What does a big TV star whose latest sitcom just got canceled do next?
Why, Broadway, of course.
Kelsey Grammer, whose ABC show “Hank” got yanked after a couple of months, will play Georges in the revival of Jerry Herman‘s “La Cage aux Folles,” which will open in April at the Longacre.
He’ll co-star with Douglas Hodge, a British actor who’s playing Albin, a high-strung drag queen and Georges’ longtime lover.
This production comes to New York by way of London, where both it and Hodge received rave reviews. Because Hodge is unknown over here, the producers needed a star to play opposite him. Mandy Patinkin almost took the job, but opted instead for the new Hal Prince musical, “Paradise Found.”
Grammer’s star wattage is questionable these days. Not only did “Hank” fail, but so did his 2007-’08 sitcom “Back to You.”
But “Frasier” is in the perpetual rerun loop, and Grammer has a secure place in the TV Hall of Fame.
David Hyde Pierce, his “Frasier” co-star, proved a box-office draw a few years ago in John Kander and Fred Ebb’s musical “Curtains.” He won a Tony and kept the show going for more than a year.
Grammer has long wanted to do a musical. He sings with panache and, I’m told, knows the lyrics to so many show tunes, he could be a barfly at Marie’s Crisis.
Two years ago, he played Henry Higgins in a concert version of “My Fair Lady” with the New York Philharmonic. Charles Isherwood praised his “graceful and witty performance.”
Grammer’s last Broadway outing — “Macbeth” — was a disaster, but the actor earned points for bravery. When his producers wanted to close it in Boston, he stepped in and picked up the tab to move it to New York.
He told The Post at the time: “I’m not a businessman. I’m just Kelsey the actor doing my job. I can run around my house and put on ‘Macbeth,’ but it isn’t art until you put it in front of someone. There was never any question about coming to New York as far as I am concerned.”
In the end, the production lost $1.5 million.
Grammer is a good choice for Georges, the suave owner of a transvestite nightclub on the French Riviera. The part’s not as flashy as Albin, but Georges has two of Herman’s best ballads, “Song on the Sand” and “Look Over There,” as well as the charming duet (with Albin) “With You on My Arm.”
Grammer may also switch roles and play Albin when Hodge leaves the production in the summer.
(Hodge is British Equity, so his time in New York will be limited).
“It’s just an idea right now, but it could be fun,” says a production source. “Kelsey’s up for it.”
This revival began life at the Menier Chocolate Factory, one of London’s hottest little theaters right now. Directed by Terry Johnson, this “La Cage” is intimate and a little bit gritty. The transvestite club, lavish in previous productions, is run-down and seedy, and Georges and Albin a little long in the tooth (and, in Albin’s case, round about the waist — Hodge is a big boy).
Harvey Fierstein, who wrote the book, recently told me that this production is much closer to the spirit of the 1978 French movie.
The Telegraph called it “one of the most blissfully entertaining shows on the London stage,” while the Guardian said it was “louche, high-kicking fun.”
Seems Grammer has picked a winner this time.