The
story is about love in its many forms, starting with Georges and Albin
who have been together for many years and have raised a child,
Jean-Michel, who is now engaged to Anne, the daughter of very
conservative parents with her father being head of the Tradition, Family
and Morality Party. Jean-Michel invites Anne and her parents to dinner
and asks his father Georges that Albin, who is very effeminate, not to
appear. Albin, who has raised the boy as his own, the boy’s  real
mother, Sybil, having very little to do with the child, is hurt and even
more so when the mother is invited instead. Albin decides to come to
the party as Jean-Michel’s mother when a telegram arrives saying that
Sybil can’t make it. Act 2 starts as a wild farce that eventually turns
everything and everyone upside down showing what love really is and
means.

Georges
and Albin live in an apartment in St. Tropez above the nightclub that
specializes in drag shows with Albin as ZaZa the star of the show and a
chorus of drag queens called La Cagelles. The musical opens with the La
Cagelles putting on a show, singing and dancing to “We Are Who We Are”
introducing themselves to the audience and then we see the
transformation of Albin to ZaZa as he sings, “(A Little More) Mascara”).

Jerry
Herman writes what he likes to call “Broadway Show Tunes” and like he
did in “Mame” and “Hello Dolly” the score for “La Cage Aux Folles” are
full of those tunes.  There are love tunes such as Jean-Michel to Anne,
“With Anne On My Arm” which is then reprised as “With You On My Arm”
sung to Albin by Georges, not to forget the love song that Georges sings
to Albin, “Song On The Sand” that moves many people in the audience. In
the second act Georges sings to Jean-Michel , “Look Over There”
explaining to the latter that no mother could have loved him more than
Albin did and does. Mr. Herman has his ‘get the audience moving’ with
the title tune and “The Best of Times” and finally gives them the chance
to clap, sing and whistle the song along with the cast.

And
then there is, “I Am Who I Am” and Christopher Sieber playing
Albin/ZaZa. One of the most memorable numbers I have ever experienced in
the theatre was when I saw George Hearn sing “I Am Who I Am” in October
1983 in the original production but Mr. Sieber takes the song, and all
the songs, and makes them his own, erasing the memory of  anyone else
who has played the role and proclaimed, “I Am Who I Am”!

The
cast including George Hamilton playing Georges, Michael Lowney as
Jean-Michel, Allison Blair McDowell as Anne, with Bernard Burak Sheredy
and Cathy Newman as her parents plus Gay Marshall as Jacqueline plus the
rest cast all do excellent jobs.

“La
Cage Aux Folles” wouldn’t be what it is without  Les Cagelles: Matt
Anctil, Logan Keslar, Donald Shorter, Jr., Mark Roland, Terry Lavell and
Trevor Downey and these guys fill the bill though I must confess I miss
the larger casts of La Cagelles and guessing which were the females.
There is no need to guess here.

Thank
you Jerry Herman, Harvey Fierstein, choreographer Lynne Page, director
Terry Johnson, the rest of the production  artists and, once again,
Christopher Sieber for giving South Florida the best show of the
2011-2012 season.

Act 1 1 hour and 15 minutes  Intermission 20 minutes  Act 2 1 hour and 5 minutes  Total 2 hours and 40 minutes