The songs by Jerry Herman dazzle, and the story by Harvey Fierstein inspires in the Muny’s production of La Cage aux Folles. The classic musical is receiving only its second production at The Muny and the first since 1986.
The primary characters are a longtime couple. Georges and Albin. George is master of ceremonies at “La Cage aux Folles,” a drag nightclub on the French Riviera where Albin is the flamboyant main attraction.
Georges’s son, Jean-Michel, throws a monkey wrench into his family’s routine when he announces his engagement to Anne Dindon, the daughter of a conservative politician. He leads a party that aims to shut down all the drag clubs like Georges and Albin’s.
To keep M. Dindon from forbidding the engagement, Jean-Michel wants his family to pretend to support traditional values at their first meeting with the Dindons. The only way to make this plan work is for Albin to be barred from his home. To make matters worse, Jean-Michel is afraid to break the news to Albin, who has been Jean-Michel’s mother in everything but biology. A great deal must be experienced and learned before the show can arrive at a happy ending.
Norm Lewis as Georges and Michael James Scott as Albin are splendid as a partners who differ widely but fit together beautifully. Mason Reeves as Jean-Michel and Cameron Anika Hill are charming as the young couple.
Terence Archie’s M. Dindon is rigid full of himself. Allison Blackwell is the dutiful Mme. Dindon. Troy Iwata is delightfully quirky as Jacob, George and Albin’s butler. He wants be called their maid, and even more he wants to appear in their show.
The sparkle of the musical numbers comes from crucial contributions by the entire ensemble, Richard J. Hinds’ choreography, the playing of the Muny orchestra under music director Darryl Archibald, Matthew Buttrey’s scenic design, Bobby Pearce’s costumes, Jason Lyons’s lighting, Tommy Kurzman’s wig design, Heather Aurora Hardin’s makeup design, Kylee Loera and Greg Emetaz’s video design, and John Shivers and David Patridge’s sound.
The dancers at the nightclub, known as “The Cagelles,” are a superb group. Its members are Julia Feeley, Cory Hammond, Kodiak Thompson, Michael Milkanin, Aaron Graham, Gordon Semeatu, Cooper Stanton, Michael Di Leo, Duncan B. Smith, Owen Kent Ing, Kaylee Olson, and Kyle White.
La Cage aux Folles continues through August 15 at The Muny in Forest Park.
—Gerry Kowarsky
Photo by MaryKatherine Patteson
From the left, Allison Blackwell as Mme. Dindon, Terence Archie as M. Dindon, Troy Iwata as Jacob, Michael James Scott as Albin, Norm Lewis as Georges, Cameron Anika Hill as Anne, and Mason Reeves as Jean-Michel in La Cage aux Folles.
