Streaming Musicals is a network dedicated to “creating, capturing and presenting new, original musical theatre content, working with artists in bringing the magic of theatre to international audiences”. The Golden Cage was filmed during its spring 2022 run during the CreateTheater Series presented on Theatre Row.
Boris (Christopher Isolano) is a red plumed bird who begins the show soaring in the air. He sings about “the feeling as you sail into the sky”. From an early age he dreamed about finding the Golden Cage. His quest is earnest as he floats along the winds across the wide world.
Alphea (Maddie Allen) is trapped in a “living” room of sorts. “Everyday’s the same” when you are alone “500,000 feet up in the air on the edge of a granite cliff”. She is going stir crazy in this lonely prison. I saw a jittery Johanna (from Sweeney Todd) locked in a place where songbirds, like larks, never happily sing when they’re captured. Will anyone teach her to be more adaptive?
A noise on the window ledge leads to these two divergent souls interacting. On one level this is a tale of “the grass is greener on the other side”. One sees prison while the other sees paradise. The plot considers the import of stories on childhood development and their impact on future aspirations. “Everything I’ve ever dreamt I was told as a child” is the standard under evaluation.
Deborah Henson-Conant is the playwright and composer of The Golden Cage. An operetta style mixes with traditional musical comedy containing some amusingly silly lyrics such as a “couple of drinks with the Sphinx”. A rhyming of sign and brine precedes “I’m in a pickle”. An “incantation” leads to an “outcantation”. The word play is fun and underscores the book’s fable-like simplicity. Snippets of scores from her influences are enjoyably additive. (Two of us watching heard hints of “The Beanstalk” from Carmel Dean’s exquisite Renascence whether or not intentional.)
This musical is geared toward all ages and meant to encourage thought and discussion about life’s choices. The show directly addresses the limitations we can experience within the cages of our own minds. After eighty minutes we will have learned the secret of how to escape a locked cage of our own creation.
Director R. Lee Kratzer keeps the tone nicely whimsical despite its brief descent into mild darkness. The effective scenic design by Tyler R. Herald hits all the notes, suggests the various locales and remains secondary to the two performers. Tim Maurice’s orchestrations enrich the production as well.
Both Ms. Allen and Mr. Isolano made their solid Off-Broadway debuts in this musical. Their characters are well-inhabited, comical yet earnest and nicely sung. Theatricality is important when staging a fairy tale. This show has an element of pastiche which requires, and receives, an appropriate level of magnification to communicate its messages to an audience with a wide range of ages.
I have watched many online streaming performances from tiny off-off Broadway festivals to massive productions produced by the National Theater of London. The high quality filming and camera work here draws you into the action while also reminding that you are watching a live entertainment. The Golden Cage can be recommended for a family night event. Vocalists who can perform challenging scores in regional theaters should be equally interested in taking flight.
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The Golden Cage will be streamed for free on GoldenCageMusical.com through May 1, 2023. After that the show can be rented or purchased on the Streaming Musicals website.