A Question For Those Who Saw The Original Production of LA CAGE

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 1:57am

I saw the show tonight and was so impressed, as I always am whenever I see a production of it. I saw the last revival maybe a dozen times as I guess I'm the only person who really enjoyed it. But as I was watching tonight, I started wondering what it must have been like to be a gay man sitting in the Palace Theater in 1983 and seeing this for the first time. I mean, no show had ever represented gays before like this one did so watching an art form that so many gay men love and seeing themselves represented so positively must have been such an empowering, amazing experience. I'm curious what those here who saw it initially thought during it and after.

[Almira]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 2:22am

Updated On: 4/13/10 at 02:22 AM

[sing_dance_love]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 2:43am

La Cage is just one of those shows that I just never got around to being super familiar with. I've heard a few songs...kind of know the story...I've never even seen The Birdcage.

In any case, this revival wasn't high on my list, but after reading that 1st preview thread, and now seeing this....It's gonna have to be a must-see on my next trip.

[nmartin]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 6:38am

I was in my early 20s when I saw the OBC. I loved Gene Barry. His Song on the Sand was glorious. Jay Garner was great, as always. The gay subject matter in a positive light did not impact me at all.
I still think the book has problems.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 7:04am

Interesting to hear your take on seeing LA CAGE for the first time Jordan.
Living in New York City and working in the Theatre in 1983, I have a kinda different take on the show, A year before I had been totally blown away by Harvey and TORCH SONG TRILOGY, I practically had to be carried out of the theatre reeling from the scenes between Harve and the remarkable Estelle Gettty, for me that was a galvinizing moment. The individual struggle many were going through with their parents hit so close.
If you were lucky to be working in the theatre and living in the City then it was a very liberating time, being gay and out with your friends was like a great weight partially lifted,
When it was announced LA CAGE was going to be a Broadway Musical adapted by Harvey with a Jerry Herman score, a lot of us felt, the Time had come.
I didn't make the cut but several of my friends got the show and we were all excited and jealous. There were actually some people who were a bit concerned that a straight actor (very straight, ladies man) was cast as Zaza, of course all that went out the window by the time he got to the Anthem and was cheered by all as he threw that wig down and walked up that Palace aisle,
It was thrilling to sit in that theatre with that entire audience watching a love story between two men. Some people thought the show didn't go far enough, but the creators were smart enough to push the envelope just far enough to reach audiences of the time.
Then came AIDS, for me the LA CAGE experience cannot be seperated from the onset of what then was called Gay Cancer.
The first person I ever knew who died was David Cahn who was the original Chantal, one day we were in my kitchen laughing and a few weeks later he was in the hospital, not only were many people getting sick, but they were dying so quickly, it was a very scarey time. It was also the first time the theatre community came together to try to do something to help our friends being affected. The first Easter Bonnet was in the basement of the Palace, There were about 30 of us cheering on the Bonnets and voting with dollars to pick the winner, One of the contestants was Howard Crabtree, an amazing costume designer who died way too early. Howard was a dresser on LA CAGE and went on to create WHOOP DE DOO and the wonderful WHEN PIGS FLY, (Howard's friend and fellow writer Mark Waldrop was in the ensemble of LA CAGE. Out of these fund raisers grew BROADWAY CARES.
Yes, it was a liberating time but to me LA CAGE was a bitter sweet memory and a reminder of what things were like then.
It was THE BEST OF TIMES but also unfortunately the worst of times.
I look forward to seeing the revival, all the emotions always return with each production,
"as for tommorrow well," who knew?

[musicalman2]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 7:13am

You know, I remember initially thinking that doing this show was a bad idea (I mean the original production). I thought to myself "how will it help if middle america thinks that all gays are drag queens?" Personally, I have always felt uncomfortable and embarrassed by the idea of drag. Some people's cup of tea. Not mine. I reluctantly went to this show, and was completely won over.

At the start of the show, when the Cagelles came out and started parading around, I remember gasps from the audience at each costume, etc. Like people were really being exposed to it for the first time. At intermission, I heard this middle aged couple talking, the wife made a comment indicating she was not sure if all gay men were really drag queens. I thought "Oh brother," exactly what I was afraid of.

By the end of the show, her comment to her husband was that she thought the show was a beautiful love story, and that was great understanding that underneath all of that glitz, the gay people depicted in the show were like everyone else, just making a living and wanting to be left to love like everyone else.

