We round up the reviews for Timothy Sheader’s revival of the musical which continues to play at the theatre until the 16th September.
The Guardian: **** “Yet what is most striking about this memorable production, led by an all-queer creative team, is how authentic and truthful it feels.”
WhatsOnStage: ***** “Carter and Mullaney are an entrancing central couple. In an exquisitely realised, fully rounded portrayal, Carter makes vivid the contrast between Georges’s dashing onstage persona as compère and host of the nightclub, and his real-life role as Albin’s flawed life partner. Mullaney suggests a hard-won core of steel (this is the 1970s after all) beneath Albin’s flouncing and histrionics, and has the comic instincts and sad-eyed pathos of a true clown. I suspect this is a performance that will become richer and deeper as the run progresses.”
Evening Standard:*** “It’s gorgeous to look at, thanks to fantastically camp set and costume designs and a supporting troupe of drag kings and queens. But it’s also dated and emotionally hollow, all lamé frock and no knickers, an imperfect swansong for Sheader at a venue he’s turned into a destination and a place to reappraise neglected musicals.”
The Telegraph: ***** “Tim Sheader’s joyous new production at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre sees him bow out of his 16-year tenure on a marvellous high.”
City Am: ***** “It goes out with a bang, of course. I’ve never seen so many colours and attitudes on one stage in one go. We didn’t even mention the chorus lines! This is the hit of the summer – book before the rest of London beats you to La Cage aux Folles, by way of Regent’s Park.”
Time Out: **** “This is a big blow-out of a show that wraps up as a gloriously camp celebration of found family and living exactly as who you are. It needs no apology.”
Theatre Weekly: “How does it feel to be in the audience of La Cage Aux Folles? You’re entertained, warmed, intrigued, and, as strange as it might seem, you feel loved. You feel included. And that’s the point; you are what you are, and that’s precisely the message La Cage Aux Folles leaves you with – and it’s a welcome one.”
West End Best Friend: ***** “La Cage Aux Folles is fun, refreshing, uplifting, gloriously camp and a celebration of life – in all its forms! It’s exactly what London needs for 2023…”
London Theatre1: ***** “The show is just fantastic from start to finish. All the performers were excellent. Aside from Georges and Albin, my absolute favourites were Jak Allen-Anderson’s absolutely terrifying Hanna, Shakeel Kimotho’s scene-stealing Jacob and Ben Culleton’s portrayal of Jean-Michel – a character whose story arc really makes you see them in different lights.”
To book tickets visit: https://openairtheatre.com/production/la-cage-aux-folles