The Birdcage


The Birdcage is a 1996 American comedy film produced and directed by Mike Nichols. Elaine May's screenplay adapted the 1978 French film La Cage aux Folles, itself an adaptation of a 1973 play. It stars Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as Armand and Albert Goldman, a gay couple whose son Val is set to marry Barbara Keeley, the daughter of conservative senator Kevin and his wife Louise. Hank Azaria and Christine Baranski appear in supporting roles. The film marked the first screen collaboration of Nichols and May, who had been a comedy duo in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Birdcage was released by MGM/UA Distribution Co. in the United States and by United International Pictures in international markets on March 8, 1996, to positive reviews and significant commercial success. It debuted at the top of the North American box office and stayed there for the following three weeks, grossing $185.3 million worldwide on a $31 million budget. It is seen as groundbreaking because it was one of few films from a major studio to feature LGBT characters at its center. The cast received notable praise and was awarded the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast. The Birdcage also received a nomination for Best Art Direction at the 69th Academy Awards.

Plot

Armand Goldman is the openly gay owner of a drag club in South Beach called The Birdcage; his effete and flamboyant partner Albert is the star attraction of the club under the name Starina. They live together in an apartment above The Birdcage with Agador Spartacus, an openly gay and equally flamboyant Guatemalan housekeeper who aspires to be in Armand's drag show.
Armand's 20-year-old son Val, who is the product of Armand's drunken one-night stand with a woman named Katharine Archer, returns home to announce that he is engaged to be married to a young woman named Barbara Keeley. Although Armand and Albert are both less than happy about the news, they agree to support Val.
Barbara's parents are the ultraconservative Republican Senator Kevin Keeley, co-founder of a conservative group called the Coalition for Moral Order, and his wife Louise. Kevin initially opposes Barbara's engagement. However, he soon becomes embroiled in a political scandal when the Coalition's other co-founder and Kevin's fellow senator Eli Jackson is found dead in the bed of an underage Black prostitute. Louise convinces him that Barbara's wedding will shore up his image as an upright family man, but the Senator is concerned that Val's family will refuse to let it go ahead because of the scandal, and so insists that they cannot announce the engagement to the press until he has spoken to Val's parents and can be sure the wedding will go ahead. To this end, the Keeleys plan a visit to South Beach.
Barbara informs Val of her father's plan. To conceal the truth about the Goldmans, she has told her parents that Armand is heterosexual, named Coleman and is a cultural attaché to Greece. Armand dislikes the idea of being forced into the closet, but agrees to play along, enlisting the help of friends and club employees to redecorate the apartment to more closely resemble a traditional household. Val and Armand attempt to keep Albert out of the house, but when they fail, Albert suggests that he will pose as Val's heterosexual uncle. Armand contacts Katharine and explains the situation; she promises to come to the party and pretend to be his wife. Armand tries to coach Albert on how to act straight, but Albert's flamboyant nature makes the task difficult. Armand realizes that his plan will not fool anyone. Albert takes offense and locks himself in his room.
The Keeleys arrive at the Goldmans' redecorated apartment; they are greeted by Agador, who is attempting to pass as a Greek butler named Spartacus for the night. Katharine gets caught in traffic, and the Keeleys begin wondering where "Mrs. Coleman" is. Suddenly, Albert enters, dressed and styled as a conservative middle-aged woman. Armand, Val, and Barbara are nervous, but Kevin and Louise are fooled by the disguise.
Despite the success of the evening, trouble begins when the senator's chauffeur betrays him to two tabloid journalists, Harry Radman and his photographer, who have been hoping for a scoop on the Coalition story and have followed the Keeleys to South Beach. While they research The Birdcage, they also remove a note that Armand has left on the door informing Katharine not to come upstairs. When she arrives, she unknowingly reveals the deceptions, leading Val to confess to the scheme and finally identify Albert as his true parent.
Kevin is initially confused by the situation, but Louise informs him of the truth and scolds him for being more concerned with his career than his family's happiness. When attempting to leave, he is ambushed by the paparazzi camped outside to take his picture. Albert realizes that there is a way for the family to escape without being recognized. He dresses them in drag, and they use the apartment's back entrance to sneak into The Birdcage, where, by dancing to Sister Sledge's "We Are Family", they make their way out of the nightclub without incident. Barbara and Val are married in an interfaith service that both families attend.

