Arts & Entertainment
Laughs a la ‘La Cage’
Dated but endearing musical charms with gay parenting tale

‘La Cage aux Folles’
Through Feb. 12
The Kennedy Center
$65 and up
202-467-4600
kennedy-center.org

George Hamilton and Christopher Sieber, center, in ‘La Cage Aux Folles’ playing now at the Kennedy Center. (Photo by Paul Kolnik; courtesy Kennedy Center)
Sometimes smaller is better. Case in point: Terry Johnson’s Tony Award-winning revival of “La Cage aux Folles” now at the Kennedy Center. The Broadway director’s scaled-down take on the feel-good musical is a charmer. Far more enjoyable than previous, more lavishly produced versions.
Before the show begins, a sassy drag queen wearing a pastel suit and pillbox hat (a salute to first ladies of yesteryear) takes a seat on the edge of the stage and warms up the crowd. She jokes with those filing in, asking about birthdays and anniversaries. She advises the buttoned-up folks in the crowd to relax, then inquires if there are any Indian, black, or Jewish lesbians in the house. After her, the audience is ready for anything.
With a hummable score by Jerry Herman (gay) and big-hearted book by Harvey Fierstein (also gay),” La Cage” is an old fashioned musical about family. Georges (George Hamilton) owns a drag club on the Riviera where his longtime partner Albin (Christopher Sieber) performs as Zaza. Together they’ve raised Jean-Michel (Billy Harrigan Tighe), Georges’ son from a long ago night of experimentation with a less-than-maternal playmate. The action kicks off when their son unexpectedly returns home for a visit, followed soon after by his new fiancée and her right-wing politician father and cowed mother. Needless to say, much zaniness, hurt feelings, anger and sentiment ensues.
Sieber’s Zaza is a big-boned, glittery diva (looks like Tyne Daly rolled in sequins) who works the room (in this case the Eisenhower Theater) like a pro. Her old school act references Marilyn and Marlene. But Lynne Page’s incredible, acrobatic choreography is left to Zaza’s back-ups, the lovely Cagelles (Matt Anctil, Logan Keslar, Donald C. Shorter Jr., Mark Roland, Terry Lavell and Trevor Downey). However, make no mistake, despite the sexy showgirl getups (compliments of costume designer Matthew Wright) not one of these muscular chorus boys could be mistaken for a real lady. But that’s part of the fun. Johnson’s reimagined dancers are vastly more entertaining than the much longer, mixed kick line of biologically female chorines and passable lovelies seen in past productions.
Set designer Tim Shortall cleverly sets the scene with a palm-decorated, scallop-topped proscenium. His stage within a stage quickly transforms into Georges and Albin’s over-decorated flat above the club in which the backstage story plays out.
Buzz surrounding the national tour suggested that 72-year-old movie actor and jetsetter George Hamilton was a big disappointment as Georges. In fact, he’s quite endearing in the role of the indulgent father and loving spouse. With his fabled suntan and signature insouciance, he certainly fits the part of a San Tropez club owner. And while he isn’t much of a dancer, his singing isn’t bad.
As high maintenance-but-lovable Albin, Broadway musical veteran Siebert s is simply terrific. He’s a powerhouse performer who plumbs the part for big laughs but can also dial down his performance when needed. But Sieber is at his best when Albin’s personal life spills into alter ego Zaza’s drag act and he belts Herman’s gay anthem “I Am What I am” with heartfelt power.
Adapted from the same-titled French play, “La Cage Aux Folles” was a little racy when it premiered on Broadway in 1983. Whatever shock value the show once had is gone. Same-sex parents are a nightly news and sitcom staple. Still, the creaky plot cranks out laughs and its messages of self- acceptance and the importance of family whatever its composition still resound strongly.

