One last visit to La Cage aux Folles

I saw the 2004-5 revival of La Cage aux Folles and I saw the current revival last spring. I had been itching to see the production with the replacement leads of Christopher Sieber and Harvey Fierstein, so when producers recently posted a closing notice for May 1 I knew I had to get to the theater.

Dara and I attended a Wednesday matinee over school vacation. The blue haired ladies were replaced by families with middle school and high school aged children. I love to see teens in Broadway theaters, especially when they're not there for a Disney show or Daniel Radcliffe.

As usual, the Cagelles were absolute show stoppers. It's amazing to me that anyone can be that flexible, but especially men and especially muscular men. At intermission there was audience buzz about how one of the Cagelles was a woman. The teens and their moms were flipping through their Playbills scoping out ambiguous names like Terry and Logan, trying to figure out who was the woman. "Wow, these Cagelles are passing as women. They have the suburbanites tricked," I thought. As I opened by Playbill to verify, a little slip of paper fell out, "At this performance the role of Bitelle will be played by Caitlin Mundth." One of the swings, Mundth, was in as a Cagelle. A woman playing a man, impersonating a woman. Total genderfuck - wrap your heads around that on the way back to your hotel.

As amazing as Douglas Hodge was as Albin, there was something very sweet about having Harvey Fierstein and Christopher Sieber, two gay men, play the leads in La Cage. In addition to being heterosexual, Kelsey Grammar is also a Republican, who dodges gay marriage questions by saying it should be up to churches. At the very end of the play, Georges and Albin share a single kiss. With Hodge and Grammer is was a polite peck, but with Sieber and Fierstein is was a grab-the-back-of-the head-and-hold-on kiss. Sieber is also a stronger singer than Grammer and much more charming.

I would be dismissing my inner fangirl if I didn't confess that I was also delighted to see Wilson Jermaine Herdedia back on a Broadway stage as Jacob. He looked exactly like his Tony award winning Angel in RENT, despite being forty. He was lithe and flexible, with a baby face (and a six pack). I hope we get to keep him in New York and see more of him on stage. He would probably like a role that didn't involve wearing heels and a skirt, but he sports both so well.

You have ten days left to see La Cage aux Folles. It is definitely worth revisiting. Harvey Fierstein wrote the book! How often do you get to see the writer act in a play when he didn't write the part for himself? And Chris Sieber is a dream. Go!

The Motherfucker with the Hat: A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down

Broadway has a little secret. I couldn't tell you why it's a secret, but they've been keeping it under wraps for weeks. The Motherfucker With the Hat is really fucking good. The writing is the best part. Playwright, Stephen Adly Guirgis, one of the artistic directors of LAByrinth Theater Company, makes his Broadway debut with a play about addicts, recovery and infidelity. The cast consists of two couples and a quirky cousin. It takes place in present day New York City. Addiction is, of course, depressing, but  Guirgis threw in many gut busting lines, that the actors deliver deadpan, while the audience is full of laughter.

LAByrinth has a history of writing and producing plays about struggling New Yorkers, and The Motherfucker With the Hat falls into that genre. The show opens with an argument between Jackie (Bobby Cannavale) and his girlfriend, Veronica (Elizabeth Rodriguez) about suspected cheating. Jackie is sober and Veronica is still using. It's one of those really great stage arguments, where they're leaping around the space, on the bed, sweating and swearing in tough NYC accents. It's evident that both characters are trying to overcome their own demons, a task made more challenging with their fiery tempers.

Cannavale is the stand out star of this production. He had the audience eating out of his hand, totally on his side the whole time. When Jackie was angry, we were angry. When he talked like prison time is no big deal, we believed him. Rodriguez held her own, and matched him beat for beat. Yul Vazquez, as Cousin Julio, provided much of the comic relief with brilliant delivery. Annabella Sciorra and Chris Rock round out the cast as the second, only slightly more stable, couple.

I attended a matinee and the older patrons sitting near me were laughing at the vulgarities and insults being strewn on stage. I think having "motherfucker" in the title weeded out the potential audience members who grumble (or leave) from excessive cursing. This audience gave an immediate, enthusiastic standing ovation.

I'm tired of plays that make me feel terrible, even if they're good; I could find cheaper ways to ruin my day. The Motherfucker With the Hat is a serious play, but the humor makes the sadness easier to take. The combination of good writing and acting makes for excellent story telling.