La Cage Aux Folles

This must be the most tawdry drag show in town but also the funniest thanks to Ross Waghorn’s turn as Zaza/Albin. A performer who has street cred in ‘Drag’ (he frequently works as his alter-ego Wanda DParke), he commands the stage and with his smart delivery and ad-libs he finds a few more laughs than are on the page in Harvey Fierstein’s bubbly script. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a ‘Drag Queen’ play the role and it was a revelation. He never missed a bitchy retort, and brought natural warmth to the part in a very real and honest performance. Of course, Zaza is one of the great leading roles in musical theatre with a showstopper of a first-act number, the defiant gay anthem “I Am What I Am.” Waghorn delivered it like a pro.

Opposite him as his long-time and straight-acting lover Georges, Rod Jones was very credible, smoothly soothing troubled waters at his partner’s frequent hissy fits, and maternal to his son’s requests. Drew Buchanan handled Jean-Michel’s segue from ungratefully selfish to compassion with charm, whilst Jermia Turner moved gracefully as the fiancée Anne.

The first-act moved smartly under Leo Bradley’s direction but the second appeared to be under-rehearsed with the actors forgetting lines and the singing sometimes out of sync to the backing CD.

The show, a plea for tolerance, was created during the AIDS crisis (and suffered a backlash at the time in London and Australia because of it) is based on the French farce of the same name about a gay couple, Georges and Albin, who have to “butch it up” to meets the parents of their son’s fiancée to fit in.

It was Broadway’s first homosexual musical and back in 1983 pushed the envelope. These days it’s somewhat dated, but the message, unfortunately, still resonates thumpingly loud and clear, and with the country currently casting their ‘yes’ or ‘no’ postal vote for same-sex marriage, it couldn’t be more timely.

Peter Pinne