Preview 2004-2005: We Are What We Are

La Cage aux Folles was originally a non-musical stage comedy, an enormously successful farce by Jean Poiret that ran in Paris from 1973 to 1980. In 1978, the play was made into a film directed by Eduardo Molinaro that became in the U.S. the biggest-grossing foreign-language film to date. There were two movie sequels, and, in 1996, an Americanized remake called The Birdcage, directed by Mike Nichols and co-starring Nathan Lane and Robin Williams.

In the '60s, David Merrick had brought the hit Parisian comedies Cactus Flower and Forty Carats to Broadway. In the '70s, Merrick optioned La Cage for Broadway, at one point mentioning Zero Mostel as the possible star. But the play never made it to Broadway, and instead the musical stage rights were purchased by producer Alan Carr, who first envisioned an Americanized version, set in New Orleans and entitled The Queen of Basin Street. The book was by Jay Presson Allen, the score by Maury Yeston, and Nichols and Tommy Tune were to have co-directed.

It may be for the best that that collaboration fell apart, as the one that picked up the property for Carr functioned splendidly. In 1983, Harvey Fierstein had received two Tonys for his Torch Song Trilogy, like La Cage a play about a drag performer. Fierstein was hired to do the La Cage book, with songs by Jerry Herman. At this point in his career, Herman, composer-lyricist of the blockbusters Hello, Dolly! and Mame, had written scores for three consecutive Broadway flops, Dear World, Mack and Mabel, and The Grand Tour. He was poised for a comeback, and La Cage's larger-than-life drag-queen hero Albin was just the sort of character to inspire Herman's best work. La Cage aux Folles would appear to be Herman's final Broadway musical. Guiding the proceedings was Arthur Laurents, who would have his greatest hit as a director with La Cage.

Even with the smash U.S. success of the film, La Cage aux Folles was considered a daring venture as a stage musical. That's because its central characters were a pair of middle-aged gay lovers, and its ensemble "Les Cagelles" was made up mostly of men in drag. But there was really nothing in the musical to threaten general audiences: The $5 million La Cage was a glitzy, sentimental, romantic, very traditional musical comedy that stood up for family values and honoring one's parents, whether they be blood relations or not. Indeed, the musical's plot bore similarities to that of another Herman musical, Mame, in which a young man brought up in unconventional circumstances by someone other than his real mother wishes to play things straight when his fiancee and her parents come to visit.

It also helped matters that the musical added heart and some emotional throughlines not to be found in the '78 French film or, later, in The Birdcage. Much of that emotion came in numbers like "Song on the Sand" a love song sung by one man to another and "Look Over There." But the musical also had a stronger dramatic structure than its source. Where the original film downplays the notion of the son's not wanting his drag-queen "mother" present when his fiancee's parents arrive, the action of the musical turns on this event, culminating in a dramatic first-act curtain, with Albin's anguished "I Am What I Am."

Like The Producers in Chicago and Hairspray in Seattle, La Cage aux Folles was a smash from the moment its began its tryout, in this case in Boston. It was one of those shows that came into New York virtually critic proof; everyone knew it was going to be a hit, and indeed it was. The reviews that greeted La Cage on its August, 1983 opening at the Palace Theatre were mostly grand, even if Frank Rich in The New York Times was decidedly mixed.

The show was blessed in all departments, with Scott Salmon spinning out a series of elaborate, endlessly inventive production numbers; beautiful St. Tropez scenery from David Mitchell; and Tony-winning costumes by Theoni V. Aldredge. But a large part of the show's success was due to the casting of the leading roles. George Hearn, who had appeared in such Broadway musicals as I Remember Mama, Sweeney Todd, and A Doll's Life, and former TV star Gene Barry seemed unlikely choices for lovers Albin and Georges, but they turned out to be ideal.

The 1984 Tony Awards became something of a contest between old-fashioned, commercial musical comedy, represented by La Cage, and the groundbreaking, difficult, and non-linear, represented by Sunday in the Park With George. The race was thus between Herman and Sondheim, and it was, of course, La Cage that took the Best Musical prize, along with Tonys for Fierstein, Herman, Laurents, Hearn, and Aldredge. The New York Drama Critics' Circle gave its musical prize to Sunday.

La Cage remained at the Palace for over four years. Of subsequent casts I saw, the best Albin was Keene Curtis, who had headed a national tour opposite Peter Marshall before coming to Broadway, while the best Georges was Keith Michell, who also starred in the Australian production. I did not see Van Johnson's Georges on Broadway, and Robert Stack, announced and advertised to take over as Georges in New York, was let go in rehearsal. With Hearn opposite Denis Quilley, La Cage was not a hit in London, but the show has gone on to a big international life, and is particularly popular in Austria and Germany.

Because of the popularity of the original film and The Birdcage, there was never a film version of the musical, which may be an advantage for the show's first Broadway revival. It will be the first time Broadway has had a revival of a Jerry Herman musical that doesn't boast a star of the original production. The director of the new La Cage is Jerry Zaks, who has already staged such Broadway musical revivals as Anything Goes, Guys and Dolls, ....Forum, and the current Little Shop of Horrors. Handling the choreography is Jerry Mitchell, who will also be represented on Broadway this season with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Perhaps the Zaks-Mitchell La Cage club will be somewhat more realistically grungy and tawdry, where the original's was lavish and glittering.

The new La Cage aux Folles is scheduled to open on December 9 at the Marquis Theatre. As indicated, the casting of the two leading roles is key. Gary Beach Tony-winner for The Producers appears to be the choice for Albin, but it seems that the role of Georges is still being cast.

The new La Cage arrives in a climate that's notably different from that of twenty years ago. In a time when "Will & Grace" and "Queer Eye" are embraced by a mass audience, the notion of gay lovers in a musical may seem far less daring than it did the first time around. As a result, the new La Cage may not seem as special or unusual, and may not appear to make as strong a statement as the original. Then again, this gay-friendly moment in the media may be just the right time to bring back Les Cagelles.

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