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| The Cagelles. All Photos by Diane Sobolewski |
One thing you can count on is that
Goodspeed Musicals knows how to produce a musical. Another thing you can count
on is that director Rob Ruggiero knows how to stage a musical. Thus, it’s
almost a sure bet that, by and large, you will enjoy La Cage aux Folles, which recently opened at the Goodspeed Opera
House. You may come away a little less than satisfied, but that has more to do
with the structure of the musical, written by Harvey Fierstein, with music by
Jerry Herman, than it does with the current production.
Based on the 1973 play by Jean
Poiret and a 1978 film, the musical opened on Broadway in 1983 and garnered
nine Tony nominations. It has enjoyed several revivals, again receiving Tony
honors, and is often produced in regional theaters. The plot revolves around
the owners of “La Cage,” a St. Tropez nightclub that features transvestite
dancers dubbed the Cagelles. At the cabaret, a long-time couple, Georges (James
Lloyd Reynolds) runs the business, while Albin (Jamison Stern), as Zaza, is the
fading, somewhat hyper-sensitive star of the show.
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| Jamison Stern and James Lloyd Reynolds |
Complications arise for the couple
when Georges son, Jean-Michel (Conor Ryan), the result of a one-night stand
Georges had many years ago with a show girl, returns home to announce that he
is going to get married to Anne (Kristen Martin), the daughter of Marie (Stacey
Scotte) and Edouard Dindon (Mark Zimmerman), who are on their way for a visit
to meet Jean-Michel’s family. The major stumbling block is that Dindon is the
leader of the “Tradition, Family and Morality Party,” an organization that does
not take too kindly to the “La Cage” lifestyle. Jean-Michel pleads that, for at
least 24 hours, his “family,” which includes Jacob (Cedric Leiba, Jr.), a very
eccentric maid/butler, become more “traditional.”
Georges can pull it off, but Zaza
is, well, Zaza, so Georges and Jean-Michel initially ask Albin not to be
present, but after Albin pulls a hissy fit, Georges relents and suggests that
Albin transform himself into Uncle Albert. The ensuing transformation and visit
by the Dindon’s turns into a controlled farce, with tables and genders being
turned and everything working out for the best in the end.
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| James Lloyd Reynolds and Cedric Leiba, Jr. |
The problem, if there is one, is
that all of this rushes towards a whisper (and a kiss) rather than a bang. Over
the evening, there are numerous “wow-the-crowd” numbers, interspersed with more
intimate ballads, and this stellar cast ably performs both. If La Cage ended with the much-anticipated
and wonderfully rendered “I Am What I Am” number, which closes the first act, there
would be emotional closure of sorts, or if it ended with “The Best of Times,”
it would leave the audience exiting on an emotional high, but it doesn’t do
either, and, as written, it can’t, so we go into the second act, which has its
moments but then devolves, at least in this production (and many others), into
a rather confusing visual pastiche that is less of a resolve than an attempt to
wrap it all up in a neat little package.
That being said, you can’t deny
that this “La Cage” delivers exactly what the show is meant to deliver: camp,
comedy and sentimentality. There are no surprises (for those who have seen the
show before) but many delights. Right from the initial reveal of the Cagelles
in “We Are What We Are,” you know you are in good hands. Stern’s transformation
in “A Little More Mascara” can’t help but elicit enthusiastic applause, and his
paean to self-actualization, “I Am What I Am” is flawless. Then there is the
second act’s “Masculinity” number, and again, with Reynolds as straight man, Stern
has a field day as a gay man trying to adopt the persona of John Wayne. Lieba,
Jr. is delightfully over-the-top, as his character demands, Martin is lithe and
lovely as Anne, Sue Mathys is expressively “French” as Jacqueline, a local
bistro owner, and Ryan is eager and earnest as Jean-Michel. For the price of a
ticket, you really can’t ask for more.
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| Conor Ryan and James Lloyd Reynolds |
As good as Ruggiero is, however, as
director he hasn’t been able to figure out how to successfully stage the
musical’s helter-skelter penultimate scene or the show’s resolution, to focus
the audience’s eyes on what is important (perhaps only the medium of film can
do this successfully). There are just too many perspectives to consider and too
much going on. The fault, mainly, lies in the book, and you have to work with
what you’ve got, but one can only wonder what might have been if Ruggiero had
said, “What if…?” and acted on the answers that came to his very creative and
theater-savvy mind.
La
Cage aux Folles has been extended through Sept, 10. For tickets or more
information call 860.873.8668 or visit: www.goodspeed.org.
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