La Cage Aux Folles in Manila... A Theatrical Delight!

On its last run in Manila's RCBC Plaza Auditorium several weekends past, was a 9Theatre production of La Cage Aux Folles, originally written by Frenchman Jean Poiret, and then adapted by an advocate for gay rights New Yorker Harvey Fierstein, and set to music by Jerry Herman.

The Manila staging was innovatively directed by Robbie Guevara, and starred movie actor Michael de Mesa of the famous movie family, and noted stage thespian and theatre mentor Audie Gemora, as Georges and Albin, also known as Zaza, the pair of French gay cabaret impresario and transvestite showstopper, respectively,  who find themselves in a dizzying series of farcical adventures when their son brings home his fiancée, daughter of a conservative statesman and his docile if a trifle repressed wife.

I saw this play in New York a few years back, and thoroughly enjoyed the glib dialogue and the rousing music, and of course the riveting performances of the Broadway based actors.  I also saw the film adaptation entitled Birdcage starring the late frenetic Robin Williams as Georges and the brilliant Nathan Lane as Albin, with a droll Hank Azaria as the hilarious butler cum maid.  I loved the play and the movie...so when I saw the poster of this production in Manila, I made up my mind to watch it, though I wasn't sure what to expect.

I need not have worried.  La Cage Aux Folles in Manila was a theatrically delightful experience, with stellar performances by the two leads in particular.  Audie Gemora is maddeningly believable as Albin/Zaza, complete with middle aged paunch provided by a body suit.  His face is a gifted canvas, that paints a whole gamut of expressions that alternately titilate, vex, and still inspire sympathy!  It is a face that is strikingly part woman, part chameleon, able to show thoroughly believable feminine emotions and nuances, it is amazing!

But the star of the local show has got to be Michael de Mesa.  Renowned in Philippine movies for his sensitive, understated portrayals in dramas, he was equally subtle and restrained in his portrayal of Georges.  He is at once suave, urbane, and glib; gay, but not screaming; leaving one to gently wonder, is he or isn't he? Though his vocal chops cannot match Audie's, he does carry a tune well in his soft, unpretentious baritone timbre.

The cast provides marvelous support to the two leads...from the energetic butler cum maid on steroids Jacob, to Hannah the tattooed and buff transvestite into S&M; from the son with a flawless and fluent diction, to the fiancée with an adorable face, to the uptight martinet of a father and the secret lush of a mother, to name but a few.

La Cage Aux Folles translates to The Cage of Mad Women, though Folles is also a French slang term for effeminate homosexuals.  It is a mad production, alright, and the few women in the cast are indeed mad to try to pit talents with all the gay performers in the play.  The women, despite handsome efforts, are outnumbered and outperformed in this truly fun and frolicsome production.

It would be a pity if this delightful play were not to be reprised for more Manila audiences to enjoy.