remain shock-free through this alternately garish and pallid production of "La Cage aux Folles," which features a book by Harvey Fierstein and is directed by Jerry Zaks. "La Cage" became a hit in 1983, after all, as a cheerfully square, family-friendly entertainment in risqué clothing. It was an old-fashioned celebration of an old-fashioned marriage, with the added fillip that the partners both happened to be men and worked in a transvestite nightclub in St. Tropez. (It was also one of the few shows in recent decades to produce a top-40 pop hit, "I Am What I Am," recorded in a disco version by Gloria Gaynor.)"
Times Review

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They didn't say it's terrible- just harmless and not great.

I'm referring to the reported pre-opening debate between the members of the creative team who felt that audiences have matured enough to witness two men in a lip-lock and those who weren't sure.

Wait, there was still controversey over this? Come on. There was a man-on-man smooch in The Boy From Oz last year and the only "controversey" I saw was from a few idiot talk show hosts who couldn't resist a sn* when interviewing Jackman. And I'm sure BFO wasn't the first or only show on Broadway to do that.

Clive Barnes is mixed but mostly positive in the Post:

" "La Cage" was always a splendidly old-fashioned musical, unrepentantly unsophisticated, a follow-up to "Hello, Dolly!" and "Mame" — all wonderful old-time counterpunches to the newer Broadway musical epitomized by Stephen Sondheim.

The show, with amusing new sets by Scott Pask and gorgeous to-die-for costumes by William Ivey Long, is high-octane glamour, over-the-top but reveling in it. .....

Jerry Mitchell's choreography proves efficiently routine, but Jerry Zaks' new staging doesn't have the same cutting edge as Arthur Laurents' did, while some of the performances have less power.

Those who remember George Hearn's wonderful original turn as Albin may find Beach rather lost on those sands of time, but he is often outrageously funny as a kind of benign Dame Edna. He certainly brings the right passionate poignancy to "I Am What I Am."

Davis' crinkly-eyed Georges, all kindly sophistication and looking as if he had been born in a dinner jacket, proves fine, and his two big ballads are handled with a Maurice Chevalier-like grace.

As the family butler who knows he's really the maid, Michael Benjamin Washington is a delight, and Ruth Williamson is dandy as the restaurant owner Jacqueline. But the starchy parents (Michael Mulheren and Linda Balgord) need more fizz in their detergent, and the dull young lovers, Gavin Creel and Angela Gaylor, disappear into the scenery at every opportunity.

So this "La Cage" is perhaps not quite the best of times, but Jerry Herman's score still jerks at the feet and tugs at the heart.


NY Post

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let's start a pool betting on what Simon will write on Monday. part of me thinks he'll love it, despite his thing with homosexuality.

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I just got back from the show and festivities as well, and ready to report. Keep in mind that I did not see the original, and knew almost NONE of the music going into it. Here are my thoughts - I'll break it into segments because there's no way I can try to form something even close to a formal review:

The Set: It works, it's fine, but it's nothing great or memorable. I was surprised, all Scott Pask's other work has been amazing - here, everything is just typical.

Costumes: For Les Cagelles, they are wonderful and incredible - everything they should be. For everyone else in the show, including our two leads, they are also typical. Nothing great, but they definitely work.

Choreography: Finally, Jerry Mitchell can pick up his Tony that he should have won for HAIRSPRAY in 2003. He is at his best here. His choreography for the big nightclub acts is sensational. His choreography for everything is else is exactly what it should be, and exactly what you expect it to be.

Gary Beach: I couldn't agree with Ben Brantly more about everything - he even said a few things I was thinking of myself in exact wording. He is miscast. Beach is no doubt a fine performer, but he is doing nothing new here. At times he channels Nathan Lane physically and vocally - and it doesn't work for him. Not for a second did I believe anything he was doing on stage. Too cartoon-like, and that absolutely took away from the integrity of the show - I was very, very disappointed in his performance. Someone on here once said that he'll win the Tony for sure in June. I couldn't disagree more, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was left out of the nominations all together.

Daniel Davis: I thought he did a fine job with the role, although he needs some work on his comedy skills. So hysterical in THE NANNY, here, he seems to have forgotten everything. Or maybe it's Jerry Zak's fault - only they know, but so many of his "funny" lines fall flat because of his terrible delivery. And, frankly, just about everything any of the performers said on stage came across that way.

Gavin Creel: By far, the most talented one on that stage in both acting and singing. I can listen to that boy sing all night long, too bad he only sings a few times. Some found him "too gay" or "too harsh," but I found his performance to be the only true, heartfelt performance in the entire show. Best Supporting Actor, anyone? He's wonderful.

