Audience comments:
"Absolutely marvellous. Brilliant production"
RB (Skipton)
"Loved it!"
BB (Leeds)
"The men have good legs! I fancy the maid!"
AB (Leeds)
"Great show, great actors and actresses. Fabulous!"
JC (Mirfield)
"The best show you've done"
SG (Ripon)
"Excellent show. Keep up the good work"
BW (Huddersfield)
"Excellent show and music, Very very good"
AP (Leeds)
"Excellent costumes"
VO (Otley)
"What a wonderful show!"
CH (Cleckheaton)
"A wonderful show. Well done!"
GM (Halifax)
"Wonderful superb. Magic. All your shows are professional"
HW (Pudsey)
"The show was absolutely fantastic. Best I've
seen in a long time"
GW (Micklefield)
"A great night out! Keep up the high standards.
Well done!"
MP (Nottingham)
SYNOPSIS: La Cage Aux Folles
Act 1
The show opens with Georges welcoming us to a most unusual club ~ La Cage
aux Folles ~ which he owns and hosts.
The club curtain rises, and we are introduced to the performers...a line
of female impersonators called Les Cagelles ~ We Are
What We Are. Are they
really all guys? We won't find out until the finale!
ZaZa, the star of the show, is, as always, late. As Georges goes to hurry
her up, we realise that ZaZa is also Georges’ lover of 20 years, Albin.
After a small battle, Albin agrees to dress for the show, climbs the stairs
to his dressing room and begins applying his makeup ~ A
Little More Mascara.
Georges returns to their apartment behind the club to find his son waiting.
Jean-Michel, the product of a one-night affair 25 years earlier, announces
his intention to marry Anne, the daughter of an anti-Gay politician, Deputy
Edouard Dindon. The problem is, Anne’s parents are coming to meet Jean-Michel’s
parents, and Jean-Michel doesn’t want Albin anywhere in sight. He sings
With Anne On My Arm and convinces Georges of the sincerity of his emotions.
Agreeing to help his son leaves Georges in an uncomfortable predicament:
he must now tell Albin he is not wanted at the forthcoming family gathering.
Georges sings and dances with Albin ~ With You On My
Arm ~ to prepare him
for the bad news.
They go for a walk through town; then seated at an outdoor cafe table, Georges
tries, but cannot bring himself to tell Albin the truth. The moon is full,
and so is Georges heart ~ Song On The Sand. It is suddenly time for the second
show, and Albin rushes back to ready himself. The midnight show begins ~
La Cage Aux Folles.
Coming offstage after his number, Albin catches Georges and Jean-Michel removing
his belongings from the apartment, and Georges is finally forced to tell
all. Instead of reacting as we expect him to, Albin goes out on stage to
finish his performance.
He begins to sing, but his emotions take charge. Albin sends the cast offstage,
turns to Georges in the wings and declares I Am What I Am. In a triumphant
gesture, he tears off his wig, throws it at Georges and storms out of the
club.
Act II
At the street cafe the following morning, Georges persuades Albin to speak
to him ~ Song On the Sand (Reprise) ~ and begs him to come to the dinner
party disguised as Uncle Al. But Albin has a bit to learn about passing for
a heterosexual ~ Masculinity.
The apartment is now stripped of its decor as Albin has been stripped of
his, but it's still not enough for Jean-Michel, who rails against his father’s
lover. Georges, fed up with his son’s selfishness, tries to tell the
boy just what Albin has done for him ~ Look Over There.
The Dindons arrive ~ a lovely daughter with two odd parents ~ a pompous self-opinionated
father and a gauche socially inept mother. In an attempt to impress, the
butler (who wants to be a maid) Jacob brings out the best plates for the
hors d’ouvres. Unfortunately they have painted on them a picture of
two men engaged in what looks like leapfrog..! A desperate song ~ Cocktail
Counterpoint ~ ensues to try and get the plates away from the dreadful
Dindons. Albin, self-sacrificing to the end, disguises himself as Jean-Michel's
mother and suddenly appears to save the day. He whisks his guests off to
Chez Jacqueline. Jacqueline, recognizing her old friend ZaZa, embarrasses
Albin into performing ~ The Best of Times. ZaZa wins over his in-laws-to-be
until, during his triumphant bow, he pulls off his wig out of habit and is
revealed as a man in drag.
Back in the apartment, the Dindons fume as Jean-Michel apologizes to his "mother" ~
Look Over There (Reprise). Disgusted with his “perversity,” the
Dindons try to leave but are stopped by Jacqueline, who, recognizing Dindon,
has invited the press to photograph her with him and the gay couple. They're
trapped, but Albin has the solution. He places the Dindons in show costumes
and sneaks them out as part of The Finale.
The Dindons have escaped: the young couple is off to be married, the club
show is over, and Georges is left alone onstage. Albin appears, and the two
walk off, arm in arm, into the St. Tropez sunrise.
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