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"This is all about love, this marriage." says Albin to Georges when he hears of their son's impending marriage. And it's what I say to you when describing not only the creation of this musical comedy, but the collaboration that brought La Cage aux Folles into being.
From the moment that Jerry Herman, Arthur Laurents and I began work, in the summer of '82, ours has been a marriage of love, respect and trust. We (the "Collaborationists", as we call ourselves) worked hand in hand in hand, almost single-mindedly, adapting the long-running French play for the musical stage.
La Cage… in its original form was a bevy of sight gags, wildly drawn characters and sexual rompery. Truly the fabric of farce. What was lacking for our creative team was the stuffing - the helium that would fill our beautiful bejewelled balloon and make it soar. That stuffing was the heart. Without that heart Jerry could not make it sing and I could not make it speak. It took many long hours of discussion to find the heart of our piece. In our incarnation La Cage… is a love story, the tale of a marriage of 20 years almost ruined by a son's thoughtlessness.
Here, amidst the age-old triangle of mother, father and child, we found our justification, our universality, our reason to create. What child has not at some point in its life been ashamed to introduce its parents to friends? What parent has not wondered. "Where did we go wrong?" What marriage has not been tested in these familial flames? When Georges asks his son what had the boy ever asked for that he'd been refused, Jean-Michel answers "A little respect for what I want, a little understanding". Georges, taken aback, answers. "A little respect? A little understanding?" and, referring to Albin, sings. "How often is someone concerned with the tiniest thread of your life? … Look over there!" Now we had our stuffing!
Adding to our music, lyrics and libretto the elements of costume, scenery, lighting and dance was more than adding icing on the cake. (…) The scenery placed us in the fantasy world of St. Tropez, all sun-bleached pastels and sparkling blue Mediterranean waters. The costumes gave us character, glamour and style. The lighting added mood of moonlit nights, starry skies and romance. The choreography gave us life exploding before our very eyes. Here was fun, boundless energy and humor. (…)
To say that La Cage… is a unique creation, only time will tell. But I can say that its birth was unique. We "Collaborationists" love one another deeply and want nothing more than to share that love with you. Our only wish, as Georges would say, is that you "Open your eyes! For if we've done our job correctly, you will leave with more than a torn ticket stub and a folded program"
© RCA Records, New York