Dallas Summer Musicals is in the thick of its 2012 season, with one musical after another coming to Fair Park over the next few months. Its current show is “La Cage Aux Folles,” touring the country after snagging the 2010 Tony for best revival.
The musical, which runs through April 22 at Fair Park’s Music Hall, is full of lighthearted laughs. Like many musicals, it has its slow sections and over-melodramatic moments, but the energy of La Cage’s hit numbers make up for it. The show advertises that its “melodies are impossible to get out of your head,” and I can attest that it’s true. I’ve been humming portions of “Song on the Sand” and “The Best of Times” since Tuesday’s opening.
The show’s energy can be summed up in two words: Christopher Sieber. As Albin, and as Albin’s chanteuse alter ego Zaza, Sieber provokes both the heartiest laughs and the unexpected tears. Though La Cage is a comedy, the true meaning of the show booms through Sieber’s voice at the end of act one: “Your life is a sham ’til you can shout out loud — I am what I am!”
Sieber also pairs well with the athletic choreography of the Cagelles (what I wouldn’t give for their abs) and makes a great counterpart to Georges, the comic foil played by the still-suave-at-73 George Hamilton.
I walked out of Music Hall inspired and hopeful. And, the best testament to a musical, singing.