What a marvelous way to end what I thought would be a negative experience. Really opened my eyes! Have been a fan of the show ever since.

[DryMartini]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 7:50am

I was a teenager from the Midwest who was on a trip to New York with my father. I knew deep down I was gay, but had never really dealt with it and was still dating girls. We had no idea what the show was about, just randomly picked it.

To say we were both shocked is an understatement. I remember feeling so uncomfortable sitting next to my dad, but also so silently stunned that there were two men in love with each other on stage and no one seemed bothered by it. It was my peek into a world where being gay wasn't just okay, but celebrated.

[chrissydee]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 7:57am

Its crazy to think that this show had such a statement, when people like myself take for granted the rights and treatment we get now. I live in London, where gay marriage (well, civil partnerships) are so common, and you can be who you really want to be.

Its really moving that this show touched so many people and changed so many opinions. That is what is great about musical theatre at its best.

In London I was blown away by Douglas Hodge, and I hope the same happens to you all in NY. This show really is wonderful.

On a side note, have you all seen the TV Movie "Prayers for Bobby" with Sigourney Weaver? Its truly brilliant, and shows a mothers struggle to come to terms with her gay son. Rent it now!!

x

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 8:19am

I think musicalman2 and CurtainPullDowner express it perfectly.

I remember there was an initial feeling that the drag aspect would be a "bad" representation of us, because the only representations of our lives in the media in the 1970s had been the extremes: gay psycho killers in Cruising, flamboyant quipsters in Boys in the Band, lisping, mincing hairdressers--that kind of thing. We hated it and we thought La Cage would be more of the same.

We took some comfort from the fact that Harvey's Torch Song Trilogy, which preceded his work on La Cage, took the character of Arnold from drag queen to relationships to surviving gay bashing to winning (or demanding) acceptance from his mother. So there was a sense that Harvey would make it something more than a farcical minstrel show. And Arthur and Jerry Herman seemed determined to make a musical comedy that delivered a "statement." So, their intentions were honorable, but nevertheless, there was much concern.

When it opened, it was better than we had worried, but the material still seemed very superficial. So it was fun--and it was great to hear the stories of heterosexual couples (mostly middle-aged suburban women) experiencing the love of Albin and Georges as romantically as any heterosexual love story. And it was fun to know that people couldn't pick out which of the Cagelles was the single biological woman.

But something else was happening in 1983 that ended up making La Cage seem much deeper than anyone had ever anticipated: gay men were not just becoming liberated, they were also falling prey to a disease that was taking them fast and hard--with horrible lesions on the face and arms and legs and a terrible form of pneumonia that left them on their death beds emaciated and skeletal, like concentration-camp victims.

Moreover, in 1983, the disease was still being ignored by the media, by the government, by everyone it seemed. The government and the media united to take care of something called Legionnaire's Disease, which affected a comparatively smaller number of people, but it ignored the insistent arguments of self-taught lesbian and gay science geeks and activists that what was happening was not a "gay disease" but an immune disorder that, left unchecked, would turn into a worldwide pandemic. They didn't listen, until it did.

AIDS, first identified in 1981 was beginning to devastate the theater, especially the musical theater. Dancers, designers, actors, singers, even world-class directors and choreographers were quietly getting sick and dying quickly--there were no real drugs until 1994, just highly toxic drugs during the 80s and early 90s that only delayed the inevitable horrific death.

That's when red ribbons and such started appearing...and lesbians and gay men started coming out in larger numbers to their families, their friends and their co-workers--and the media, because with so many people dying in their 20s and 30s, it seemed more and more essential that we come out NOW, not when we were sick.

In shows like La Cage, what happened was some Cagelles started getting sick. And then their friends started getting sick and dying quickly, shunned and made to feel ashamed of their lesions and their inability to breathe by their families and by their religious leaders. We were all in our 20s and 30s and and going to memorial services sometimes once a week--if not a friend's, then a friend of a friend's. It seemed like non-stop grief. You went to mourn. You went to lend support. You went to get support. You went because it could be you next--arranging the memorial...or being memorialized.

