La Cage aux Folles theatre review (UK Tour): John Partridge and Adrian Zmed bring a little glamour to theatres with this new tour of the 1980s Harvey Fierstein musical.
La Cage aux Folles theatre review by Paul Heath at the New Wimbledon Theatre, London.
La Cage aux Folles theatre review
It’s hard to believe that Harvey Fierstein‘s Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles dates all of the way back to the early 1980s. Following countless revivals and nationwide tours across so many countries around the world over the years, not only does the story feel so worryingly relevant in today’s social and political climate, but also still manages to harvest so much magic, wonder and rapturous applause night after night, nearly thirty-five years since its conception.
Set in St. Tropez on the French Riviera, La Cage aux Folles opens in the famous establishment of the same name; a renowned drag nightclub, home to the wonderful Les Cagelles and their star performer and headline act, Zaza. Above the club lies the abode of owner Georges (Adrian Zmed) and his partner Albin (John Patridge), who transforms into the stunning Zaza and performs to a packed house twice-nightly. One evening during the late summer sees Georges’ son Jean-Michel (Dougie Carter) make a surprise visit. His arrival into the world was the result of a drunken one-night-stand with a woman named Sybil 24 years previous, and on this fateful night, Jean-Michel announces to Georges that he is to marry imminently, his future wife Anne (Alexandra Robinson) being the daughter of a prominent right-wing politician named Edouard Dindon from the “Tradition, Family and Morality Party”, whose goal is to close all of the drag clubs in the Riviera.
Jean-Michel tells his father that he wants to bring Anne, her mother and father to his apartment to get their blessing – with just a couple of stipulations – that his mother Sybil is present, and that Albin is not. Georges unwillingly agrees to go along with Jean-Michel’s wishes and must tell the glamourous, but deeply emotional Albin that the son they have both raised for the past twenty years or so, doesn’t want him around on one of the most important and defining nights of his life. The results are heart-breaking, deeply emotional, but also absolutely hilarious.
La Cage aux Folles theatre review
I’m going to break from the norm and review La Cage aux Folles from more of a personal stand-point. My introduction to this story, like a lot of people, was probably the Robin William and Nathan Lane Hollywood remake, The Birdcage, which was released all of the way back in 1996. I remember enjoying the film, mainly for the performances of the two actors at the heart of the story. My knowledge of the original play, subsequent French film adaptation and then the Fierstein musical was limited, but knew the latter had a very successful run in the West End just a few years ago. My expectation for this new touring production was high, but also very trepid, but that initial apprehension was washed away pretty swiftly. This musical blew my mind.
Fierstein’s book takes its time in staging its story, the first twenty minutes or so its weakest – if there is such a thing in a musical of this standard – but once the cast are allowed to bite deep into the wonderful words and musical numbers that follow, La Cage aux Folles really starts to shine. Whether the musical works or not is the responsibility of the actors that play Georges and Albin. Here they are played by T.J. Hooker and Grease 2 star Adrian Zmed, and Eastenders, and Chicago actor John Patridge, and they are both flawless. Their chemistry on stage works, the feeling of love between the two characters is spot-on, and is heartfelt and utterly believable. Zmed’s straight-man, who I say in the comedic sensibility, is wonderfully matched with the opposites of Patridge’s comedic, wonderful, and sometimes seemingly ad-libbed Albin, in one of the best performances I have ever seen on a stage. Partridge is absolutely stunning, his presentation of the character making the audience cry with laughter one minute, and then weep with the simplest of facial expressions and drop of the head the next. A breaking of the fourth wall catapulting the paying crowd into the audience of La Cage aux Folles club just before the interval is a true stand-out, and Partridge had the entire house eating out of the palm of his hand. He is impeccable.
La Cage aux Folles theatre review
Other stand-outs include the brilliant Samson Ajewole as butler/ maid Jacob, who also provides a lot of laughs, and of course theatre royalty Marti Webb as local restaurateur Jacqueline.
I’ve sat staring at my screen for quite some time attempting to find fault in this production. I just can’t. There aren’t enough adjectives in the English language to describe how wonderful an experience La Cage aux Folles is. It is musical theatre at its absolute best; one that transcends social boundaries to give an experience like not other. It really does not get any better than this. Unmissable.
La Cage aux Folles theatre review by Paul Heath at the New Wimbledon Theatre, March 2017.
La Cage aux Folles plays at the New Wimbledon Theatre, London until 18th March, before continuing on its nationwide tour until August 2017.
