I saw La Cage aux Folles in London the afternoon of October 8, 2009. It is a musical comedy with songs by Jerry Herman. The story is based on that of the French movie of the same title. The American movie Bird Cage was a later Americanized variation of the same story.
John Barrowman played the role of Albin, who also goes by the name of Zaza as a transvestite entertainer. Although he was miscast, he was still the star of the show and did a lot to help make the show interesting.
“One of Australia’s most accomplished, respected and versatile performers,” as the program booklet says, Simon Burke, whom I never heard of before, was Georges. He has a pleasant singing voice and was more than adequate.
Gabriel Vick, as Georges’s son Jean-Michel, was the one performer in the show who did not have an international sort of accent, but a very English one, a little less than top drawer. He seemed like somebody who had wandered in from a performance of Oliver.
Syrus Lowe was quite funny as the servant Jacob. All the rest of the cast were quite good, including the six Cagelles, of whom Nicholas Cunningham as Hanna was the most interesting.
The musical numbers were what made the show worthwhile. A song during which the Cagelles threw large beach balls into the audience was the most fun. On the whole, the show was very enjoyable.