Michael Benjamin Washington: The only funny part of the show. And that's not because Fierstein's book isn't funny - much of it is - but Washington is the only one that knew how to work it. All the other jokes were just thrown around like they knew people would laugh anyway, so it didn't matter how they said it. I never stopped smiling and laughing the entire time he was on the stage. His "Jacob" is very much the gay, bitchy "Marilyn" of this season and, other than maybe Gavin Creel - and ONLY Gavil Creel, the most talented of the leading and supporting roles. That's not a very good sign when your best talent lies in the barely supporting role of Jacob the maid.

Michael Mulheren: As Edouard Dindon, Jean-Michel's soon to be father-in-law, he is nothing but flat, boring, unconvincing, and, did I say flat? The actor that plays this part has such great material and GREAT opportunites for some amazing and quite touching moments, particularly towards the end when he bitterly yells at Georges and Albin and calls them "Homosexuals!" in a nasty, and very bitter way. You're supposed to hate this character and cheer for Georges and Albin. Instead, you have no opinion on the matter because nothing happening on stage is of any great merit, none of it is believeable, and most of the acting is terrible. Is is really the best they could find?

Les Cagelles: The only fantastic part about this show. They get my highest praise - I could watch them for hours. What Brantley said could not be more true - when they're on stage, you're having a great time. Everything else going on between their numbers is quite forgettable.

The rest of the supporting cast is fine. Nothing great, nothing bad, just fine.

It's very, very sad that Harvey Fierstein's terrific and hysterical book doest not shine in this production. Has Jerry Zaks ever heard of comedy? He definitely doesn't know how to direct one, that's for sure. It is also sad to say that this production is, yet again, typical Jerry Zaks. Nothing new and bold or even slightly interesting. This guy takes no chances with anything, and his work does nothing for me. In comparison, David Leveaux's shows have the highest stakes and often take the highest risks and as a result, soar beyond belief. Same with Sam Mendes, and even Hal Prince and Jack O'Brien - any of the 4 mentioned would have turned this show to gold, I'm sure.

Another MAJOR disappointment was Beach's delivery of "I Am What I Am." This song needs to be heartbreaking and triumphant and close Act 1 dramatically and grandly. However, it does not in any way, shape, or form. Yes, in every verse the orchestra gets louder and louder and faster and faster, but Beach just stands there, half-speaking half-singing. It almost comes off as if he's going through the motions of it. It seems as if he's thinking "alright, you all know the song, you all know what's going to happen, I'm just going to stand here and pretend I care." When the time comes for him to rip off his wig, bitterly thrust it at Georges and storm out of the theatre, he does none of that. It's seemed to me that he was like "OH! Ok, now I take my wig off, now I walk over here, now I go down the stairs." He threw away the ending, and it was tragic. Again, I'm not so sure it's all Beach's fault - it could be typical Zaks stupidity.

THE INFAMOUS FINALE KISS: All I heard about was the kiss to end the show. How in the original, they just linked arms and walked upstage, and how this time they were to kiss, and how it was "controversial," but all of the creative team felt it necessary. I agree - the kiss IS necessary and IS important to the end of the show. However, it is so poorly staged and so poorly executed that you almost miss them kiss. As the music swells, they link arms and walk upstage right to a spotlight that's been in that spot the entire time - so you KNOW that's where they're going to stop to kiss. Right as they stop, they turn and quickly kiss. However, right as they turn and start to kiss, the curtain has already been falling and is now right above their heads. If you blink, you'll miss it. It's just awfully, awfully, AWFULLY staged. I don't know what anyone was thinking with this one, it's really just a bit of drivel. It's very sad that such a great book, solid score, and amazing story have been butchered so terribly.

Another thing that bothered me: In one of the last scenes when Jean-Michel's fiance's parents come over to meet his, Albin decides that he will dress up as a woman and pretend to be JM's mother, and Georges' wife. The entire time, up until the end of "The Best of Times," the family believes it's a woman until he takes off his wig. Now, no one in their right mind would ever believe it's really a woman for a split second. Not only does she LOOK like a man, but her singing voice is lower and more masculine than ANYONE else onstage - it's terrible and unbelievable, and it ruined the end of the show for me.

This is just a very, VERY miscalculated production. See it for Les Cagelles, Gavin Creel, and Michael Benjamin Washington. Everything else, you've seen before.

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I'm still so bummed that it's so bad! It's such a good show, it has such amazing potential! LET ME DIRECT IT! Jesus...

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