La Cage aux Folles: A Very Special Creation

La Cage aux Folles

Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman

Book by Harvey Fierstein

Based on the play La Cage aux Folles by Jean Poiret

Starring: Maxwell Caulfield and James Beaman

Featuring: Jane Summerhays, Susan Powell, and William McCauley

With: Antoine Ashley, J. Cameron Barnett, Jim Burkholder, Bryan Crawford, Alison Cusano, Greg Daniels, Patrick Dorow, Sean Patrick Doyle, Ryan Driscoll, Andrew Haserlat, Leah Hofmann, Matthew Jones, Matthew J. Kilgore, John Jacob Lee, Merrill Peiffer, Dawn Tucker, Rebekah Turner, Kristen Beth Williams

Director, BT McNicholl; Choreographer, Barry McNabb; Music Director, Ken Clifton; Lighting Designer, Richard Latta; Costume Designer, James E. Crochet; Sound Designer, Adam Rigby; Set Designer, Richard Ellis; Wig Designer, Byron J. Batista; Associate Director, Jennifer Werner; Production Stage Manager, Robert Levinstein

Performances through August 4 @ John Lane's Ogunquit Playhouse

Box Office 207-646-5511 -or- www.ogunquitplayhouse.org

The Ogunquit Playhouse is celebrating its 75^th Diamond Jubilee Anniversary Season in grand style with a sparkling production of La Cage aux Folles. The 1984 Tony Award winner for Best Musical copped a total of six trophies, including book, original score, actor, costume design, and direction, as well as two additional Tonys for the 2005 revival on Broadway. If awards were given out on the summer circuit, this show would be in serious contention in several categories.

Blessed with an outstanding book and score to begin with, the team at Ogunquit has excelled with its cast, direction, and costume design that truly dazzles. I have rarely seen this caliber of costumes in a production outside of New York, let alone in summer stock. The array of colorful feathers, spangles, boas, and trains offers an eye-popping feast. A major tip of the hat to James E. Crochet and whoever sews on all those sequins. Also, a tip of the wig to Byron J. Batista whose creations camouflage the gender of the chorus line members. When Les Cagelles open the floorshow with "We Are What We Are," we buy into the illusion that they're all girls because their hair, clothing, and mannerisms convince us. I don't know how Barry McNabb did it, but the choreographer even gets the boys to kick as high as the girls. 

Set in the seaside resort of St. Tropez, France, the musical comedy focuses on Georges and Albin, a middle-aged gay couple who run the nightclub La Cage aux Folles, where most of the chorus girls are boys in drag and Albin is the featured performer known as Zaza. They have been together for 20 years and raised Georges' 24-year old son Jean-Michel, the offspring of a casual one-night stand. They enjoy a luxuriant home life with their black transvestite butler/maid Jacob and have a respectable place in their community. When their son returns from a holiday and announces his engagement - to a woman! - their lives are turned upside down. It seems that Anne's father is an extremely conservative politician, the Deputy General of the Tradition, Family, and Morality Party (TFM) who intends to rid the city of its sin. Naturally, the lifestyle of this family would be particularly hard for him to swallow, so Jean-Michel wants to misrepresent his circumstances. In order to do so, he implores his father to call in his long-absent mother, temporarily eliminate Albin, and redecorate the entire apartment more, shall we say, tastefully.

Georges realizes how much these arrangements hurt Albin, so he initiates Plan B and marshals the townspeople to help convert his partner into macho Uncle Al ("Masculinity"). Only after receiving word from the boy's mother Sybil that she will not be making an appearance does Albin try to step into her role. The two families struggle to get to know each other and seem to be warming to their task as they dine and sing at Chez Jacqueline ("The Best of Times"). However, something unforeseen occurs, craziness ensues, and it's a mad dash to the hilarious grand finale.