And so the words "I am what I am" and the collective "We are what we are" stopped being the words of a superficial musical comedy and became a defiant anthem of self-identification. WE ARE WHAT WE ARE. They embodied the notion of pride: So WHAT if the churches and the media wanted to portray AIDS as a punishment for our "lifestyle"...WE ARE WHAT WE ARE. It even became a Gloria Gaynor disco anthem, so we could all put our arms up in the air and twirl around and dance and sing "You think it's noise? I THINK IT'S PRETTY"

And the somewhat conventional drinking song in the second act became something else for the devastated people of the theater: It became a hymn: Even though our friends were dying, even though we were dying ourselves, even though we were reviled, even though life was harder than it ought to be for people so young, the song maintained that the best of times was NOW. We put our arms around each other, we drank, we hugged, we cried. Boy, did we cry. But the song maintained, despite our tears, that the best of times always was--and always would be--right now, right here, with the people we love, with those of us who are lucky enough to be alive today, for one more day.

And as for tomorrow, well, who knows, who knows, who knows...?

Updated On: 4/8/10 at 08:19 AM

[justafan2]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 8:27am

I'm a straight female, so I don't know if you care as much to read my insight of that production---but when I saw the original--I was so moved by the relationships on stage. I saw it again and again. My parents saw it with me the first time and loved it. (Gene Barry was incredible). I bought them tix to see it again after that, as a gift. It opened my eyes in a very good way.

[GottaHaveAGimmick]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 9:13am

I saw the first national tour in San Francisco during Gay Pride in the mid 1980's. Sorry...I don't recall who was in it. But, of course, that audience was ready to eat it up. It was an opportunity to see people like ourselves represented on stage. This was before there were regular gay characters on TV and movies, so it was very special. The act I finale got a roaring response and you could tell the actors were loving it. I look forward to seeing the newest La Cage in late April. I'm not a huge fan of Mr. Grammar, but look forward to seeing the excellent Mr. de Jesus, Mr. Adams, Mr. Appplegate, and Ms. Andreas!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 1:51pm

I hadn't yet made my first trip to NYC when La Cage was new, but upon reading some of these stories re: La Cage and Torch Song, I can say that taking my parents to see Falsettos in the early 90s (both on Broadway and on tour) was a very similar experience. It was so cathartic and uplifting (despite it's somber ending) and quickly became the family's favorite show. My mother led the standing ovation in Houston during the national tour the night we attended. She said the show should be required viewing for all Americans and believed that if it could open the minds of even a small percentage of the ignorant, then it deserved a place in theatre history as one of the greatest musicals ever written.

[thirtythirtyninety]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 1:56pm

Just wanted to say...great thread! thanks for sharing.

[noradesmond]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 2:18pm

I agree. Great thread.

I was a very guarded, almost closeted young gay man when this show came out. I didn't think the show would ever find an audience outside the gay community. When I saw the national tour in Houston, of all places, and witnessed the enthusiastic response from all walks of life in the audience, it gave me great hope.

Thanks everyone for sharing their personal stories.

[noradesmond]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 2:18pm

I agree. Great thread.

I was a very guarded, almost closeted young gay man when this show came out. I didn't think the show would ever find an audience outside the gay community. When I saw the national tour in Houston, of all places, and witnessed the enthusiastic response from all walks of life in the audience, it gave me great hope.

Thanks everyone for sharing their personal stories.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 3:26pm

I felt after seeing the original production just shortly after its Tony win that it was a very "safe" show for non-gay audiences.

I remember walking down from the top balcony at the Palace (where seats were $10!) hearing a woman who I guessed to be in her late 60s/early 70s happily telling her friend "When I come out of the theatre humming the songs I know I've seen a good show." The fact that the show was about two gay men didn't seem to have had any impact on her: She enjoyed the lavish sets and costumes, the "simple, hummable" show tunes and the star performances.

Meanwhile we were also treated to a myriad of gay stereotypes and cheap vulgar jokes. I felt that the authors had layered on the jokes to cover a shocking subtext: gay people are not all that different from straight people. But there was an awful lot of "sugar" to help that medicine go down.

Even so, the heart of the show - the love story between Georges and Albin - was so beautifully played that it won over audience sympathy.

News of AIDS was already making the round sin 1983 but it became a much more high profile disease in 84 and 85, giving conservatives new ammunition in their war on the gay community. ("See? God IS punishing your for your sinful ways.") But that news had very little to do with LA CAGE.

In a way LA CAGE shares a one theme with THE ADDAMS FAMILY in that it presents a family who consider themselves normal and who live in an insular world where that feeling can be enhanced. Only when the outside world threatens their existence do the characters have to consider their degree or normalcy.