The 2025 Silver Pride Resource Fair and Tea Dance was held at the Eaton Hotel on Wednesday, May 21.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)










Out & About
Queer film festival comes to D.C.
DC/DOX to showcase LGBTQ documentaries made by LGBTQ filmmakers

DC/DOX will host a film festival beginning on Thursday, June 12, at the Regal Gallery Place, Eaton Cinema, and the U.S. Navy Memorial Burke Theatre.
This festival will premier LGBTQ documentaries made by LGBTQ filmmakers. Each screening will be followed by in-person Q&As with the filmmakers.
For more details, visit dcdoxfest.com
Movies
Gay director on revealing the authentic Pee-wee Herman
New HBO doc positions Reubens as ‘groundbreaking’ performance artist

In the new HBO two-part documentary, “Pee-wee as Himself,” director Matt Wolf gives viewers a never-before-seen look into the personal life of Paul Reubens, the comedic actor behind the much loved television persona, Pee-wee Herman.
Filmed before Reubens passed away in 2023 from cancer, Wolf and his creative team created the riveting documentary, interspersing several interviews, more than 1,000 hours of archival footage, and tens of thousands of personal photos.
Determined to set the record straight about what really happened, Reubens discussed his diverse influences, growing up in the circus town of Sarasota, Fla., and his avant-garde theater training at the California Institute of the Arts.
Ruebens joined the Groundlings improv group, where he created the charismatic Pee-wee Herman. He played the quirky character during the Saturday morning show, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” and in numerous movies, like “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and “Big Top Pee-wee.” He also brought Pee-wee to Broadway, with “The Pee-wee Herman Show.”
To get an enigma such as Reubens to open up was no easy task for Wolf.
“I felt determined to get Paul to open up and to be his authentic self,” acknowledged Wolf at a recent press conference. “And I was being tested and I wanted to meet my match in a way so I didn’t feel frustrated or exhausted, I felt determined but I also, it was thrilling to go this deep. I’ve never been able, or I don’t know if I ever will, go this deep with another human being to interview them in an intimate way for over 40 hours.”
Wolf described the collaborative interview experience as a dream, “like we were in a bubble where time didn’t matter.” he also felt a deep connection to the material, having come of age watching “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to put words to it at the time, but I think it was my first encounter with art that I felt emotionally involved in,” noted Wolf.
“He continued: “I recognize that that show created a space for a certain kind of radical acceptance where creativity thrives. And as a gay filmmaker, I also recognize things like Pee-wee Herman marrying a bowl of fruit salad at a slumber party or dancing in high heels to the song, ‘Fever.’ That stuff spoke to me. So that was my connection to it.”
During the documentary, Reubens comes out as a gay man.
“Paul went into this process wanting to come out,” said Wolf. “That was a decision he had made. He was aware that I was a gay filmmaker and had made portraits of other gay artists. That was the work of mine he was attracted to, as I understood. And I wanted, as a younger person, to support him in that process, but he also was intensely sensitive that the film would overly emphasize that; or, focused entirely from the lens of sexuality when looking at his story.”
Their complicated dynamic had an aspect of “push and pull” between them.
“I think that generational difference was both a source of connection and affinity and tension. And I do think that the level to which Paul discusses his relationships and intimacy and vulnerability and the poignant decision he made to go back into the closet. I do have to believe to some extent he shared that because of our connection.”
Wolf hopes that the “Pee-wee as Himself” positions Reubens as one of the most “groundbreaking” performance artists of his generation who in a singular way broke through into mainstream pop culture.
“I know he transformed me. He transformed how I see the world and where I went as a creative person. And it’s so clear that I am not alone in that feeling. For me, it was fairly abstract. I couldn’t necessarily put words to it. I think people who grew up on Pee-wee or were big fans of Pee-wee, seeing the film, I hope, will help them tap into intangible and specific ways how transformative his work was for them. It really is a gift to revisit early seminal experiences you had and to see how they reverberate in you.”
He added: “So, to me, this isn’t so much about saying Paul Reubens is a genius. I mean, that’s overly idealizing and I don’t like hero worship. It’s more about understanding why many of us have connected to his work and understanding where he lives within a legacy of performance art, television, and also, broader pop culture.”
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