As Albin/Zaza, James Beaman has some large pumps to fill, following in the footsteps of Tony and Drama Desk Award winner George Hearn. Whether it was the era (the Reagan years, the height of the AIDS epidemic), or simply his own interpretation, Hearn played the part with more than a modicum of anger and bellicosity. Beaman's take is softer, more feminine, as it were. His Albin is excitable, but not out of control, prone to histrionics, but not hysteria. His star quality is simply accompanied by star temperament. (Love her, love her outbursts?) Beaman's walk and mannerisms are so spot on that one would think he had been walking in high heels his whole life. He looks terrific and surprisingly quite shapely in the numerous exquisite gowns designed for Zaza. Oh, I know, there's all kinds of padding used to fill him out in all the right places, but he still makes a very attractive woman! His face registers dismay or disapproval with just the right pursing of his lips, hurt with an appropriate pout, and joy with a delightful smile and tilt of the head. When he greets another woman with the requisite kissing of both cheeks, he bends one leg at the knee and kicks it up behind him - such a flirt!

Beaman is also gifted with a strong voice that he uses to excellent effect at the end of Act One. I thought his singing was a bit tentative in his first song "A Little More Mascara," but he was seated at a dressing table and applying makeup during most of it. It may be that Albin's voice is held back a bit, while Zaza is the belter with no holds barred. However, she reveals her inner masculine strength with palpable emotion and power when it comes time to take a stand for who and what he is in the anthemic "I Am What I Am." It is an iconic song in the show and it really brings out the character of the man. Beaman nails it con brio.

Maxwell Caulfield is up to the challenge of playing Georges, the more subdued member of the duo. Like his character, he must stand in the shadow of the flashier Albin, but Caulfield is a presence in every scene, even when it isn't about him. I specifically made it a point to watch him watch Zaza singing "I Am What I Am" and he looks on with both pride and understanding. He is consistently charming and always the gentleman, whether he is on stage at La Cage or hosting the Dindons, his prospective in-laws.

Ryan Driscoll is appealing as Jean-Michel and sings with a sweetness and boyishness that reveal a young man in the throes of new love. He wears his heart on his sleeve and his guilt about marginalizing Albin on his face, so it is easy to believe when he comes around to do the right thing. Kristen Beth Williams (Anne) has a gorgeous voice that she needs to restrain to blend with Driscoll's, but she dances circles around him. As her parents, William McCauley is appropriately gruff and controlling, while former Miss America Susan Powell capitulates convincingly until she gets the chance to steal a bit of the limelight.

The ensemble is very strong, particularly in a couple of the dance numbers. There's an exuberant and energetic CanCan routine that's a real crowd pleaser and shows the athleticism of the troupe. Jim Burkholder (M. Renaud), Dawn Tucker (Mme. Renaud), and Jane Summerhays (Jacqueline) lend their beautiful voices, and J. Cameron Barnett, over the top as Jacob, is accompanied by laughter in every scene. The choreography for Les Cagelles is more challenging and entertaining than the somewhat elementary routines for the principals, but I admire all the men who are dancing in high heels and making it look easy.

The sets are fairly basic, but do a good job of evoking a seaside promenade, a nightclub, and the lavish living room of a pair of queens. They are a little shaky when first moved into place, but nothing bad comes to pass. Pay attention to the nude statue - it has another purpose besides being art. Notice it again when Jean-Michel redecorates.

Director BT McNicholl, Music Director Ken Clifton, and the rest of the creative staff have put all the pieces together and pulled out all the stops to bring a terrific production to the Ogunquit Playhouse. They hit a home run with the costumes and the two stars, and followed through with a solid roster of players to support them. Maybe that's why they have the confidence to update the ending of the play and go with a very tender final moment. Albin and Georges walk off into the moonlight- and they're young and in love.

Photos by Tammy J. Heon - 1) Zaza (James Beaman) - "I Am What I Am;" 2) Les Cagelles; 3) Georges (Maxwell Caulfield), Zaza on swing, and Les Cagelles