La Cage Aux Folles

The opening of the show gives us Georges introducing us to the club La Cage Aux Folles a place where the dancers hold the secret of their gender until the end of the show.

The outside skirts of the stage worked very well with one as the dressing room and the other as the café by the sea but the main stage felt slightly sparse for the apartment scene and tight on space for some of the dances due to curtaining. The sets built in house were beautifully constructed and worked well. The costumes in the main looked lovely especially for the Cagelles but the make up for the Cagelles was a little understated for what are drag artists.

Nick Angus played Albin opposite John Weetman as his life partner Georges. I really enjoyed their scenes together which were warm and funny. Vocally Nick sounded great and performed “I Am What I Am” with angst and hurt at Georges betrayal although the Orchestra were not quite in time being a half beat behind. Nicks portrayal was lovely to watch with some real heart wrenching moments but also very comical asides and expressions. John acted well opposite Nick, had a believable relationship with his son and excelled at the comic delivery of the character.

Liam Dodd played Jean-Michel opposite Melissa Jackson as Anne. Unfortunately on the evening I was in Liam had a dreadful cold which meant some of his top notes were a bit of a struggle but he acted well and covered some of the notes with breathing techniques as the usual accomplished singer he is. Melissa looked lovely and delivered her lines well as Anne.

Rod Fitton and Andrea Loasby were perfectly cast as Dindon and Mdm Dindon giving us plenty of comic delivery in their scenes. Playing drunk and merry can be difficult for actors but Andrea pulled this off in the restaurant scene. Anne Alvey was a lovely Jacqueline with a nice tone on “The Best of Times”;

The Cagelles in the main acted well although delivery of lines needed more projection from some but the dance moves appeared unfinished or not drilled enough. Again on the night I was in I am aware that someone was missing from the line up as I know Jill is always very symmetrical in her dances which may have thrown some of the scenes. The cast looked like they were having plenty of fun and the Cagelles in heels did a great job in the costumes and kept the audience guessing to the end.

The supporting principals played their parts well but for me the star of the supporting roles was Jason Jarvis as Jacob. Every time he was on stage he managed to steal the scene with his comic touches and overtly Divaish moments and costumes.

Overall this was a good production with some nice touches in direction from Jo Weetman with a large cast who had a ball with this show.

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