by Cari Lynn Pace

Lucky Penny Productions always seems to have such fun shows, with non-stop energy and over-the-top characters. This one is a real zinger!

La Cage aux Folles is a madcap romp with zippy dancers in trippy costumes. It’s a drag nightclub, where genders are blurred by shiny costumes and lots of mascara. Harrie Schaufel, Phi Tran, and Lily Metcalf show off saucy moves choreographed by Alex Gomez with a live band directed by award-winning Debra Chambliss. They introduce the show’s theme song “We Are What We Are” with wigs and a whole lot of chutzpah.

Georges, well sung by handsome Peter Budinger, is the sensible and gay club owner. He draws laughs and sympathy as he tries to keep his wife, Albin, on schedule and on stage. DC Scarpelli flounces and flutters as Albin dons wig after wig to change into Zaza, the star of the show. They have raised a son, Jean-Michel, and are caught up short when he announces his plans to wed Anne, the lovely and petite Pilar Gonzales. “Where have we gone wrong? Our son wants to marry a female!” wails Zaza.

The mayhem becomes full-tilt chaos as Jean-Michel, played by Mateo Escobedo, pushes and prods his gay parents to hide their… well, everything about them. He is insistent that his intended finance and her parents will drop him if they learn of his upbringing. He pleads to hide Albin, his drama queen mother who embarrasses him, from his pending in-laws. Georges does his best to dissuade Jean-Michel’s harsh reneging of Albin’s love in a poignant song “Look Over There.”

It’s non-stop laughs as Georges and Albin try creative ways to act as straight as their son asks as they ponder the song “Masculinity.” Can Albin “man up?” He tries to think “John Wayne,” although his walk is more Frankenstein. Friends played by Jill Wagoner, LC Arisman, and Sean O’Brien pitch in to no avail. They actually make it worse.

Director Daren A.C. Carollo did a masterful job casting this comedy, with book by Harvey Fierstein and lyrics by Jerry Herman. A standout is Faustino Cadiz III as the pushy maid/butler who wants his shot onstage. Some guys are funny just standing there!

When Anne’s parents make their appearance late in Act II, they are the perfect foil to this unconventional household. They are adamantly anti-gay and suspicious. John Brown is solid and staid in the role and his spouse follows his lead, almost. Beth Ellen Ethridge as his wife eventually surprises them all, especially at the humorous finale.

Laughs and more laughs hide under each wig. Superb staging and a cast of characters make this a hilarious evening with a finale full of feathers and sequins. The spectacular costumes by Rebecca Ann Valentino are, as they say, to die for.

La Cage aux Folles exposes how yesterday’s stern social morals may have jumbled acceptance, yet nothing could triumph over love.

Playing now through September 21 at Lucky Penny Community Arts Center, 1758 Industrial Way, Napa.

Info and tickets at www.luckypennynapa.com

Photos by Kurt Gonsalves/KMG Design

Cari Lynn Pace is a long-time Bay Area theatre critic whose reviews were regularly featured in the Marinscope Community Newspapers.