La Cage Aux Folles

First a provocative French play written fifty years ago, then the hit film, and then the multi-award-winning Broadway musical in 1983, this gay love story between a night club owner and his resident drag star was, last century at least, a real forerunner.  

This modestly staged revival on the State Theatre’s slender stage runs for only a week. It’s like a pop-up musical, even a concert version – a sign of the times perhaps, and the need for cheaper budgets and ticket prices.  

Veteran musical idol Michael Cormick and boundary breaking artiste Paul Capsis are Georges and Albin, who have raised Georges’ son (Noah Mullins). Jean-Michel must introduce his parents to those of his own love (Chloe Malek) but her father is such an evangelical bigot that for their visit, the festooned apartment must be swept clean of all campery – including Albin.

Lots of high drag action and banter flounces down below in the club, especially from the eight flamboyant Cagelles dancers. The band under music director Craig Renshaw, works hard upstage detailing Jerry Herman’s original melodious, diverse score. Indeed, the songs are the best part, given how garbled and mistimed is Harvey Fierstein’s normally applauded book. Minor characters are unexplained, and many overacted, pantomime-style.  Faulty audio doesn’t help.

Director Riley Spadaro doesn’t help build rhythms, shift the storytelling focus or assert an authentic style, including from his star. Capsis excels as a singer, but too often overlays Albin’s songs with his famed diva impersonations. He takes on the gay anthem “I Am What I Am” not as an assertion but crumpling to the floor like Judy Garland.