Review: La Cage aux Folles at Gold Coast Little Theatre

By Douglas Kennedy

Cage aux Folles

Music and lyrics by Jerry Herman

Book by Harvey Fierstein; based on the play by Jean Poiret

Directed by Joshua McCann-Thomson, with musical direction by Steven Days and choreography by Jackson Kook and Lucy Taylor.

Featuring Tomer Dimanstein and David Valks.

Presented by arrangement with Origin, on behalf of Samuel French. Season ends July 18.

La Cage aux Folles, the 1983 musical that won six Tony Awards, is notable as the first hit Broadway show to centre on a gay male relationship.

Set in a Saint-Tropez nightclub, the story is based on the 1973 play of the same name and features Jerry Herman’s gay anthem, I Am What I Am.

This Gold Coast Little Theatre production embraces the garish camp style of La Cage, while unfolding a bittersweet but consistently funny story about larger-than-life characters seeking acceptance.

The nightclub manager Georges (Tomer Dimanstein) and his partner Albin (David Valks), who is the club’s star turn with the stage name Zaza, leads a nearly 20-strong cast of characters, in a song and dance display of drag splendour.

The show opens with the chorus line, known as Les Cagelles, introducing themselves with the I am What I am related number We Are What We Are as Georges and Albin show themselves to be happily together for many years.

There’s two important additions to the couple’s family, Jean-Michel (Ashley Williams), Georges 24-year-old son from an early liaison with a woman, and Jacob (LLuan Fitzgerald).

As the story unfolds, we learn that Jean-Michel has fallen for Anne (Isabella Wiesenthal) and wants to marry her despite her father being the leader of a morality party that wants to close the Saint-Tropez drag night clubs.

Jean-Michel also wants the in-laws to meet, which means the couple’s home will need a conservative make over  and the highly sensitive diva like Albin will have to be swept away for a couple of nights.

The ensuing, sometimes farcical, antics dominate much of the narrative as the audience is introduced to a swag of engaging encounters along the way.

The show has a great look and the creative team has done a first-class job with director Joshua McCann-Thomson holding everything together beautifully. Plus, the band, under the direction of Steven Days, is top-hotch.

The chemistry between Georges and Albin is touching and sincere, while Valks’ Zaza and Fitzgerald’s maid Jacob are real scene stealers. There are more than a few show stopping moments in La Cage and the ensemble is reminiscent of the girl orchestra in Cabaret.

They all display a naughty, but nice, decadence which is unlikely to upset too many sensitive souls and possibly engage many a mainstream audience.

The news from the GCLT box office is that the season is selling out fast and in this age of rising prices and cost of living nightmares, quality community theatre is great value.