Barrowman Follows Norton in La Cage Drag???

The prospect of donning sequins and tights as drag queen Albin/Zaza in Terry Johnson’s multi award-winning Menier Chocolate Factory revival of La Cage Aux Folles seems to be positively irresistible for some of the top names in the business. After Douglas Hodge, Graham Norton and, taking over in May, Roger Allam (See News, 11 Mar 2009), there’s now the hope that the role could provide a vehicle to return John Barrowman to the stage.

According to the Daily Mail, if he can square it with his TV commitments for the new Saturday night BBC entertainment show Tonight’s the Night, Barrowman will lead the La Cage for a limited three-month stint from late August. He’d previously been tipped by the Daily Mail to head a revival of Barnum, which apparently fell through because he wasn’t able to sign up for a 12-month contract (See The Goss, 15 Feb 2008).

Panto and concert tours aside, Barrowman hasn’t been on stage since in 2005 when he starred opposite Rob Lowe in the courtroom drama A Few Good Men at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. On stage, he’s best known for his musical credits including Anything Goes, for which he won the 2004 Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Actor in a Musical. In more recent years, he’s become a household name from his TV appearances in Torchwood, Doctor Who and as a judge on the BBC musical theatre competitions How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do and I’d Do Anything, which were hosted by Graham Norton, who’s currently playing Albin.