Review West End Theatre: Cage aux Folles | Playhouse | Transvestite

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The Review - THEATRE by HOWARD LOXTON
Published: 6 November 2008

Douglas Hodge (centre) and company in La Cage aux Folles

Songs from La Cage with Albin and
gorgeous Georges

REVIEW: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
Playhouse

Georges and Albin are a middle-aged gay couple who run a chic drag cabaret club in fashionable St Tropez, with Albin as its transvestite star, the glamorous Zaza.
When Georges’ son announces he’s getting married and the potential in-laws are coming to visit, they have to transform the household into a conventional heterosexual home for girlfriend Anne’s father, a bigoted right-wing politician.
It’s a situation ripe for high camp comedy – and Jerry Kerman and Harvey Fierstein’s musical version of the 1970s play and film is hilarious – yet Terry Johnson’s new production also places an emphasis on loving relationships and real family values.
The brilliant long-legged, high-kicking “showgirls” have a dazzling line in clever choreography (by Lynne Page) and tower over Denis Lawson’s suave Georges, who strives to keep the peace and maintain appearances.
Stuart Neal and Alicia Davies make a charming young couple and Jason Pennycooke is outrageous as a butler who insists on being a housemaid. Iain Mitchell plays the po-faced politico with Paula Wilcox in the role of his rather more human wife.
But it’s Douglas Hodge’s Albin that dominates this celebratory show. If you thought him an actor more at home with serious drama, this is a revelation. The flowing arms and elegant gestures of his Cockney queen absorb every camp cliché and makes them his own.
Beginning with a hint of a gay Ena Sharples that develops into a fluttery Alan Carr, his performance is a virtuoso display, balanced by his innate sensitivity; his numbers have hints of Piaf, Dietrich, Merman and Dors together.
Stylishly set and with some fantastic costumes, this is a joy to watch.
The show-stopping “I Am What I Am” has become a gay anthem but this is a show for everyone, not just a gay audience.
However, this new production does allow the two male leads a kiss, which the original production did not dare, for fear of alienating its straight Broadway audience.
Until January 10
CNJ Booking Line 0870 040 0070

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