LA CAGE Blog: Sean Patrick Doyle's First Entry

Bon soir, bon soir! Welcome to a blog about all things La Cage Aux Folles. "What legend has told and rumour has promised, we shall do our utmost to deliver!" My name is Sean Patrick Doyle, and I'll be manning (lady-ing?) this internet outpost of our seedy little St. Tropez club.

In this reinvented revival, I play Chantal, the Songbird of Avignon, one of the notorious and dangerous Cagelles! It's not just an expression in this revival... keep your hands inside your vehicle (or opera box) or you could get hurt! Those lucky enough to score seats at the cabaret tables that flank our stage are rewarded with continuous harassment from our crass gaggle of lady birds - each with a character drawn so sharply, one head isolation could leave you bleeding.

When we began rehearsals nearly two weeks ago, I was excited and humbled to be in the company of Emmy-winner Kesley Grammer, Olivier-winner Douglas Hodge, and Tony-nominees Christine Andreas, Robin de Jesus and Veanne Cox... but I was even more psyched to meet the "girls!" At the start of rehearsals, only Nick Cunningham (our London transplant, and stunning Hanna) and myself knew our character assignments. But gradually the fuchsia eggs have been hatched, and a wild assortment of gals have been birthed.

Angelique (or Grandgelique McStankerton, as she's sometimes called in the rehearsal room) is played by Nick Adams. Nick has the kind of physique that makes you want to hide your rehearsal snacks... as I type this, he's tweeting about downing ten egg whites and heading off to the gym! He sticks out like a sore bicep, and the creative team has used this to their great benefit! Director Terry Johnson says Angelique is a bittersweet concoction... perhaps TOO bitter. She's that girl who might not have known what she was signing up for... she's yet to perfect her make-up plot, has trouble walking in heels, and loathes a high impact dance number (of which she has many). If you don't keep an eye on her, mishaps will start to occur onstage.

Mercedes is played by tall drink o' water Terry Lavell, who stands 6'4" and is so slim that if it weren't for his shelf-like bum, you wouldn't be able to make him out in profile! He has the type of personality that fills the room, and brings that to his Mercedes. He was speaking sotto voce in the corner after rehearsal last week and I approached him and asked in all seriousness, "Is everything ok?! I've never heard you whisper." He was just soberly anticipating the Can-Can, which features hair-raising tumbling passes! As the longest standing Cagelle, Mercedes takes on the quality of mother hen, but if you forget that she's second in line to Zaza, she'll gladly remind you.

Our fiery Phaedra is played by Yurel Echezarreta (say that three times fast). Yurel and I have been gabbing about growing up in South Florida... like most of my Cuban friends, his latin flair is palpable! Phaedra is the enigma of the group, and yes, her tongue-y 'talent' is quite perplexing! But what she lacks in legitimacy, she makes up for in enthusiasm. She's an 'exotic cocktail' (shaken, not stirred!) and her gyrating hips have a hypnotizing effect on La Cage patrons. She appears to be too dim to have ulterior motives, but you never know!

Her favorite gal pal is Bitelle, played by honorary Dreamgirl Logan Keslar. Bitelle may come across as quiet, sweet, and naive... but she knows exactly what she is doing. She uses her saccharine demeanor to get what she wants, so don't let her near any of your beaded belongings! She enjoys nothing more than getting decked out like a lady, and when she can't contain her girlish excitement, she skips around like Dorothy Down the yellow brick road.

Nick Cunningham, our dominatrix Hanna, is as tall as his whip is long. A glamazon from Hamburg, she wears her leather like armor and getting past her hard exterior is like climbing the Berlin Wall in stilettos. When she starts dating Francis, the stage manager at our little club, she challenges your perception of drag relationships... there's little doubt who's on top in this odd pairing.

Pearl-clutching, glissando-loving Chantal is the girl I get to inhabit! Georges introduces her as "the Songbird of Avignon, the Nightingale of Nice, the Triller from Manila. When she opens her throat to sing, the swallows return to Capistrano in shame!" It's a tall order to fill... but after playing Fruma-Sarah on the North American tour of Fiddler on the Roof for the past year, and singing high A's while flying around the stage on someone's shoulders, I'm delighted that I get to sing my little aria while STANDING... in one place! Chantal's a product of her privileged family, and of Avignon's long-standing Catholic tradition (it was, after all, once the seat of the Papacy) but somewhere along the line, she strayed a little from that righteous path. Still, her ambition trumps that of the other girls, whose tardiness and lack of professionalism grate on her. La Cage aux Folles is merely a stop en route to countertenor roles at Théâtre du Châtelet and Teatro alla Scala. The self-deprecating humor in La Cage's acts may not be her cup of tea, but she's willing to play along... for now.

Swings Todd Lattimore and Christophe Caballero have been up on their heels in the rehearsal room, and bring their bold personalities to the tall tracks and short tracks, respectively (At 5'10", I'm a short track. Well, I never!). No matter what assortment of gals you catch when you come, you certainly won't see a Rockette-like army of glamorous clones. I hope we'll be burned into your memory like hot coals on snow. Au revoir... 'till next time!

Sean Patrick Doyle makes his broadway debut as Chantal the Songbird in the West End transfer of La Cage Aux Folles! He recently broke "tradition" as the first countertenor to portray Fruma-Sarah in Fiddler on the Roof, opposite Chaim Topol, Harvey Fierstein, and Theodore Bikel in an extensive North American tour. Off-Broadway: Loki in Tarell McCraney's Wig Out! at the Vineyard Theatre, directed by Tina Landau. International: Baby John in the Asian and European tours of West Side Story, Asian tour of Fame: the Musical. Regional: Emcee in Cabaret, Carmen Ghia in The Producers, Mr. Mistoffelees in Cats, Starkey in Peter Pan, and numerous operas and concerts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. TV: "Law and Order," "Young Lincoln," and "The Kennedy Center Honors". Sean Patrick is also a published playwright (Smith and Kraus) and travel photographer (Lonely Planet, et al.). For more information, visit www.seanpatrickdoyle.com. To purchase tickets to La Cage Aux Folles at Broadway's Longacre, go to www.lacage.com.