Mostly Musical Theatre

La Cage Aux Folles (Tour review) Detroit Fisher Theater September 26, 2012

La Cage Aux Folles rolled into town last night, and its a doozy. I saw this revival in NYC two seasons ago, and the tour is every bit as excellent as it was on Broadway. Winner of the tony for best-revival (among other awards) its easy to see the care that has gone into the tour of the show.

It’s great to see a tour that has as much crafstmanship go into into it as the original — in fact, except for the slightly larger scale of the sets, its virtually identical. George Hamilton plays Georges (so lovable you can let him get by with really poor vocal ability) and Christopher Sieber steals every scene he is in as Albin, quite an accomplishment following in the footsteps (or high heels?) of tony-winner Douglas Hodge on Broadway.

The entire ensemble is exceptional. If you read my earlier review of this revival, you know that the ensemble here is scaled down from the 24 or so in the original to just a handful — and that every one of the “la cage girls” is a hunk. If there is a single thing different about the tour that stands out, it is the intimacy of the theater — on Broadway, the show was so well integrated into the small house that you virtually felt like you were sitting IN the club. The Fisher is a bit less intimate, so the show feels a bit more stage-bound.

Some of the touches that made the NYC production so good are all here too — including “curtain/lobby warmer” Ms Lilli Whiteass making jokes, welcoming the crowd, and cracking a few Detroit jokes to the delight of the audience. This “bit” was added well along into the Broadway run, as tourists replaced locals in the audience. Its a great touch that remains fresh and funny on tour.

If you have seen La Cage before, you haven’t seen it like this. It deserved every Tony it got — and this tour cast does the show proud. Running now through October 7 at the Fisher Theater, Detroit.

See my original review here:   https://a2view.com/2010/07/31/memphis-la-cage-aux-folles-come-fly-away-broadway-reviews/