La Cage Aux Folles
Menier Chocolate Factory Winter 2007-2008

They really do do it better on Broadway than anywhere else, and they really do do it better at the Menier than most other places.

'It' is the Broadway musical, exemplified here by Jerry Herman's 1982 hit (based on the 1978 French film). It's big and brassy, light and fluffy - machine-made, perhaps, but a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

And, as is rapidly becoming habitual, this small off-West End theatre delivers a production of energy, polish and imagination that belies a budget that would barely pay for tea breaks in the West End.

The gay couple who run and star in a south-of-France drag bar (one as the compere, the other as diva) must cope with the news that the son one managed to produce in an uncharacteristic lapse into heterosexuality now wants to marry the daughter of an ultra-conservative politician, and they have to act straight for a meeting with the in-laws-to-be.

There's clearly plenty of opportunity for both farce and sentimentality, along with mock-production numbers set in the club.

The songs are by Jerry Herman (Hello Dolly, Mame, etc), which means they are the best of Broadway pop. 'With Anne on My Arm' is a lovely ballad, 'The Best of Times' an irresistible singalong and the big numbers all Broadway-brassy, while 'I Am What I Am' rightly became a gay lib anthem.

Harvey Fierstein's book flirts with the outrageous without ever going too far, and includes subtle touches that keep the characters from lapsing into cartoons.

And so the show is great fun, and once again the Menier team, led by producer David Babani, mount a production whose size, elaborateness and energy are the envy and wonder of higher-budgeted producers.

Director Terry Johnson and choreographer Lynne Page, aided by David Farley's inventive stage design, somehow manage to expand the playing area so that it rarely seems cramped. The dances are both colourful and witty, and the central characterisations have been given depth and warmth without sacrificing comedy.

Philip Quast plays the more masculine Georges with a warm and attractive mix of the butch, the tender and the broadly comic, while Douglas Hodge insightfully makes Albin the sadly but bravely ageing diva first, and the effete man only secondarily.

If Neil McDermott is merely serviceable as the son, Jason Pennycooke predictably and delightfully steals all his scenes as the flaming butler/maid.

It isn't absolute perfection, of course. They've had to cut the number of 'girls' in the chorus line, and I would have preferred their being played a little less broadly, to allow just the suggestion of the illusion that they were real women.

The sound engineering is off, and even some of the major voices can't be heard, even in the small theatre. I can't believe Albin would wear such an ill-fitting suit, even if he's happier in dresses. And Douglas Hodge's rendition of 'I Am What I Am' lacks the energy and anger I can still remember from 26 years ago.

But those are cavils. The show is sold out for its Menier run but a West End transfer is inevitable, and should not be missed by anyone looking for a Good Night Out.

Gerald Berkowitz

Return to TheatreguideLondon home page.

Review - La Cage aux Folles - Menier 2007