Camping it up at La Cage Aux Folles

People who like Graham Norton have no future. Furthermore, musicals belong to a deeply sinister genre, only enjoyed by the flaky, perverted or infirm. Proudly sporting this staunch cummerbund of masculine prejudice, I chuckled disparagingly at the idea of La Cage Aux Folles, which rather seemed like the epitome of wanton dross. A week later, however, and I am still eating my words, and my hat.

In the perfect intimacy of the London Playhouse, itself rather like an opulent birdcage – the show’s other manifestation – with its domed roof and gilt edges, the show whirls along in a transsexual hurricane of lingeried limbs, high farce and irresistible comedy. It is a truly fantastic spectacle, animated by intelligent sets, catchy songs, superb choreography and a fearsomely athletic troupe of show ‘girls’.

The old mainstays of gay music hall: the ostrich boas, cruise ships, cross-dressing and jazz-era glamour are all here, but they are not the substance of the show, merely a very entertaining dressing for the story, which is as unsentimental an endorsement of family values as you will ever get.

This is not camp; this is a whole new league of cabaret extravagance, far too aesthetic, too dynamic to be lumped in with the cheeky idiocy of Carry On films and, well…Graham Norton. Or so I thought. However, as an ageing Albin (Zsa Zsa to St Tropez’s club scene), fabulous yet dolorous and forced to play it straight for his adopted son’s wedding, Norton is an asset to the show – sensitive, understated and, ultimately, touching. Acting, singing and dancing admirably, he is not quite a show-stealer – the wider cast, Denis Lawson amongst others, is too strong for that. But he holds his own very impressively, at once integrated with, and distinct from, the other actors.

At times, the scenes of singing, dancing and acrobatics are so visually exciting, so rich, that the brain is completely absorbed in the spectacle. In one such moment, with the stage a kaleidoscopic vortex of twirling umbrellas and ’60s ink projection psychedelia, a promise is made: ‘One glimpse and you’ll want to stay forever at La Cage Aux Folles‘. Come the final curtain, as I find myself rising from my seat and clapping in unison with everyone else, a stunned grin on my face, I wonder what on earth has happened – is it really over?

La Cage Aux Folles is showing until Saturday 25 April

Playhouse Theatre
Northumberland Avenue
Embankment
WC2N 5DE

Box office: 0870 060 6631

Image courtesy of Catherine Ashmore