Social Diary 12/21/04 - First day of winter

Brrrr...

A partial view of the Manhattan skyline from the Jersey Turnpike. 2:30 PM.

First day of winter; first snowfall and first sub-zero (windchill factor) temperatures in New York. We forget how cold cold is.

Ten nights ago I went over to the Marquis Theatre on Broadway and 45th Street to the opening night of the first revival of Jerry Herman’s La Cage Aux Folles directed by Jerry Zaks, choreography by Jerry Mitchell, book by Harvey Fierstein and costumes – those costumes!! by William Ivey Long – that light up the stage, light up the night and light up your life.

I arrived just after the curtain went up and because I hate the idea of taking a seat (passing in front of others’ view) while a performance is going on, I stood at the back of the theatre for the entire first act. Did I mind? I was so mesmerized by the production that I forgot I was standing. And it was a brilliant sight to behold – lively sumptuous color, fun and wit and super-stratospheric visuals that just transport you.

Terry Allen Kramer and granddaughters

William Ivey Long and Chris Clarens

I’d never seen the show before – I’d seen the original French film. The first Broadway musical version was in 1984 and it was a trailblazer – two gay men living as man and ... man, bringing up junior. Twenty years later, there isn’t a scintilla of shockingness to that story, now is there? As far as drag queens go, they’re just about as American as apple pie at this point. I remember covering the Easter Parade two or three years ago down in front of St. Patrick’s and half the fashion get-ups (and most of the good ones) were drag queens.

However, Jerry Herman, who has the magic touch when it comes to turning out hummable, unforgettable tunes and a helluva show to entertain us troops, has never relied on anything but the basics of Broadway to get his point across: having a good time at the theatre is what a musical is all about, and La Cage is a very good time, and they don’t give you a minute to catch your breath to think about it. “Boas will be boas,” Harry Haun wrote in his opening night coverage in Playbill.

Marty Richards enjoys Star Jones with the rest of the gang behind

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Harvey Fierstein with castmembers

After the show there was a big party upstairs in the hotel; big big crowd, several bars and buffet tables and lots of celebrities including all of the cast, including the stars Daniel Davis and Gary Beach, and the creators – Jerry Herman; Jerry Zaks, Jerry Mitchell, Harvey Fierstein, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Ruth Williamson, Michael Mulhern, Gavin Creel, Rachel York, Joan Collins and Percy Gibson, Celeste Holm, Patricia Neal, Tommy Tune, Lynn Redgrave, arriving with her daughter Annabel Clark, Star Jones, Richard Kind (who just jumped into the Broadway Producers); Rosie O'Donnell and Kelli Carpenter, Regis Philbin, Francine LeFrak and Rick Friedberg, Cece Cord, Somers and Jonathan Farkas, Peggy and Dick Bright, Nick Simunek, Margaret Colin, Scott Whitman and Marc Shaiman, Margaret Whiting, costume designer Willa Kim, Rue McClanahan, Jai Rodriguez and directors Joe Mantello, Wayne Cilento, Milos Forman and Kathleen Marshall. And the folks who made it all happen: the producers – Terry Allen Kramer, Kenneth Greenblatt, Marty Richards and James Nederlander.

Mary Richards was a producer of the original, with his late wife Mary Lea Johnson. The original production cost $5 million – a big number for those days. This one cost almost double that. I bumped into Marty as I was entering the theatre to see the show. He was on his way out – having seen it so many times, with so many memories, he was too nervous to watch.