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Graham Norton replaces Terry Wogan on the Eurovision Song Contest; Roger Allam replaces Graham Norton in La Cage aux Folles. It's like musical chairs in the world of high-camp entertainment these days. Allam is the third actor to play drag artist Albin in Terry Johnson's production - and surely the least feminine. But, if the sight of Allam in skirts brings dame Edna irresistibly to mind, his performance is funny and - when required in a show as featherlight as Albin's boa - heartfelt too.
This is not a great musical. It's a soppy fantasy in which no hurt is too deeply felt, no obstacle too hard to overcome. The slender plot concerns the effort of Albin and George's son Jean-Michel to conceal his unorthodox parentage from his fiancée's homophobic dad. After first taking umbrage (cue the show's most memorable song, 'I Am What I Am') Albin agrees to pose as hetero Uncle Al - and Allam is a joy to watch as he twists his flouncing body into unheard-of masculine shapes. That's a winning set-piece - and there are others, as the Cage aux Folles nightclub's cast of leggy divas strut their stuff. Mind you, the scuzzy cabaret atmosphere isn't easy to recreate in this venerable West End playhouse. Some of the songs are a bit dutiful, too, while the story's dilemmas resolve themselves too cosily. What's left is a sweet-natured diversion, with the added attraction of Allam as Britain's beefiest female impersonator since Frank Bruno last played a pantomime dame.
© Time Out Group Ltd
