By Galen Simmons

There is a lot of love and a lot to love in the Stratford Festival’s production of La Cage Aux Folles.

The costumes are fabulous, the sets are extravagant and the singing and dancing talents of everyone on and off stage are more than enough to make the show fun and enjoyable. What sets this production apart as one of my favourites so far this season, however, is the heartfelt story of a family learning to love and be proud of who they are, and one another, regardless of what the outside world may think.

It’s the incredible onstage chemistry between Georges (Sean Arbuckle) and Albin (Steve Ross) that really drives that story home. Arbuckle, as the audience’s conduit, does a wonderful job conveying that sense of being caught between two people he loves. On one side, his son, Jean-Michel (James Daly), is hell-bent on making a good impression on the hardline, conservative family of the woman he loves, Anne Dindon (Heather Kosik). On the other side, Albin, the man Georges loves who stepped up as a loving, caring and often overdramatic mother to his son for the past 20 years, is heartbroken at the notion that Jean-Michel doesn’t want him to attend the first dinner with his potential parents-in-law in fear of what Anne’s father, the far-right, family values political leader, Edouard Dindon, might think.

As a sort of compromise and to ensure Albin remains a part of Jean-Michel’s life in some capacity, Georges first convinces the love of his life to dress and act like Jean-Michel’s straight uncle Al – a near impossible task for the drag-queen sensation, but one he agrees to, nonetheless. Then, when Jean-Michel’s real mother makes yet another excuse as to why she can’t make the dinner, Albin falls into a much more natural role, that of Jean-Michel’s real mother.    

It’s a classic comedy setup and boy does this production deliver on that front, thanks in no small part to the supporting cast. Most notably, Chris Vergara delivers an outstanding comedic performance as Jacob, who does little if anything to hide his true, dramatic, drag-queen self as he serves as butler for the evening all in the name of achieving that centre-stage spotlight in the next performance at La Cage.

As a musical, this production hits all the right notes. The performers onstage manage to hit those emotional highs and lows that drive the plot forward in all the right ways. And, in true drag-queen-superstar fashion, whenever Albin hits the stage to sing, Ross delivers those show-stopping, toe-tapping, heart-wrenching numbers that truly hammer home the play’s underlying message of being proud of who you are and not being afraid to show it.

Director Thom Allison’s production of La Cage Aux Folles for the Stratford Festival is entirely uplifting, both for the characters onstage and the audience that watches the story unfold. For this reviewer, it was the perfect jumpstart into Pride Month.