On Thursday, January 19, the Kennedy center was swarming with patrons of the performing arts, en route to see the sold-out Marinskii Ballet, Millennium stage shows and the press preview of La Cage aux Folles. What was remarkable about the walk from the Kennedy Center entrance to the Eisenhower Theater wasn't so much the throngs of elegantly clad connoisseurs of live theater, but the single figure who stood out above the crowd a good twelve inches because of her stacked gold platform stilettos, fancy up-do and flowered pillbox hat. The persona floating above the sea of furs and overcoats was Linda Whiteass, a drag queen of elegant and epic proportions, her slim and elongated frame perfectly fitting into her streamlined Jackie O ensemble. Standing at the door she addressed the crowds asking with a disdainfully nasal tone, "On your way to the ballet tonight?" all the while puffing on a cigarette.
Her hilariously funny interactivity exponentially increased once she entered the theater. Armed with a mic, she stood (and later sat) center stage to commence a sort of stand-up routine rife with Washington, DC based humor and personal epithets both celebrating and roasting relationships, sexuality and political affiliation. Favorite lines included: "Well if you aren't a Republican, you might as well dress like one! I've been wearing fur and eating steaks all week." Upon some audience arrivals just past curtain time, she said "Why hello there, did your tickets say '7:30ish'? You must be from Virginia." She roll-called the audience, finding out who had birthdays, how old they were and instructed them to "shake it" in front of everyone. Her conversational ribaldry definitely got the audience in the mood, and also provided some interesting tid-bits about the packed house: the longest marriage in the room was 55 years, oldest patron was 94, there were at least 3 birthdays being celebrated and the gay and lesbian communities were decently represented.
The show itself is a spectacular and poignant look into the life of Albin (played sincerely by Christopher Sieber) and Georges (played by the charismatic George Hamilton), longtime partners both in romance and in the business of their drag night club, La Cage aux Folles where Albin, as Zsa Zsa, is the long-running star. The audience follows the experience of Albin, known across the Rivera as the legendary mainstay of the La Cage nightly show, as he copes with aging while surrounded by his fellow youthful and lithe drag queens and the changes that time has brought to his primary relationship. These themes are convincingly processed through soulful dialog, song and dance, with comic relief interjected by the backstage antics of the wildly energetic and lively chorus of fellow drag performers. Meanwhile, Georges' son John-Michel returns to the Rivera suddenly to announce in one breath his engagement to the lovely Anne, and that by the way, her father happens to be a notorious public figure hell bent on purging the French Rivera of it's nightclub and alternative sexuality establishments. Volatile hilarity ensues when Anne's family is invited to meet her fiancé's parents.
Despite being fantastically full of glitter, sequins, stilettos, corsets and more glitter, La Cage aux Folles is not simply a fabulous day in the fabulous life of a drag queen. We experience Albin's honest pain when faced with his age and physical limitations, and his anxiety about his relationship with both the son he raised and his love of many years. All of the spectacle, ribaldry and sequins in the world can't and won't camouflage the despair Albin faces when (upon his step-son's insistence) Georges asks Albin to perform an entirely different sort of drag in order to assuage Anne's conservative family, going to the engagement dinner as the straight, swaggarty "Uncle Al" instead of as his life partner, the charming flamingly gay transvestite (as he is later described.)
The highlight of the show is the poignant and moving "I am what I am" ballad which fully embraces the tenuous and tender nuances within Albin's identity, moving the viewer to recall when they might have been hurt or excluded based upon a harsh judgement by a loved one. As Albin begins the number, dressed in perhaps the most gorgeous and sparkly gold and black dress that has ever existed, he sings the first notes shakily and with great pain, as if waiting for a reason to believe the lyrics:
I am what I am
I am my own special creation
So come take a look
Give me the hook or the ovation
It's my world that I want to have a little pride in
My world, and it's not a place I have to hide in
Life's not worth a damn 'til you can say
"Hey world, I am what I am!"
Ending on a triumphant and emotional note, Albin not only fully believes in himself but inadvertently proves to his family that they were the ones who should be ashamed of their small-minded antics. Acted and staged with great emotion, sensitivity, comic timing and of course fantastic style and panache, La Cage aux Folles is an amazing spectacle of song and dance, highly recommended for both the entertainment value and the positive reminder to never stop believing in who you are (and that even if your identity is controversial, family bonds can eventually assuage almost everything.) Refreshingly, La Cage aux Folles successfully drives home the most basic, fundamental point of all, that alternative-to-the-majority sexuality should absolutely be accepted in society and that the real social deviants are those who try to lock away anyone externally different from themselves.
La Cage aux Folles is showing at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater until February 12th. On Tuesday, January 31st at 5 pm, company members Christopher Sieber, Gay Marshall and Cathy Newman give an insider's look to the production including a discussion with the chance for the audience to ask questions. Visit www.Kennedy-Center.org for more information.
Previously in Play DC:
- 2/22: PlayDC: Peter Pan-The Boy Who Hated Mothers @ H Street Playhouse
- 2/22: PlayDC: Civilization (all you can eat) @ Woolly Mammoth
- 2/17: PlayDC: Landless Theatre's DEVIL BOYS FROM BEYOND @ DCAC
- 2/16: PlayDC: Really Really @ Signature Theatre
- 2/9: PlayDC: ELECTILE DISFUNCTION: The Kinsey Sicks for President @ Theater J
- 2/9: Woolly Mammoth's "Civilization Smackdown" + a Giveaway
- 2/8: PlayDC: Blood Wedding @ Constellation Theatre Company
- 2/1: Play DC: "Red" @ Arena Stage
- 1/31: PLAY DC: "The Gaming Table" @ The Folger Theatre
- 1/30: Play DC: The Elephant Room @ Arena Stage
God loves a cheerful giver.
COMMENTS (0)