La Cage Aux Folles: New Broadway Cast Recording [Cast Recording]

Kelsey Grammer (Artist), Douglas Hodge (Artist), Jerry Herman (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 28, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Label: P.S. CLASSICS
• ASIN: B003XOSSHM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,368 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MAYBE NOT THE BEST OF TIMES BUT AWFULLY CLOSE, September 30, 2010

By 

Alan W. Petrucelli (THE ENTERTAINMENT REPORT (ALAN W. PETRUCELLI)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: La Cage Aux Folles: New Broadway Cast Recording (Audio CD)

On Sunday night, August 23, 1983, La Cage aux Folles opened at the Palace Theatre in New York, crowning the career of Jerry Herman which had begun 23 years earlier (with a slight flop entitled From A to Z.)
Is La Cage Herman's best score? Or is it Hello, Dolly!? Mame? Mack and Mabel? Dear World? Who knows.... and frankly, my dear, who gives a damn. Thank God for them all. In this year of great canonization for Sondheim, let us now praise the other musical genius whose times we are lucky enough to share. La Cage has been revived, again, for its third go 'round on the Great White Way. Hailed as a slimming down of the opulent original with more of a synthesized (synthetic?) orchestra, drag icon Albin is back, putting just a little more mascara on, bless her. The heart, the spirit and the love in the show remain, if the grandeur is a bit more gauche. The sounds emanating from star Kelsey Grammer seem more like noise and less than pretty and co-star Douglas Hodge sometimes sounds much more like a ballad singer imitating Tony Newley, but what's important is that the score and the show is being seen and heard by a new audience.
Love has a special place in all of Herman's musicals, and never more than here. There may be people in the world who can listen to the reprise of "Look Over There" without tearing up, but I don't ever want to know them.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars LA CAGE IS BACK BUT IS IT BETTER THAN BEFORE?, October 2, 2010

By 

Robert F. Powers "show maniac" (Quincy, Ma USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: La Cage Aux Folles: New Broadway Cast Recording (Audio CD)

"La Cage Aux Folles' wafted onto Broadway in 1983 wrapped in a pink cloud of feather boas, sequins and bugle beads and for good or bad the book was wrapped in that same cloud. Like the Cagelles the transvestite showgirls, the story was an illusion and ignored the real challenges of living the gay lifestyle and this fantasy made the show a huge hit and acceptable to all audiences. The production was also huge with overly glittery costuming and full-scale sets and inventive choreography by Scott Salmon and some of Jerry Hermans best show tunes.

The new production starring Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge is a re-imagined "La Cage.."--translation: scaled down. Gone are the extravegant settings and costumes and a smaller chorus and orchestra.

I haven't seen this production but except for a few quibbles the CD is good but not great. Gene Barry the Georges from the 1983 show was not the best of singers so Kelsey Grammer has it easy and doesn't suffer from comparing the two. Douglas Hodge can't hold a candle to George Hearn as Albin and the way he continually changes his speech patterns from dialogue to song to song to song is a bit irritating though you do get used to it but he sounds like a combination of Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis, a bit of Mae West and Mickey Mouse's girlfriend, Minnie.

The songs "We Are What We Are", "A Little Bit More Mascara" "La Cage Aux Folles" "Song On The Sand" and especially "The Best of Times" still shine but I have a real problem with "I Am What I Am". The number was a tour de force Act One closer for Goerge Hearn back in 1983 and he sang the song with fierce pride and conviction. Douglas Hodge just sings it like he was some chanteusse in a second rate piano bar.

All in all a pleasant CD and it does include a few reprises not on the original cast album, but is this recording The Best Of Times? Who Knows? Who Knows? Who Knows?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More heart than in any other show on Broadway!, October 20, 2010

By 

John C. Kunich - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: La Cage Aux Folles: New Broadway Cast Recording (Audio CD)

I saw this superb production on Broadway in mid-October 2010. It was absolutely brilliant--an unmatchable combination of humor, heart, fun, and an overflowing supply of evergreen songs. Whenever I think back on the experience I feel like I'm a child again and it's the first moments of Christmas morning.

Douglas Hodge's heartfelt rendition of the show-stopping "I Am What I Am" is, standing alone, more than enough reason to buy this CD. This is the pinnacle of Broadway showtunes, the unsurpassable best. Melodic, moving, and bursting with conviction, it will bring many listeners to tears.

How many shows have this many terrific, instantly memorable songs? There isn't a dud in the batch, and several are genuine classics, including the magnificent "Song on the Sand," "Look Over There," and "The Best of Times" as well as, of course, "I Am What I Am." Jerry Herman is Broadway's greatest songwriter.

There's one life, and there's no return and no deposit. Buy this CD and your life will be greatly enriched. Bravo! And brava!