| LA CAGE AUX FOLLES; Melissa Errico (long post!) | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 11:01 am EST 11/15/24 | |
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| LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (November 13) If you live in the Pasadena area, you may be suffering from an acute shortage of sequins, glitter, tinsel, feathers, sparkles, and confetti. Because the Pasadena Playhouse must have bought out every store, judging by the glitz on stage for second preview of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES on Wednesday. Cheyenne Jackson is Georges and Kevin Cahoon is Albin/Zaza, with the whole shebang giddily directed by Sam Pinkerton. The Cagelles were played by an eclectic mix of genderqueer, nonbinary, LGBTQ+ advocates, and notable drag performers. I enjoyed them, though they definitely had a different vibe from the national tour all those years ages ago. That bunch was more polished, with less (aside from a few “specialties”) to differentiate one from the other. I suspect that was because the goal was to keep the audience guessing which few were women, which were not. Not the case here. This is far less a glitzy, glamorous St. Tropez club, which interfers a bit with the notion that Georges and Zaza are such highly respected figures in the community. There’s a lyric that it’s supposed to be “grand.” Mmm. I guess it depends on how you define that. Jackson is still utterly gorgeous and sings like an angel. Cahoon is definitely skilled at comedy—Rebecca and I both loved a bit of impersonation in one number, but Albin’s hyperbolic shrieking got wearing really fast. It’s not helped by the character of Jacob, who’s as ramped up as Albin in most scenes. Speaking of shrieking, I do not know if Cahoon is naturally raspy, but if he isn’t, he may not have the voice for the entire run. A very fine disabled actor named Ryan Haddad handled the thankless role of the son, while Shannon Purser (Barb from STRANGER THINGS) was his Anne, and definitely made the most of her part. We had fun, though inwardly groaning at Jerry Herman’s endless recycling of verses and songs and cursing the inevitable ear worms on the ride home—and that this show won the Tony over SUNDAY. A highlight of the evening was the first ever meeting of ATC’s showtunetrivia and bicoastal. I told him I felt like Amalia in SHE LOVES ME. 😄 MELISSA ERRICO—A NOIR ROMANCE (November 14) This was last night in Long Beach, some sixty miles from us, part of the Carpenter Center’s cabaret series. We saw Melissa there last year, and ordered the optional catered dinner. It was decent, but by no means worth $40 each. This year, we went to Marri’s Italian restaurant, and dined for half that. Of course, getting there was literally hell on wheels—it took two and a half hours, leaving at just before three; coming home took just under an hour. The joys of SoCal freeways. The concert was developed from Melissa’s excellent OUT OF THE DARK album. During the pandemic, she spent a lot of time watching film noir, the smoky world of femme fatales singing in bars, with tough detectives, gangsters, and mystery everywhere. Her set list was pretty much the entire album, with some terrific additions. There were the classics, like David Raskin’s “Laura” and “The Bad and the Beautiful;” Arlen and Robin’s “It Was Written in the Stars” (her opener); Warren and Robin’s “Checkin’ My Heart;” and Levant’s “Blame It On My Youth” (“Levant was noir before there was noir!”). She had a few “neo-noir” numbers as well: Patricia Barber’s “Silent Partner,” and some written for her noir project, “Farewell, My Lovely” (lyrics by Adam Gopnik for “Marlowe’s theme” by David Shire), “Shadows and Light” (Gopnik, Shire), and “Amour, Amour” (Michel Legrand, Jeremy Sams). Introducing this last, she mentioned starring in the Legrand-Sams musical, AMOUR. I cheered and clapped loudly, since I am obsessed with this show. Melissa joked, “I brought my mother.” :) She did the two numbers I most wanted to hear from the album, “With Every Breath I Take “ from the noir musical, CITY OF ANGELS—as a writer, I am obsessed with this one—and “Blame It On My Youth.” Because. Oscar. The additions not from the album included a kickass rendering of “The Gentleman Is A Dope,” offering some of Hammerstein’s most searing lyrics ever; the Gershwins’ “The Man I Love;” and Sondheim’s “Sooner or Later,” performed draped all over legendary Randy Waldman’s piano. Waldman has played for the stars, including Sinatra and Streisand, and was on the keys for that song on the DICK TRACY soundtrack. The rest of the incredible band included Brian Scanlon on sax and woodwinds, Dave Tull on drums, and Kevin Axt on bass. We got to chat with Melissa afterward. She said she read and liked my BROADWAY REVIVAL novel, proving she has outstanding taste in books as well as music. 😉 Laura in LA, braving audiences with her pink mask firmly in place #latheatre #melissaerrico #anoirromance #cabaretsandrevues |
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