About the work
La Cage aux Folles is a musical by Jerry Herman (music and lyrics) with a book by Harvey Fierstein, premiered on Broadway in 1983. Based on the French play of the same name by Jean Poiret, it won six Tony Awards including Best Musical—the first Broadway musical centred on an openly gay partnership.
Plot
On the French Riviera, Georges and his longtime partner Albin run a nightclub with a drag revue in which Albin performs as the celebrated star "Zaza." When Georges's son Jean-Michel wants to marry the daughter of an arch-conservative politician, the truth about his unconventional home is to be hidden when the families meet. Albin, at first excluded, ultimately saves the evening—and insists on being recognised for what he is. In the end, love and self-respect triumph over hypocrisy.
Cultural significance
La Cage aux Folles was a milestone in the representation of queer life on Broadway. Albin's Act One finale, I Am What I Am, became, far beyond the musical, an anthem of self-affirmation and of the gay rights movement. The work also won the Tony Award for Best Revival at each of its two Broadway revivals—a uniquely threefold success—and remains a classic of the warm-hearted, socially significant musical.