La Cage aux Folles

Full cast announced and first look at John in costume!

www.whatsonstage.com/oxford-theatre/news/john-partridge-la-cage-aux-folles-first-look_42539.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=19dec2016

YouTube trailer released also...looks promising



John Partridge posted this photo of the set 

I was so quick to say this was gonna be a car crash. But you know what, John Partridge actually sounds fine. He doesn't sound like he's having a nightmare singing it, much better than Chicago.

I'm genuinely shocked...a Kenwright show that doesn't look cheap as chips?! 😮 Whatever next...

There's one bit in the trailer where he seems to be doing Northern accent. Also I thought those shorts were illegal.

So contrary to news reports this week, Zsa Zsa Gabor didn't in fact die but is instead schlepping around the provinces giving it her 'I Am What I Am'.

And a message to Time. You have NOT been kind to Adrian Zmed. Not kind at all. You brute.

I'll be in attendance tomorrow - trying to keep an open mind...

Thanks for the review! Interesting, hope Adrian feels better soon, which may also have affected his acting!

In regards to accents, yes it's set in Saint-Tropez in France but in the most recent London revival I believe they all used British accents (if my memory serves me well), as Les Mis do to depict France, unless it was an American actor (i.e John Barrowman, then I think he stayed American for Albin - again if I remember correctly!). On Broadway, Kelsey Grammer stayed American/transatlantic for Georges (gives an air of class and respect I guess) whilst Douglas Hodge stayed British. The rest of the cast on Broadway stayed American, though I think they gave Jacob a French accent. George Hear when he originated Albin definitely had an American/transatlantic thing going on, not that I was around to see it but there are enough recordings. It's probably better and much cleaner that way than an entire cast of affected French accents.

As for John Partridge being Northern, well it's a strange choice but one that a few picked up from that promo video. Only idea I take from that is, again, from Les Mis, in the Tom Hooper film (and the 25th Anniversary Tour a couple of years before, to some extent), they had all poor people in France affect a Northern accent to convey class. They tried this for Hugh Jackman but he didn't quite get there, leaving his Soliloquy a strange hybrid of Australian/Northern.

So maybe they're trying to establish Albin as slightly lower-class (for whatever reason? Not so sure) by giving him a Northern accent to convey lower-class French. Even as I'm typing that I'm shaking my head.

I was in Oxford last night too for the first preview. Started at 7.51pm (house was only opening at 7.25pm). Kenwright put this down to Zmed being unwell, but I can't see how that delayed us getting in, meanwhile FoH just didn't know what was going on with the delay. Anyhow.

The first half is fine but limp, lacking energy in bits and feels very tacky in parts. The second half is much stronger, presumably as the book is and there's some much needed comic relief in addition to plot.

John Partridge is definitely the best thing about the show - however I didn't buy his forced talk to the audience near the end of Act 1. It came across as desperate and didn't get the reaction desired (which, for an evening presumably packed with family and friends of the production, is slightly concerning). He's definitely got the lungs for the part and has strong presence.

The set itself has more moving parts (both intentionally and unintentionally) than Kenwright's re-imagining of Ghost. Plenty of slight wobbles going on at the moment. I'd put part of this down to the flats themselves being at the wrong height (which would surprise me, TBH) and partially due to people knocking into them. The one intentionally moving part is a moving staircase.

The one peculiar sight I had from mid stalls SL was the access to see, via the reflective tab, into one of the quick change areas. I suspect they need to fix this, as not everyone wants to be distracted by Zmed stripping down to change into a suit.

Lighting is good - and sound is passable, but the New Theatre is notoriously bad for their acoustics so I'll attribute that to the venue rather than the show team.

Curious fact - last night was being filmed. Presumably to provide footage for an EPK?

Electronic Press Kit - basically a trailer for a show!

danielwhit I felt completely the same about the first half. It was very vanilla and Zmed very bland. I also cared very little for Anne throughout. Whether it was the actress or the character though I'm not sure. Zsa Zsa's skit to the audience at the beginning of the title number did fall very flat... but I wondered whether that was partly due to the miffed audience members who were unhappy it started late. He managed to have many back on side though by the end of the number. I also think that some people just don't know how to react when the fourth wall is broken, and they go stiff.