La Cage Aux Folles

Acton AOS once again pulled out all the stops and produced a sparkling production filled with sequins and feathers that was as camp as a row of tents.
In the spotlight, Anthony Saxon as Albin was excellent. He gave an outstanding performance where he delivered the right amount of spark and humour that makes the character so loveable. His sliding from whinging and whining to deep pain and then to hilarious anger was first class entertainment. The anthem song, “I Am What I Am”, was an emotional climax and quite touching.

Opposite, Georges, played by Steve Turnbull gave an equally impressive performance. The hilarious one liners were perfectly delivered along with the right amount of emotion. He had a lovely on stage relationship with son, Jean Michel, played by Matt O’Donnell. Matt not only acted the part brilliantly but he sang and danced beautifully making him the most all round and consistent performer of the evening.

Having done this show recently is was easy to spot the ‘extras’ that were thrown in, and my oh my, did Ryan Bearpack, as Jacob take every opportunity to get an ad lib or an extra laugh. To give him credit, he was very funny however, at certain times probably went a tad too far and took away from the main action.

Charlotte Platt as Anne, was elegant and graceful and made the most of the role. Eduard Dindon was played by Graham Wilks who came into his own in the final scene

Jennifer Hall as Marie Dindon was just hilarious especially in her drunk scene. How can one appear so annihilated yet remain so charming and refined. Jennifer is such a versitile performer and I don’t mind admitting that I’m her number one fan.

The most demanding roles in this show, without a doubt, is the Cagelles. Their costume changes are ridiculously fast and they must have the strength and stamina to perform with energy that doesn’t appear to faulter. There was no doubt that each Cagelle gave it everything and nice to see that this production team chose more males than females for the roles, hense the differing levels of dance abilities. I must say well done to the dressers who probably did as much sweating as the Cagelles at some points.

The choreography was fast and energetic and probably would have worked better if there were fewer Cagelles. The spacing particularly in the famous Can Can number went a bit haywire and so didn’t create the right patterns which was a real shame.

The costumes were a real highlight for me and gave the whole production that real wow factor. Once again Sheryl Haydock Haworth’s attention to detail goes unnoticed with some beautifully directed scenes. Congratulations Acton and thanks again for a super evening.

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