by tim parks –
La Cage Aux Folles has been entertaining audiences for 47 years, first as a 1973 French play by Jean Poiret, then as a 1978 French movie, a 1983 Broadway musical, and a 1996 American film The Birdcage starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.
In the American version of the play, with a book by Harvey Fierstein and words and lyrics by Jerry Herman, gay couple Georges and Albin are thrown for a loop when Georges’ son Jean-Michel announces that he’s engaged. The problem isn’t that he wants to get married, but that his betrothed’s father is a bigoted, right-wing conservative.
Complications ensue as Jean-Michel pleads with his family to act “normal” when meeting the bride’s parents, which may be a tall order given that Georges owns a drag nightclub where Albin performs as Zaza, the star headliner.
And now the “cage of mad women” is flinging its door open from Wednesday, March 11 through Sunday, May 2 at Cygnet Theatre in historic Old Town San Diego.
The Rage Monthly chatted with the show’s director, Sean Murray, to get his take on why this production is even more relevant almost 50 years since its various incarnations on stage and screen.
The timing of presenting La Cage Aux Folles to a 2020 audience is a happenstance of a selection process that the Cygnet Theatre employs in choosing what productions will be seen onstage, Murray explained.
“One of the biggest challenges, besides what to work on, is when we’re deciding on material to present — it’s about one or two years before it appears,” he said.
“So sometimes you are surprised by what happens in the news around you; trying to anticipate the mood of a year from now is part of it. We have a filter when we’re looking at plays that we put every decision through and that’s ‘does the play start a conversation?’”
And in today’s world, Murray sees La Cage Aux Folles as a good jumping of point to do just that.
“It’s still going to bring up topics like traditional families versus created families, and gender identity and suppressing one’s self in order to fit in, conformity,” he said. “So, all of those issues are in the play, and they may be dealt with lightly, but if we can bring those topics out then hopefully it gives the audience a richer experience.”
This sentiment also brought up the fact that La Cage Aux Folles may be even more relatable today.
“It’s almost more so in a way, because we’re in a different environment now with the divide between the right and left, which is really extreme.” Murray said. “And that definitely is what this play is about. So, when the very conservative in-laws to this gay couple meet, it’s going to be just as relevant today.”
There are two particular aspects that top the list of what Murray likes about the show.
“What I love about this play with Harvey Fierstein’s book is that ultimately the gay couple tend to be the more understanding and accepting and actually help their new in-laws in their political crisis,” he said. “You’re in a way always battling for your own acceptance and accepting other people’s differences.”
“What I love about this play with Harvey Fierstein’s book is that ultimately the gay couple tend to be the more understanding and accepting and actually help their new in-laws in their political crisis.”
– SEAN MURRAY
“What also triggered me was what parents are willing to do to ensure their children’s happiness,” he said, explaining the other aspect that drew him in. “Even though it’s against every fiber in their body, they’re willing to do this for him. And that sets up the whole farce where people are pretending to be something that they are not; you know it’s going to trigger disaster later and that becomes the driving force of the farce.”
Another important element in telling the story is one that throws comedy into the mix of heady subject matter.
“I think it’s really important. The comedy is a way of allowing the audience to walk into these topics without being overly threatened by them,” Murray said.
“You can be drawn in by the comedy of the characters and their behavior and it’s not as confrontational. It’s a way of slipping that argument under the door. And with our production that’s one of things that we’re trying to dig out – what’s really at stake for these people? And trying to get it up and beyond just sort of musical theatre superficiality.”
And Murray is hopeful that patrons can exit the theatre and have what he calls “the ride home play,” which he expanded on.
“Hopefully they’ll talk about the play [in the car] and even after they get home. Sometimes we’ll do plays that disturb people so much that they talk about it for a week,” he said. “And that’s why we do it, to generate a dialogue.”
Out Night @ Cygnet
Cygnet is proud to present an evening for their theatre-loving friends in the LGBTQ community on Wednesday, March 18. Enjoy a pre-show mixer with extended happy hour, appetizers and prizes before the show on Cygnet’s beautiful Elaine Lipinsky Patio. Everyone is welcome. A theatre ticket for the evening’s performance of La Cage Aux Folles is required to attend.
For tickets and more information call 619.337.1525 or go to cygnettheatre.com