Goulet to Replace Davis in 'La Cage'
By AP from the NYTimes on the Web, March 29, 2005
NEW YORK -- The furs, spangles and boas apparently have been flying at the Broadway revival of
"La Cage aux Folles." Daniel Davis, who plays the role of Georges in the Jerry Herman musical, has abruptly left the show and will be replaced by Robert
Goulet.
"Davis' final performance was the Sunday matinee," spokesman Michael Hartman said Monday.
Until Goulet joins the show, probably in mid to late April, according to Hartman, the lead role of Georges will be played by Davis' understudy, John Hillner.
On the record, no one was saying what happened, but there have been reports online and in gossip columns of friction between Davis and other members of the production, which also stars Gary Beach as Albin, Georges' lover.
"It is absolutely thrilling to hear Robert Goulet singing these great Jerry Herman
songs," producer James L. Nederlander said in a statement. "We wish the talented Daniel Davis well in his future
endeavors."
Calls to Gary Gersh, Davis' agent, were not immediately returned.
The original "La Cage," which arrived on Broadway in 1983, was a major success, winning the 1984 Tony Award for best musical.
The show, which has a book by Harvey Fierstein, concerns a gay couple who own a nightclub in the south of France.
The revival opened to mixed reviews last December.
Davis is best known for playing the butler Niles in the long-running TV sitcom "The
Nanny," but he has extensive stage credits. Last summer, he appeared as George Bernard Shaw in
"The Frogs," the Stephen Sondheim musical, at Lincoln Center. Among his other Broadway credits are roles in Tom Stoppard's
"The Invention of Love" (2001) and a short-lived comedy, "Wrong Mountain" (2000), for which he received a Tony nomination.
Goulet made a splash in his Broadway debut, appearing as Lancelot in the original 1960 production of
"Camelot," starring Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. He later appeared in New York in the 1968 Kander and Ebb musical
"The Happy Time," as well as a 1993 revival of "Camelot," in which he graduated to the role of King Arthur.
His last Broadway appearance was in 1996 as a replacement for Philip Bosco in the comedy
"Moon Over Buffalo."
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