Cast

Production

Development and writing

was originally involved as the director of the 1983 Broadway adaptation of La Cage aux Folles, but was fired from the production by producer Allan Carr. In 1994, Nichols convinced John Calley, then the head of United Artists, who owned the rights to the original 1978 film version, to renew the option with him as a director and producer. Calley, a longtime friend of Nichols, said, "I asked Mike if there was anything we owned that interested him. And he said, 'You own a project that has one of the greatest comedy structures.' We got the rest of the rights, and he said he wanted to call Elaine and ask her to do it. The next day she said yes."
Among the changes that Elaine May added to the film's plot was renaming the character of Georges to Armand Goldman and Albin to Albert. She also adapted the plot line about the potential in-law characters as conservative Moral Majority politician Kevin Keeley and his wife Louise, to address right-wing anti-LGBT sentiment that was in the news at that time.
Nichols did research for the film by traveling with May and production designer Bo Welch to drag shows in Chicago and Savannah. After going to a drag show in South Beach at Welch's suggestion, Nichols decided to change the film's setting from New Orleans to South Beach.

Casting

Nichols envisioned Robin Williams and Steve Martin in the roles of Albert and Armand, respectively, but Martin turned it down because he did not think that he would be able to bring the camp quality required for the part, and Williams did not want to play Albert because he had already played the flamboyant character Daniel Hillard/Euphegenia Doubtfire in Mrs. Doubtfire. When Williams decided that he wanted to play Armand, Nichols settled on Nathan Lane as Albert. Lane had already committed to starring in a Broadway production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, but Nichols convinced producer Scott Rudin to postpone the musical so that Lane could star in the film. Gene Hackman said that taking a role in the cast was an opportunity for him to return to his improvisational comedy roots.
Nichols originally conceived of British actor Adrian Lester in the role of Agador Spartacus, but reworked the role after he and Lester came to a mutual agreement that showing a Black person in the role of a housekeeper would connote racist undertones. Hank Azaria, who was eventually cast, said, "I worked up different versions . One was more understated, barely obviously gay, almost a street tough. And one was the character that ended up in the movie. Both felt real to me—I had grown up with Puerto Rican street queens who were very effeminate and flamboyant and others who weren't. I tried both versions out for a friend who was a drag queen, asked which one he liked better, and got his seal of approval."

Filming

Williams and Lane, both known for being comic improvisers, were allowed to improvise during weeks-long rehearsals before filming. Nichols and May took the best parts from the rehearsals because Nichols wanted to shoot the film like a play, without too much editing.
Although filming primarily took place in Los Angeles, exterior shots included the Carlyle Hotel in Miami Beach, Ocean Drive, and the Art Deco District.
Although the studio had initial reservations about the film's politics, particularly its portrayal of conservative characters, Calley said, "Mike anticipated eight or nine months ago. He said, 'By the time the movie comes out, you won't be able to parody these guys anymore; they'll be parodying themselves.'"

Soundtrack

Three songs written by Stephen Sondheim were adapted and arranged for the film by composer Jonathan Tunick. Albert's first song is "Can That Boy Foxtrot", cut from Sondheim's Follies. "Little Dream" was written specifically for the film, ultimately used during Albert's rehearsal with Celcius, the gum-chewing dancer. While Armand and Katharine Archer dance in her office, they sing "Love Is in the Air", cut from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
In addition to Sondheim's contributions, Tunick utilized popular dance and disco hits, such as Donna Summer's "She Works Hard for the Money" and Sister Sledge's "We Are Family", along with Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine's "Conga".

Track listing

  1. "We Are Family" - Goldman Girls
  2. "William Tell Overture" - Stephen Goldstein
  3. "She Works Hard for the Money" - Donna Summer
  4. "Can That Boy Foxtrot" - Nathan Lane
  5. "Mi Guajira" - Cachao
  6. "Little Dream" - Nathan Lane
  7. "No Pain For Cakes" - The Lounge Lizards
  8. "Love Is in the Air" - Christine Baranski, Robin Williams
  9. "I Could Have Danced All Night" - Hank Azaria, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, Robin Williams, Dianne Wiest
  10. "We Are Family " - Goldman Girls
  11. "Family Salsa" - Stephen Goldstein
  12. "Conga" - Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine