First performance 1 February 1973 Genre Farce Place premiered Palais-Royal Theatre | Date premiered 1973 | |
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Characters GeorgesAlbin "Zaza"FrancisSaloméJacobMercédèsM. TabaroZorbaLaurentM. LanguedocM. DieulafoiMme DieulafoiMurielSimone Similar Casa Valentina, The Frogs, Mame, The Producers, Le Dîner de Cons | ||
La Cage aux Folles ([la kaʒ o fɔl]) is a 1973 French farce by Jean Poiret centering on confusion that ensues when Laurent, the son of a Saint Tropez night club owner and his gay lover, brings his fiancée's ultraconservative parents for dinner. The original French production premièred at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal on 1 February 1973 and ran for almost 1,800 performances. The principal roles were played by Jean Poiret and Michel Serrault. A French-Italian film of the play was made in 1978 (with two sequels La Cage aux Folles II (1980), directed by Édouard Molinaro and La Cage aux Folles 3: 'Elles' se marient (1985), directed by Georges Lautner.) In 1983, Poiret's play was adapted in the United States as a musical with a book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and later remade as the American film The Birdcage.