La Cage Cancels More Performances as Cast Fall Ill

The Menier Chocolate Factory has been forced to call off another performance of its much-anticipated but so far highly unlucky revival of Jerry Herman’s 1983 Broadway musical comedy La Cage Aux Folles. For a second night in a row tonight (See Today’s Goss), the evening performance has been cancelled with four members of the company off sick.

Though running since the end of November, the production has yet to officially open, with its press night – rescheduled twice to date – currently set to take place next Wednesday 9 January 2008. Originally due to open on 3 December 2007 (previews from 23 November), La Cage’s first press night was cancelled after rehearsals were thrown into disarray because of flu running rampant through the company. A second press night arranged for 13 December was then axed as star Douglas Hodge continued to recover from a serious chest infection (See News, 28 Nov 2007).

In the production’s run to date, five performances (three of them previews) have now been cancelled due to actors’ indisposition. A sixth pre-Christmas performance was pulled following a power cut in the Southwark area. The musical’s limited season concludes on 8 March 2008.

Based on the 1973 French play by Jean Poiret and subsequent 1978 French-Italian screen version, the musical focuses on a gay couple – George (played by Philip Quast), the manager of a St Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and Albin, his star attraction (Douglas Hodge) – and the adventures that ensue when George’s son brings home his fiancée’s ultra-conservative parents to meet them.

In addition to Quast and Hodge, the cast features Tara Hugo, Neil McDermott, Jason Pennycooke, Iain Mitchell, Una Stubbs and Spencer Stafford, who performed the role of Albin in Hodge’s absence. La Cage Aux Folles is directed by Terry Johnson and designed by David Farley, with costumes by Matthew Wright, lighting by David Howe, orchestration by Jason Carr and musical direction by Nigel Lilley.

La Cage Aux Folles has a book by Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy) and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, whose other classics include Hello Dolly!, Mame and Mack and Mabel. The score features songs including “I Am What I Am”, “The Best of Times”, “Song on the Sand”, “Masculinity” and the title number.

On Broadway, La Cage Aux Folles clocked up over 1,500 performances in its premiere season – when it also won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score – and had a brief revival in 2004. In London, it had a run at the London Palladium in 1986. The stage show also inspired the 1996 Hollywood film The Birdcage, which relocated the action to Miami where Nathan Lane and Robin Williams starred.

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Meanwhile, another production today fell victim to virus. At Trafalgar Studios 2, the double bill of plays written and directed by Ben Woolf – Angry Young Man and The Explorer – has postponed its opening by four days due to cast illness (See News, 5 Dec 2007). It will now open on 14 January 2008 (rather than 10 January) and continue as scheduled until 2 February. Angry Young Man, which was seen at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe, tells the story of Yuri, a brilliant Eastern European surgeon who arrives in London in search of work and a new life. The Explorer, a world premiere, follows the travels of a Victorian gentleman with a very dark secret.

– by Terri Paddock