Hysterically funny scenes in ‘La Cage aux Folles’
By Betty Mohr Theater Review/bettybmohr@aol.com December 28, 2011 3:40PM
George Hamilton stars in the national tour of "La Cage aux Folles." | Joan Marcus photo
‘LA CAGE AUX FOLLES’
♦ Through Jan. 1
♦ Bank of America Theatre,
18 W. Monroe St., Chicago
♦ Tickets, $32-$95
♦ (800) 775-2000;
BroadwayinChicago.com
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Updated: January 31, 2012 8:08AM
It starts out slowly but by the second act, “La Cage aux Folles” picks up speed, soaring with laughs, characters we love and touching emotional moments.
This joyful musical has a book by Harvey Fierstein, is based on the French play of the same name by Jean Poiret and features lyrics and music by Jerry Herman.
Not only does “La Cage aux Folles” tug at one’s heartstrings, but the show serves up some hysterically funny scenes.
By the end of the show, audiences expressed their approval of this touring production, playing at the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago, with a standing ovation.
George Hamilton as Georges, the owner of the St. Tropez nightclub, is understated and less tan than you’ve seen him on television.
But watching the sweetness and dapper charm of his portrayal, one can see why, even at age 72, women are still taken with him.
In the early part of the show, Hamilton is a bit stiff due to a couple of knee operations, but he warms up with a debonair sexiness in an elegant red jacket and later in white tie and tails.
Sing-speaking in the style of Rex Harrison, Hamilton makes a fitting foil for Christopher Siebert, who plays Albin, Georges’ lifelong partner.
Sieber, all swish and sass, is a wonder not only as Albin but also as Zaza, the drag queen star of the “La Cage” nightclub drag revue.
The versatile Sieber originally played the part of Georges at the end of the recent Broadway incarnation, and now the 6-foot-2-inch macho man is fantastic playing against type as a transvestite.
That he looks like a football player makes Sieber all the more spectacular in the drag queen role.
Towering over everyone in heft and girth, but displaying a large assortment of feminine wiles, Sieber is riveting in every scene, especially when, as Zaza, he pours his heart out singing “I Am What I Am.”
The show not only stands out because of great performances, but also because of Herman’s melodious musical numbers.
One can’t help but love the laugh-filled song “Masculinity” in which Georges’ attempts to teach Albin to walk and talk like John Wayne, the heartfelt “Look Over There” and the hopeful “The Best of Times.”
The only thing that could make this show better is a tightening of the first act.
There are too many redundant dance numbers featuring the high-kicking Cagelles, the gender-bending dance troupe, which create a drag on the plot.
Pare back about 20 minutes from the first act, and it will speed the momentum of the story.
Indeed, it’s not until the second act that the story takes off.
The homey life of Georges and Albin is interrupted when Georges’ son, Jean-Michel, announces he is engaged to Anne, the daughter of a French politician who plans to make his mark by closing all the transvestite nightclubs in France.
Anne’s parents want to meet Jean-Michel’s parents, and Albin, who has been the only mother the boy has known, has to be pushed out of the way.
“La Cage” was a groundbreaking musical comedy when it first opened on Broadway in 1983, and it’s still a glitzy and bawdy show that creates sympathy and understanding.
It’s important to remember, though, that this show is filled with sexual situations that are for adults only.
Betty Mohr is a local free-lance writer.
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