Book Vs Movie Podcast

Book Vs. Movie: La Cage Aux Folles & The BirdcageThe Original Film and Broadway Musical Vs. the 1996 FilmThe “Month of Musicals” continues with the 1996 film The Birdcage, which took its influence from the play turned into Broadway musical La Cage Aux Folles. The original 1973 french play takes place in Saint-Tropez, where a gay couple meets an ultra-conservative family member. It was a huge hit in Paris, playing for over a year in 1973, and was made into a film in 1978. Originally written by Jean Poiret, the original played in Paris for over 1800 performances with Poiret and Michell Serrault as the leads Georges and Albin, aka “Zaza.” The 1978 film had Italian actor Ugo Tognazzi as the lead playing Renato Baldi to Serrault’s Albin. It played to art houses across America. Poiret wanted to film the American version of the film, so he refused to sell the rights to the play but had no problem selling it as a musical. Grease producer Allan Carr helped bring the project to Broadway as a musical, with Harvey Fi