By Evan McKenna
Music and lyrics by Jerry Herman; Book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the play “La Cage aux Folles” by Jean Poiret. Directed by Zoe Bradford and Jordie Saucerman. Musical Direction by Steve Bass. Choreography by Sally Ashton Forest. Costume Design by Cameron McEachern. Lighting Design by Adam Clark. Set Design by Ryan Barrow. Wigs & Hairstylist, James A. Valentin. Presented by Company Theatre: 30 Accord Park Dr, Norwell through Sunday, April 8th.
Just last month the Senate of Georgia voted on a law to give adoption agencies—both private and taxpayer funded—the right to reject service to LGBTQ couples. This, among other forms of both legal and de facto discrimination happening during the Trump-Pence administration, shows how many Americans today do not support LGBTQ couples as moral, adequate, or legitimate parents of children, making “La Cage aux Folles” not only a relevant work to see this year, but an important one. At its heart, the story testifies to the criticism and conflict that queer couples with children must face in their social and political environment. On the surface, however, the musical does not seem politically overt or necessarily tragic, and that is because of the sitcom-esque humor and drag queen performances, both of which the cast of the Company Theatre’s production executed wonderfully at the premiere last Friday, giving—much like “Cabaret”—laughter and fun to an otherwise dark underlying story.
Georges (Christopher J. Hagberg), owner of the La Cage aux Folles night club, opens the show by welcoming the audience to his latest drag show arrangement, which is full of glamour and whips. With the introduction of clumsy drag queens dancing and singing deliberately out of sync for that “whoopsie daisy” comedic flare, there comes a moment of uncertainty for the audience, perhaps leaving you wondering where the story could possibly be headed. Quickly we meet the fierce and hilarious star of the show, Albin (Eric Pereira), George’s partner and parent to George’s son, Jean-Michel (Jeffery Sewell).
Problems arise when Jean-Michel informs his father that he is getting married to the daughter of the Dindons, an ultra-conservative family politically driven to condemn “homosexuals” due to their fanatic beliefs. While the wedding is upon all of them, the story does not have the same dramatic intensity that say, Romeo and Juliet or West Side Story may have. The narrative is almost always being relieved comically, whether it be by suggestive dialogue, dying trumpet noises, or almost anything coming from George’s and Albin’s meaningless yet hilarious house maid, Jacob (John Keets). Much like muses in Greek theatre, the queens, otherwise known as the cages, intervene to relieve the narrative, giving you the sense that while you are a spectator to a story, you are also an audience at a drag show.
The theme of identity returns again and again in the production, first emphasized in the implicative number “We Are What We Are,” but later followed up on with Pereira’s solo performance, “I Am What I Am,” which not only received the loudest applause of the night, but was arguably the strongest number. Pereira executes the emotion and depth necessary to get the important message in the tune across to the audience, but controls his voice and expressions carefully to avoid overdramatizing the piece, making it especially memorable.
When Georges and Jean-Michel request Albin to masquerade as a masculine uncle for the sake of presenting their family as more “traditional” in front of the ultra-conservative Dindon father, Albin must deal with a rejection of identity and re-evaluate his place in the family, and what he must do for Jean-Michel’s happiness. The story comes crashing down in its second act, unfolding into an absolute must-see ending.
For a musical that is full of entertainment but also an all too relevant story about today’s homophobia, pick up tickets at http://www.companytheatre.com.
