La Cage Aux Folles at the Fox Theatre

Comments (0) By Paul Friswold Thursday, Jan 12 2012

Location Info

Map

The Fox Theatre

527 N. Grand Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63103

9 user reviews	Write A Review
Save to foursquare

More About

Georges (George Hamilton, looking fit if not spry) and Albin (Christopher Sieber, force of nature wearing human form) are in a committed, loving relationship. Georges' son, Jean-Michel (Billy Harrigan Tighe), wants that same relationship, but with Anne (Allison Blair McDowell). To win the approval of Anne's parents, Jean-Michel demands that Georges hide his homosexuality and that Albin hide completely so that her conservative politician father won't be confronted with anything that makes him feel icky. Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein's La Cage Aux Folles takes its sweet time building a head of steam, but in this Terry Johnson-directed production you hardly notice, because Sieber blazes across the stage like a low-flying comet. He's a slashing wit, a dynamic singer and a gifted and patient comic, and he closes Act One with a blockbuster one-two punch of songs. The second of these, "I Am What I Am," is the reason the show still works 30 years on. Here Sieber reworks a defiant statement of pride into a near-apology for his overt homosexuality, then changes course and whips it into a righteous roar of take-me-or-leave-me humanity. It's truly a goose-bump moment you'll carry with you till you're old and gray. (Or gay.) Through January 15 at the Fox Theatre, 527 North Grand Boulevard. Tickets are $15 to $70. Call 314-534-1678 or visit www.fabulousfox.com. Click here for more arts coverage.