**** Highly Recommended **** Music Theater Works production of La Cage Aux Folles is probably the most extravagantly glitzy yet hilariously funny show I’ve seen in a while. They’ve pulled out all the sequined stops, bringing in RuPaul’s Drag Race headliner, Ginger Minj, to play Albin and Project Runway designer Justin LeBlanc to do costumes. In fact, Minj and co-star Jason Richards have chemistry! Casting is practically perfect, choreography is outstanding and the comedy is spot-on. Finally, La Cage might be set in a drag club in St. Tropez, but at heart, it’s really about family – the family we’re born into and the family we make. 4 BIG Spotlights
The fun starts in the lobby where guests are encouraged to step into a frame for a picture with a lovely costumed performer or buy some glittery merch. Once inside, you can amuse yourself by counting the chandeliers/disco balls hanging above the stage, or figuring out who was lucky enough to sit at the cabaret tables lining the stage. Along the back, panels spell out LA CAGE.
The show opens with a song called We Are What We Are, performed by Les Cagelles – Chantal (Daniel Hurst), Hanna (Matthew Weidenbener), Mercedes (Gabe Kohlbeck), Bitelle (Brian Selcik), Angelique (Riley Vogel) and Phaedra (Jordan Taylor).
Georges (Jason Richards) is the owner and Master of Ceremonies at his club, La Cage Aux Folles who has to stall and rearrange acts because his partner/star, Albin/Zsa Zsa (Ginger Minj) is having a crisis backstage. The butler, Jacob (Dane Strange), who insists she’s the maid, is flitting about fetching, carrying, combing wigs and snarking at Georges. Sitting at her dressing table, Zsa Zsa (and Les Cagelles friends) sings A Little More Mascara before her spectacular entrance on stage.
While Albin is on stage, the couple’s son, Jean-Michel (Christopher Ratliff) comes home unexpectedly – and he’s in love. Anne, the girl he loves, is absolutely perfect in every way, but … she’s the daughter of Dindon, an ultra-conservative politician known for his hatred of homosexuals. Jean-Michel tells his father that he’s invited Anne and her parents to meet his family, but Albin can’t be there. He wants to project the image of a perfect family to this bigot, so he insists that his biological mother, rather than the person who raised him, has to be there.
While Jean-Michel starts removing the more flamboyant pieces from the house, Georges tries to figure out how to tell Albin. Just then Albin comes in and makes a huge fuss over his ‘baby’ – at least until he finds out about the engagement dinner. Meanwhile, at the nightclub, the show goes on - with a little backstage romance too!
Albin agrees to be ‘Uncle Albert’ in order to come to the dinner, but when Jen-Michel’s biological mother cancels (as she always does), drastic measures are needed! Georges and Jean-Michel are welcoming Anne (Heather Banks), Dindon (Thomas E. Squires) and Mme. Dindon (Caron Buinis) when Jean-Michel’s mother, Zsa Zsa, enters.
Mme. Dindon is impressed when they go to Jacqueline’s – where it’s impossible to get reservations – and walk in. During dinner, Jacqueline (Honey West) invites Zsa Zsa to sing for her guest. Once Zsa Zsa starts to sing The Best of Times, she proves she’s a star – but a near disaster ensues. In the end, Jean-Michel and Anne declare their love, and George and Albin live happily ever after!
La Cage Aux Folles, written by Harvey Fierstein, with music by Jerry Herman, was based on a French play by Jean Poirot. La Cage Aux Folles ran for more than four years on Broadway, winning six Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. A later production won the Tony for Best Revival. There’s also an Americanized version, The Birdcage, which was made into a movie starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.
Note: Guests must show proof of vaccination with photo ID before entering the theater. Guests are required to wear masks while inside the building.
The Music Theater Works production of La Cage Aux Folles runs through April 3rd at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 N. Skokie Blvd., Skokie. Parking is free. Running time is two hours, 40 minutes with an intermission. Performances are Wednesdays at 1:00 pm, Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00 pm, Sundays at 2:00 pm. Tickets start at $19.50. Meet and Greet with Ginger Minj options are also available for an additional fee. FYI www.musictheaterworks.com.