Men in drag
Was at the theatre tonight with friends seeing La Cage aux Folles. A real hoot. The film Birdcage is based on the original play and it’s one of my favourite movies and one of the very few to make me laugh out loud every time.
This was good fun and I do like a good musical now and again. The showgirls were great – very pretty men dressed as women, tall and thin with crazy outfits. They might have been ballet dancers as they were incredibly agile! The whole thing was very Priscilla Queen of the Desert – another film I like a lot. And as far as theatres go, I didn’t find it too cramped (for once). We had seats in the upper circle.
The Independent have a good write-up of it (extracted below):
The beautifully wrought songs of devotion between drag queen Albin (Douglas Hodge) and his partner, nightclub owner Georges (Denis Lawson), are counterpointed with the raucous anthems of Albin – “I Am What I Am” is that boil-over moment when you must stand up and be counted – and the pacified relatives in the jauntily rhythmic and insinuating “The Best of Times”.
Terry Johnson’s production evokes the sleaze and intimacy of the St-Tropez nightclub, but Lynn Page’s choreography is anything but tacky: the sextet of all-male “Cagelles” erupt like a bubble-haired chorus in Anything Goes, punting huge beach-balls into the stalls and saluting frenziedly as the weaponry is fully erected round the large funnel on the poop deck.
And at “show time” they return as the exotic bird creatures of the eponymous cage, backed up by a windmill draped in scalloped pink curtains (it’s the Moulin Rose), to raise the roof in their elaborate cancan of bicycle kicks and eye-watering jumps and splits. These performers, and Hodge, create an atmosphere of self-immolation in performance that gives the show its electrifying theatricality.
A busy day at work as I was at an external seminar this morning – but it’s all good stuff.
I love the movies Birdcage and Too Wong Foo! I never saw Priscilla though.
If I were a drag queen my name would be Cruella Summers.
Craig
December 10, 2008 at 1:34 am
Craig – Not sure I’ve seen Too Wong Foo! but I absolutel love Birdcage. You really MUST see Priscilla if you haven’t. Is a moving, funny, sad, uplifting and quite special film.
Not sure what my name would be if I were a drag queen!! Where did Cruella Summers come from???
Milo
December 10, 2008 at 9:21 am
You must watch To Wong Foo if you haven’t! It’s awesome!
I just love the song Cruel Summer, so that would be my drag queen theme song. Maybe I could even model my look after Cruella DeVil?
Craig
December 10, 2008 at 12:45 pm
“The Birdcage” is in my top 5 favorite movies for sure. I’m trying to find it for Silverback for Christmas in fact.
I loved “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar” also. Patrick Swayze has always been one of my favorite guys and he did the roll with a lot of class I thought.
Debby
December 10, 2008 at 8:48 pm
When we were in Miami last week (yes, you notice how smoothly I drop that one in) everyone kept talking about Birdcage, which I’ve never seen, and saying I would like it – - – and I didn’t know it was based on La Cage Aux Folles, which I LOVE. So I really want to see it now.
Daphne
December 10, 2008 at 10:03 pm
To be honest, I preferred La Cage aux Folles because the chemistry between Serrault and Tognazzi was better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN8Mp3FXiUg
With English subtitles.
Robin Williams was fun (especially the Fosse, Fosse, Fosse scene) but still…
Lula
December 11, 2008 at 8:24 am
Debby – is one of my top 5 too. I ‘ve not seen To Wong Foo yet, I must do!
Daphne – you must see Birdcage, is great!
Lula – thanks for the link.
Milo
December 11, 2008 at 10:58 am
Bossy works for herself, so every day is like an Internal Seminar.
BOSSY
December 11, 2008 at 1:30 pm
[...] story. It was a much smaller production than the original Sunset and worked really well. I also saw La Cage aux Folles back in December which was [...]
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