Cast List (with nomination possbilities out of 10)
NY Times Review Excerpts:Family Guys Who Are What They Are By BEN BRANTLEY: Though this version features two bright stars in Daniel Davis (as the manly part of the couple) and the wonderful but slightly miscast Gary Beach (as the womanly one), Mr. Zaks's production often gives the impression of merely going through the motions, amiably but robotically, of its gag-laden, sentimental plot.But there is one ingredient that makes this "La Cage" worth visiting for people whose diet does not include canned corn and packaged sugar. That's the plumed and spangled all-male ensemble of dancers, choreographed by Jerry Mitchell with a feisty sense of humor and an athletic verve that should make Arnold Schwarzenegger think twice about using "girly men" as a pejorative term.Still, "La Cage" has the ingredients that tourists have traditionally expected from a big Broadway show, delivered with helpful implicit labels: jokey lines that say "Laugh here"; ballads that say "Mist up here"; and rousing choral numbers like "The Best of Times" that say "Feel free to clap along with this one." Because of these elements, "La Cage" way well fill the vacuum left when the revival of "42nd Street" closes next month. And at least the chorus of "La Cage" is an improvement on the hard-smiling, hard-dancing automatons of "42nd Street." In "La Cage," every dancer emerges as a wry, hearty individual, from the whip-cracking dominatrix to the Nicole Kidman look-alike whose specialty is just to stand there and look beautiful. Would that the rest of the show were that witty. ----------------------------------- TONY AWARDS HAVEN OPINION: With mostly iffy reviews, La Cage will go head to head with Sweet Charity for the Best Revival of a Musical Tony. Jerry Zaks might get a direction nod, Jerry Mitchell might finally get his Tony for choreography. Look for nods for lights, set, and costumes.
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