La Cage on Disc
For La Cage, Jerry Herman composed a solid, mostly delightful score, very much in the traditional Broadway mode. Here and there "Masculinity" a lyric could be sharper, but the La Cage score is full of the sort of hard-to-resist show tunes that mark the best of Herman's work. It's to be regretted that La Cage is apparently to remain Herman's final contribution to Broadway, and that we were deprived of a few more scores as effervescent as this one.
It was Herman's La Cage score, especially the songs "Look Over There," "I Am What I Am," and "Song on the Sand," that was most responsible for transforming a strictly-for-laughs non-musical stage and screen farce into a musical with a lot of heart and a warm message about love, tolerance, and family values. It was a fine notion to make the dramatic first-act finale number, "I Am What I Am," a reprise of the much lighter opening number, and the song was subsequently adopted as a gay anthem.
Only two soloists really matter much on any La Cage recording, and Broadway's first pair of leads was ideal. George Hearn was in his vocal prime, here and there emitting near-operatic tones, and although he sounded slightly richer in the theatre than on the recording, he comes across strongly, especially in "I Am What I Am" and "The Best of Times." Hearn's co-star, Gene Barry, sounds just as he did in the theatre, which is just fine. Of the other principals, John Weiner is capable in his solos "With Anne on My Arm" and the "Look Over There" reprise.
The La Cage Broadway cast recording was still within the LP era, so several numbers, notably "We Are What We Are," "Masculinity," and the title sequence, were abridged on the recording. But all of the important vocal material is here. Featuring the lively conducting of musical director Don Pippin, the Broadway recording is the only one that includes both the "Song on the Sand" and "Look Over There" reprises.
Because former Sweeney Todd Hearn repeated his Albin at the London Palladium opposite the superb Georges of another former Sweeney Todd, Denis Quilley, no cast recording was made of the West End La Cage. So the only other English-language cast album of La Cage is the 1985 Australian cast recording, also on RCA.
This production reversed the order of billing, placing the actor playing Georges first. That's because Georges was played by the distinguished Australian star Keith Michell, whose Broadway appearances included Irma La Douce and The Rehearsal, and whose London musicals included Irma, Man of La Mancha, and On the Twentieth Century. Michell had already played Georges on Broadway succeeding Gene Barry in 1984 and in San Francisco when he took on the role in Australia.
Opposite Michell was an experienced local actor named Jon Ewing. Among the Australian Cagelles was Todd McKenney, who would go on to create the role of Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz. The Australian La Cage featured a reproduction of the Broadway staging, supervised by Broadway co-producer and stage manager Fritz Holt. The Australian LP also came in a butterfly sleeve, featuring the same notes as the Broadway set. On the cover, the logo Cagelle sports an Australian flag.
The material included is more or less the same as on the Broadway recording, although the Australian set has additional lead-in dialogue in "Song on the Sand" and its reprise. It's the only La Cage recording other than Broadway to include the "Song on the Sand" reprise. It lacks the reprise of "Look Over There," which is just as well, as the Jean-Michel, Gerry Sont, is only passable.
What's important here are the leads. Ewing lacks some of Hearn's sumptuous tones. But he more than makes up for it by sounding exactly like his character. Indeed, this Albin leaps off the disc even more strongly than Hearn's. Ewing's "A Little More Mascara" is wildly animated, and he provides an exciting "I Am What I Am."
In brief dialogue and in song, Michell beats Barry by a significant stretch. His "Song on the Sand" is gorgeously sung, his "Look Over There" equally splendid, and capped by a high note. This La Cage is one of the best of all Australian cast recordings.
La Cage became a huge international favorite, especially in German-speaking countries, and there's a fine 1986 Polydor recording of the German premiere, at Berlin's Theater des Westens. The Berlin La Cage was mounted as a vehicle for the distinguished actor and company artistic director Helmut Baumann, who also co-directed and co-choreographed the production.
On disc, Baumann makes another superb Albin. A stronger singer than Ewing, his reedy sound is just right for the role, and he supplies an impish "Mascara" and an intense "Ich Bin, Was Ich Bin." Baumann is currently starring in a German production of another drag-queen musical set in France, Victor/Victoria, with Helen Schneider.
As Georges, Günter König offers attractive if a bit weak on top versions of "Song on the Sand" and "Look Over There." Unlike Broadway's John Weiner, who didn't play other principal roles on Broadway, Berlin's Jean-Michel, Cusch Jung, has gone on to become a leading man in local musicals.
The original La Cage production wasn't reproduced beyond London and Australia, so the Berlin La Cage featured an entirely different staging and design. While the title remains in French, it's translated in a subtitle as "Ein Käfig voller Narren." The Berlin recording features a longer version of "We Are What We Are," including Chantal's solo section, but no reprise of "Sand" or "Look."
The same German translation was used by Vienna's Volksoper, and can be heard on Reverso's 1993 Volksoper cast CD. Like many classic American musicals, La Cage was taken into the Volksoper's regular repertoire. Considering that it's a light-opera company, it's surprising that the leads here are the least impressive singers of the batch. Karlheinz Hackl's light-voiced Albin mixes in a fair amount of talk-singing, although he does get the flamboyant character across. Hackl rises nicely to "Ich Bin, Was Ich Bin," but ducks the higher passages of "The Best of Times," turning them over to the actress singing Jacqueline.
As Georges, Frank Hoffmann supplies a lightly crooned "Sand" complete with integral dialogue and "Look Over There." I'm not sure why, but the Georges-Albin "With You on My Arm" is sung in English. The Vienna CD offers the longest recorded versions of "Masculinity" with all of the dance music, "With Anne on My Arm" sung by the solid tenor of Sebastian Reinthaller, and the finale. Original Broadway Cagelle Dennis Callahan co-staged the Volksoper production.
On the Carisch label, the 1992 Italian cast recording documents a production that premiered at Rome's Teatro Sistina. The choreographer was A Chorus Line's Baayork Lee, currently in charge of New York City Opera's Cinderella. Its skimpier orchestration aside, this is a good all-around performance. The Albin, Gianfranco Mari, has a useful show voice, lacking the quality of Hearn's or Baumann's, but up to a lively "Mascara" and a highly effective "Sono Cio' Che Sono." As Georges, Carlo Reali sounds something like his co-star, but with a bigger voice. He supplies a fine "Look Over There" and a "Song on the Sand" with a strong finish. This disc offers the longest recorded version of the title number.
And then there's La Jaula de las Locas, the 1993 Mexican cast recording, which went to the trouble of translating the title. The same title was used for a Colombian production which received a cast album I don't possess. Getting major billing on the Mexican CD is Silvia Pinal, the stage and screen star who produced La Jaula. Pinal can be heard singing the star roles on the Mexican cast recordings of such musicals as Gypsy, Annie Get Your Gun, and two other Jerry Herman shows, Hello, Dolly! and Mame.
La Jaula boasts an Albin as fine as any. Javier Diaz Dueñas has a big, powerful bass-baritione. His "Rimel" "Mascara" has personality and fine top notes. His title number which stays as "La Cage aux Folles" is buoyant and features impressive sustained tones. And his "Soy Lo Que Soy" is enormous in sound, very operatic, and capped with an unexpected high note.
Gustavo Rojo's Georges isn't one of the best sung and is a bit weak on top, but he offers attractive, well-shaped renditions of "Aquella Vez" "Sand" and "Fijate Bien" "Look Over There". And there's a big-voiced rendition of "Anne" by Luis Gatica.