Reviewed by Ewart Shaw, Friday 9th May 2025.
The world has changed a little in the forty-two years since La Cage Aux Folles opened on Broadway. Gay marriage is everywhere. Drag queens are so old-fashioned. The socio-sexual skirmish has a new focus. Now, the love stories shine out brighter than the rhinestones and ribbons.
What’s left is what makes this Metropolitan Musical Theatre Company’s production so beautiful. It is very much about love and a sense of self-worth. There are tears and cheers of joy from the audience when Albin/Zsa Zsa sings I am what I am. Michael Bates, an imposing figure, catches the pride and the pathos. Bates holds your gaze every moment on stage.
Daniel Fleming sings superbly, though as Georges, the sophisticated cabaret owner, he really looked too young to have a son like Jean-Michel. Lachlan Steiger is making himself known in the local musical milieu. The fine singing of father and son is one of the highlights of the production.
Director, Ben Saunders, never loses sight of the emotional core, and his cast never let him down. He keeps the setting simple, though there is lots of glitter and sparkle and an impressive pair of drop curtains. Nothing impedes the smooth flow of the action, and Jacinta Vistoli’s choreography is stylish and energetic. As the curtains rise and fall you realise that Tammy Papps and her excellent players are behind the set, and frequently she is clearly visible with a directly conveyed beat. In a show about the backstage life, it’s great to be reminded of her.
Old-fashioned camp doesn’t miss out. Entering at speed, from all points of the compass, is Jacob, the houseboy. Ewerton Silva is just fabulous, lithe, light-footed, and delicious. Heidi-Rae Abby is excellent as Jacqueline, the restaurateur next door, and Matthew Phillips is the SM who becomes more and more S and M every time he appears.
In this riotous den of innuendo and iniquity come the Dindons. Anne, the daughter is in love with Jean-Michel, and Abbey Paton is the perfect partner, innocent and accepting. Her parents, Edouard and Marie, are a different matter. Edouard is known throughout France for his un-shaking moral rectitude. Marie is curious about her new environment and her in-laws in waiting. Dindon means turkey, and they wander into an aviary of peacocks and birds of paradise. Jay Mancuso delivers a strong impression in the role and his comeuppance is such fun as he and Marie drag up to avoid the paparazzi. How did anybody know they were there?
Once upon a time, being cast as a Cagelle gave straightish young men a justifiable reason for waxing their legs, plucking their brows, and tucking little things away. Is there a shortage?
The chorus line was split fifty-fifty from what I could determine but, well, nowadays gender seems to be a performance on stage and off.
Costumes were beautifully chosen and made by Carmel Vistoli and her team. Michael Bates’s impressive physique was the perfect model for sumptuous suits and frocks. There was dignity and elegance, as well as wonderful theatricality in every stitch, though I do question what routine Zsa Zsa might have been performing in the blue and white milkmaid’s number?
There are two occasions when Zsa Zsa/Albin dispels the gender illusion by removing the elaborate wig. The first time it’s very much the act. The second time, elated by champagne, it triggers the truth shocking everyone on stage. We know what is going to happen. We’ve seen the show before, we’ve seen the film. We catch our breath.
Reader Reviews
Australia - Adelaide Awards - Live Stats
Best Musical - Top 3
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BONNIE AND CLYDE (The Arts Theatre)
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3.
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