“La Cage Aux Folles” at Tacoma Musical Playhouse

The News Tribune, May 23, 2014

“La Cage Aux Folles” at Tacoma Musical Playhouse is fabulous.

Andres Fry and Georges and Jeffrey Bassett as Albin. Photo by Kat Dollarhide

The only criticism I have is that the romantic dance number with Jean-Michel (Joey Schultz) and Anne (Emily Tuomey) needed a few more rehearsals, but since I saw it opening weekend, here’s hoping they’ll put more spark in it in coming performances.

Beyond that it was as nearly perfect as a romantic musical comedy can be. The sets by Judy Cullen, lighting by John Chenault and costumes by Margot Webb and Grace Stone are gorgeous. Jon Douglas Rake’s directing and choreography are in top form, and the orchestra directed by Jeff Stvrtecky is as good as I’ve ever heard them. In short, everybody involved in this lavish production seems to be having the time of their lives, and they convey their love of the show to the audience.

Previous versions of “La Cage” that I have seen were campy in the extreme. This version is just campy enough, but underneath the glitter is a sincerity that is palatable. Beyond the over-the-top comedy and the great music and dance, it is a sweet love story and a message never too old to be told — that everyone should be celebrated for who they are, a theme stated in the opening musical number, “We Are What We Are.”

Les Cagelles. Photo by Kat Dollarhide

The stars are Georges (Andrew Fry), the aging emcee at La Cage Aux Folles, and his longtime life partner, Albin (Jeffrey Bassett), a transvestite performer who lives in drag on and off stage. Their son, Jean-Michel (a child born out of Georges’ one-and-only tryst with a woman years ago) is engaged to marry Anne, and has invited her uptight, ultra-conservative parents to meet his parents, meaning Georges and his real mother whom he’s never even met. He’s worried that if they meet Albin and realize who his family really is it will wreak havoc on his wedding plan. This situation sets the stage for more cross-dressing and mistaken identity worthy of a Shakespearean comedy.

TMP’s forte has always been big, lavish musical numbers, and the big numbers here, featuring a chorus of men in fabulous drag with a few women mixed in (I challenge audiences to spot which are which) are as lavish and as delightful as any I’ve seen in quite some time. The acrobatic dancing and creative choreography is quite impressive.

Georges’ emceeing is in the style of an old school song and dance man, and Fry inhabits the role so comfortably it’s easy to forget he is acting. His dancing is smooth and graceful, he sings with heart, and he conveys his deep love for Albin with sincerity. Bassett plays the more outlandish Albin with just the right touch of flamboyance, without overdoing it, while coming across as fully human and vulnerable. Both Fry and Bassett are veterans of musical comedy, and they were marvelously cast in these roles.

Also outstanding are Isaiah Parker as Jacob the “maid,” who is the campiest character in the whole show, Dana Johnson as Anne’s mother (hilarious in a drunk scene), and John Miller as the stage manager at La Cage who is disastrously in love with a dominatrix in the chorus.

If you see only one musical comedy this year, make it “La Cage Aux Folles” at Tacoma Musical Playhouse.

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday through June 8

WHERE: Tacoma Musical Playhouse at The Narrows Theatre, 7116 Sixth Ave., Tacoma

TICKETS: $20-$29

INFORMATION: 253-565-6867, http://www.tmp.org