[once a month]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 3:40pm

I loved the original La Cage and saw it twice. The second time I was so proud to bring my mother. We ate out, loved the show which was her all-time favorite and I dropped her off. After that, I visited the club Mineshaft. It was a different world, which is probably the reason why my partner and I have stood together 33 years. We were too scared of the umknown, and AID's was just getting started.

Anyway, I can't wait for this revival (5/7) to make up for the last one!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 5:26pm

I saw the original production several times and remember feeling it made me PROUD to be gay.

I have to admit that I enjoyed the revival--especially when Goulet took over the role of Georges (the voice was still magical). I took my adopted "son" to see it and saw that he was weeping when Goulet sand "Look Over There". That number affected him deeply because he could relate to it strongly.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 6:27pm

PalJoey, that was really beautiful. Thanks for the thoughtful post.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 8:28pm

This entire thread is one of the best, ever.

[musicalman2]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 9:06pm

TheatreDiva, I agree with you. Definitely one of the best threads ever!

[whatever2]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 9:09pm

This is indeed a touching thread.

I remember first seeing the Boston tryout of La Cage the summer after my senior year in college. I barely knew I was gay. When I came back home to NYC after school, my folks got tickets to the "new hot show" (as they usually did) for the entire family ... i was blown away by the positive response of everyone around me, but of course most especially of my own family. As far as they knew, they were cheering in the third person, of course -- and when I actually did come out a year later it was not bump-free -- but their positive reaction nudged me a little further toward the light.

And of course so much has happened since then. Most of it already discussed in this thread far more poignantly than I could muster.

But there is one thing in this thread that has jumped out at me: in chrissydee's post, there is an interesting (what i think of as a) contradiction -- and i don't mean to pick on chrissydee, because it's a very common point of view. on the one hand, we have the notion of, "gosh look how far we've come"; and of course there's no doubt that life is better now than it was then (or that the UK has made far greater strides toward a just society than the troglodytes who run our government have found the cajones to bring themselves to do).

But on the other hand, even chrissy has to couch that progress in a parenthetical "(well, civil partnerships)" ... sorry, but "separate but equal" is NOT acceptable. My partner and I have been together for 25 years, and (at the risk of boasting) I daresay we could teach virtually every married couple we know a thing or two about how a marriage is supposed to work -- how to grow past pain, how to keep feelings fresh (or at least refreshed), and how to run a marathon instead of a sprint.

Yet, somehow, even in the comparatively progressive United Kingdom, where we're now allowed to ride the bus, we still have to sit in the back of it.

Sorry (again), chrissydee, and all the rest of you beautiful, out, proud, young gay men and women (whose big, fabulous open lives bring a tear of joy to my eye); you may not realize it, but we're still being ghettoized -- it's just a bigger, better ghetto.

There is much work yet to be done, sisters and sisters ... never allow yourselves to be fooled into believing otherwise.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 9:10pm

I agree that this is one of the most poignant threads I've seen. It would be interesting to get a personal perspective from any early 80's Cagelles who are still amongst us. Their comments would be amazing. from RC in Austin, Texas

[raker]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 9:43pm

I saw the show in Boston during it's pre-Broadway run. I was about 25. It was a huge hit here, so much so that they had a rally on City Hall Plaza where the producers thanked Boston for making the show a great success. There was even a "Thank-you Boston!" sticker on the LP cover. La Cage was a big deal, and everyone loved it.

It was exciting to see a mainstream musical with a gay theme. It felt like a natural part of a growing gay openness and acceptance. I do remember thinking that George Hearn with his big baritone voice was the butchest-sounding drag queen I'd ever seen. I figured the show's creators must have thought that if the character had seemed too feminine it might have been a deal breaker for the audience, but I think the audience was more sophisticated then they gave them credit for.

[canmark]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 10:12pm

I saw the touring production (with Peter Marshall as Georges and Keene Curtis as Albin; don't remember the year, although I still have the program... and the OBC record album) at the O'Keefe Centre in Toronto back when I was a teenager. It was the first 'Broadway show' I had seen in a theatre (the touring production of Evita with Florence Lacey would be my second show that summer) and I remember thinking how, despite it's subject matter, it was a very conventional, old fashioned style show. It was like those movie musicals from the 40's and 50's: a love story, some comedy, lavish costumes and dancing 'girls.' I remember the entire audience standing up and clapping along with "The Best of Times" at the end of the show.

Although not long ago, as many people have posted above, the early '80's was a very different time. But even so, the message of the show--love of family, love of self--is still the same, and just as important now as it was then.

Updated On: 4/8/10 at 10:12 PM