The major new production of "La Cage Aux Folles" that debuted at the Pasadena Playhouse on November 17 would qualify as seasonal theater based on tinsel quantity alone.
The opening production number features haystack-sized mounds of the stuff. Not only do they shimmer, they shimmy. Ornamented with wide eyes and juicy lips, these dancing silver hillocks suggest "A Muppet Family Christmas" on acid.
Over the course of the show, audiences are also treated to projections of stained-glass windows that spin like pinwheels; costume design that verges on surrealism; and one awfully of-the-moment America First absurdity, a billboard-sized painting of Jesus playing football with kids from a "Dick and Jane" book. ("La Cage aux Folles" is set in Saint-Tropez, France.)
This hallucinatory lark of a revival, starring gay Broadway veterans Cheyenne Jackson and Kevin Cahoon, is directed by Sam Pinkleton, the cockeyed visionary who helmed last year's oddball "The Wizard of Oz" at A.C.T. and is currently represented on Broadway by Cole Escola's ridiculous, raunchy "Oh Mary!"
Like Christmas at its least dysfunctional, Pinkleton's take on "La Cage Aux Folles" is at once painstakingly sincere and unapologetically kitschy, with just the right amount of too much.
While the original 1983 book and score by the openly gay team of writer Harvey Fierstein ("Torch Song Trilogy") and composer Jerry Herman ("Mame," "Hello Dolly") remain intact, the acceptance-seeking starch and polish of the show's three Broadway productions are swapped out in Pasadena for a ragtag, DIY vibe.
And Pinkleton's diverse cast presents a broad spectrum of gender expression. Past productions have largely implied that there's a highly limited range: men, women, and men who dress as women.
A quick trip to see this joyously refreshed 21st-century iteration would make an ideal holiday gift for the queer theater lovers in your life. You'll have to celebrate early though; the show runs only through December 15. Travel tips follow below.
Behind the scenes
Based on the French play and film of the same name, both from the 1970s, "La Cage Aux Folles" was the first Broadway musical to center a romantic same-sex couple.
The original 1983 production of "La Cage Aux Folles" won six Tony awards, including Best Musical, and ran for more than four years. There have been two subsequent Broadway revivals, and the show's hallmark song "I Am What I Am" has become a widely recorded gay anthem.
In the show, suave Georges and high-strung Albin (played by Jackson and Cahoon, respectively, in Pasadena) own the titular night club, where Albin also performs, under his drag name, Zaza.
Having raised Georges' son, Jean-Michel, together, the couple is stunned when the young man gets engaged to the daughter of an anti-gay politician, and insists that Georges play straight and Albin absent himself when her parents come for a visit. Disguises, farce, and frolic ensue.
Just prior to the start of rehearsals for the Pasadena Playhouse production, the Bay Area Reporter spoke with Pinkleton, Jackson, and Cahoon about their perspectives on "La Cage Aux Folles."
Finding family
"When the Playhouse first came to me with the idea of doing 'La Cage', I wasn't interested," said Pinkleton. "I thought of it as a very old-fashioned show. There was a gay couple, but all I really remembered was a line of drag queens doing high kicks. But then I revisited the script and realized there was a lot more potential to it. I wanted to dig deeper."
In past productions, the queens of the chorus, known collectively as the Cagelles, had a Rockettes-like uniformity, both in appearance and personality. Pinkleton has reimagined them as an odd lot of misfit outsiders, each unique in look and demeanor.
He also realized that the bonds formed among the Cagelles echoed the relationships at the core of the show.
"It's really all about the chosen family," said Pinkleton. "Whether it's Georges and Albin building their lives and their business together; Albin, taking on a maternal role in Jean-Michel's life; or this beautiful community of folks who come together at 'La Cage' and are united by the joy of making shows, which of course I love."
Pinkleton, 37, also recognized that, having first seen "La Cage Aux Folles" in his late teens or early twenties, his reflexive reaction to a couple who had been together for decades and raised a now-adult child was to consider them "old men."
"But thinking about it now, I realized that you could be 44 and have a 20-year-old son! Cheyenne, who is about to turn 50, has kids. He's one of the most vibrant, vital people I know. I'd had an idea in my head that these guys were near the end of their lives. Now I think of them as being in the thick of it."
Recognizing one's self
Cheyenne Jackson didn't share Pinkleton's preconceptions about the show, because he's never seen it.
"I have to admit, I wasn't familiar with the musical," said Jackson, who has 8-year-old twins, Willow and Ethan, with husband Jason Landau.
"I did know 'The Birdcage,' though," he said, referring to the 1996 non-musical film version starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.
"I saw it when I was around 20, and what I remember so distinctly is that the people the movie was skewering were my pastors and my teachers. The morality police were the weirdos; the queer people were the normal ones.
"What I'm loving about the show now that I've been getting into the script is how much I relate to this longtime gay couple. The way these guys banter and give each other shit reminds me of me and my husband. You've got to be able to give each other a zinger."
