Graham Norton in Line for La Cage???

TV presenter Graham Norton could be making a surprise West End debut early in the new year. According the The Stage, the Irish comedian is being lined up for a role in the West End run of the Menier Chocolate Factory’s production of La Cage aux Folles, which opens next month at the Playhouse (30 October 2008, previews from 20 October).

The show is currently booking until 10 January 2009 and Norton, who has fronted BBC shows including Any Dream Will Do and I’d Do Anything is rumoured to be taking a lead role soon after that date, but only if the run is extended.

After a rocky start due to multiple cast illnesses (See News, 16 Nov 2007), La Cage aux Folles ran at the Menier from 9 January 2008 (previews from 27 November 2007) to 8 March 2008. In the West End, it’s choreographed by Lynne Page and designed by Tim Shortall, with costumes by Matthew Wright, wigs and make-up by Richard Mawbey, musical supervision and orchestrations by Jason Carr and musical direction by Nigel Lilley.

Based on the 1973 French play by Jean Poiret and subsequent 1978 French-Italian screen version, the musical focuses on a gay couple – Georges, the manager of a St Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and Albin, his star attraction – and the adventures that ensue when Georges’ son Jean-Michel brings home his fiancée’s ultra-conservative parents to meet them. The West End cast includes Douglas Hodge, Stuart Neal, Alicia Davis, Ben Deery, Tracie Bennett and Denis Lawson.