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You enter the theatre through a red velvet corridor and face a curtain of pink ruched silk. The seven-piece band is perched on high, either side of the stage. There is a glitter ball and a smoky atmosphere. One really could be sitting in one of those St Tropez transvestite night clubs that is the setting of La Cage aux Folles, the first gay Broadway musical – music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, book by Harvey Fierstein – now revived in the absolutely spot-on intimate setting of the Menier Chocolate Factory.
(...)
Philip Quast's Georges is a rock-like presence with a tender baritonal voice. Herman's show tunes are as rousing as ever, but you notice more now the ingenious dramatic extensions to items like 'With Anne on My Arm' and the 'Cocktail Counterpoint'. 'I Am What I Am' and 'The Best of Times' remain irresistible knockout anthems, and the score has been brilliantly re-orchestrated by Jason Carr.
© Whatsonstage