A fan's notes
"I saw the original Broadway production, recalled Kevin Cahoon. "I must have been about 10 years old. Can you imagine? I certainly had never seen a drag queen before. But to be honest, my memory of that show is that it was the shiniest, sparkliest ball of joy I'd ever seen.
"I also remember that Jacob, the housekeeper in the show, picked up a statue by its penis and carried it off stage. That's what stuck in my little 10-year-old mind."
In Pasadena, Jacob is played by George Salazar in a charisma-charged comic performance. Seen by the right people, this minor role could make him a major star.
Cahoon, a Texas theater kid, had come to the show with a group of classmates from his acting school at Theater Under the Stars, their annual trip to New York, chaperoned by his mother.
"I have the coolest mom," he said, "She's still the coolest. We never really discussed the show in detail. But we agreed that it was hilarious; a wonderful show with a wonderful message."
As a child actor, Cahoon had the opportunity to perform with Marilyn Maye, the actress and cabaret star, who he came to idolize. He played nephew Patrick to Maye's Auntie Mame in Houston, and later went to see her as Dolly Levi in Galveston.
"'Mame' and 'Hello Dolly' are both Jerry Herman shows," said Cahoon, pointing out their connection to "La Cage Aux Folles."
"When I heard Marilyn sing those big Jerry Herman songs, like 'If He Walked into My Life' and 'Open a New Window,' it just permeated my DNA in a way I can never explain. And now, as Albin, I'll get to sing the big Jerry Herman song. Sometimes it feels like I'm channeling her. It's my own Marilyn moment."
'La Cage Aux Folles,' through Dec. 15. $44 and up. Pasadena Playhouse, 309 S. Molino. www.pasadenaplayhouse.org
Visiting Pasadena
A six-hour drive or 90-minute flight from San Francisco, Pasadena is in relatively easy reach for eager theatergoers. Here are a few suggestions to help you make the most of an overnight visit in addition to the show.
Make the Hyatt Place hotel your headquarters. Just two blocks from the Pasadena Playhouse, it offers reasonable prices, spacious rooms and a swimming pool that's kept heated through the fall and winter months.
Home to the Rose Bowl, the Pasadena area is rich in vegetal treasures. The Huntington Botanical Gardens, in immediately adjacent San Marino, features 16 themed areas showcasing plants of the desert, the tropics, China, Japan and more.
A few miles away, the 150-acre Descanso Gardens celebrate the season. Gingko trees blaze yellow; fat chrysanthemums bloom; and a kaleidoscopic walk-through light installation opens daily at dusk through the holiday season.
In Pasadena's welcoming, walkable downtown you'll spot landmark examples of the Beaux Arts, Craftsman, and Spanish Revival architectural styles over the course of just a few blocks.
Drinks, dining & shopping
You'll also discover a holiday shopping bonanza. Along with dozens of storefronts showcasing upscale international brands, you'll find unique independent retailers, including Vroman's Bookstore, a sprawling literary mecca that, curiously, incorporates a knowledgeably staffed wine bar where bibliophiles and oenophiles can commingle.
If craft cocktails are your preferred tipple, check out Pasadena's surprisingly vibrant speakeasy culture. Long after prohibition, saloons with tricky admission remain popular here.
You'll run a gauntlet to gain entry to 10 ¼, passing through a sports bar, descending stairs to a tiki bar, and stepping into a phone booth where picking up the receiver and uttering a few persuasive words leads to the opening of a secret door to this tipplers' lair.
A gleaming skull and gold-plated urinal are involved with ingress to another intimate subterranean bar called Ladies and Gentlemen.
For those whose proclivities lean to ladies and ladies or gentlemen and gentlemen, Boulevard is the old reliable, one and only watering hole catering specifically to Pasadena's queer community.
And don't miss a memorable Cal-Italian dinner at Union Restaurant, where a featured specialty is timballo, close cousin of the gargantuan baked pasta dish made by Stanley Tucci in the movie "Big Night." It's one of the city's most consistently well-reviewed dining rooms, and also happens to be queer-owned.
Roundtrip air between SFO and Hollywood Burbank Airport are available for as little as $68 during the run of "La Cage Aux Folles."
For general information on Pasadena, visit www.visitpasadena.com
Hyatt Place, 399 E. Green St. www.hyattplacepasadena.com
Huntington Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino. www.huntington.org
Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Dr., La Canada Flintridge. www.descansogardens.org
Vroman's Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd. www.vromansbookstore.com
10 ¼, 12 E. Colorado Blvd. www.tenquarterpasadena.com
Ladies and Gentlemen, 59 E. Colorado Blvd. www.ladiesandgentlemenla.com
Boulevard, 3199 E. Foothill Blvd. www.instagram.com/boulevardpasadena
Union Restaurant, 37 Union St. www.unionpasadena.com
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