A spokesman for the show confirmed that Tony Award winner Beach (who donned drag in The Producers) would play Albin (whose drag act as ZaZa at the titular St. Tropez nightspot is all the rage) and Tony Award nominee Davis, currently whipping up theatrical rhetoric as Bernard Shaw in Lincoln Center Theater's The Frogs, will play Georges, the more cool headed half of the middle-aged gay partnership.
That modern marriage is tested when Georges' son, Jean-Michel (to be played by Tony Award nominee Gavin Creel), asks the men to tone down their flamboyance for the sake of his fiancee, Anne (to be played by Angela Gaylor), and her ultra-conservative parents.
The rest of the cast, totaling 32, will be announced later.
As previously reported, Nederlander Presentations, Inc. and Clear Channel Entertainment will produce the revival of the Tony Award-winning smash by Jerry Herman (music and lyrics) and Harvey Fierstein (book), directed by Jerry Zaks and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell.
Previews begin Nov. 7 at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre, 1535 Broadway at 46th Street. Opening is Dec. 9. Designers will be Scott Pask (scenic), William Ivey Long (costume), Donald Holder (lighting), Paul Huntley (hair) and Peter Fitzgerald (sound).
The musical is based on the Jean Poiret play and film that came before it. The source material also inspired the movie, "The Birdcage."
The original production of La Cage Aux Folles opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on Aug. 21, 1983. It ran for 1,761 performances, winning six Tony Awards including Best Musical.
Tickets go on sale at the Marquis box office Sept. 26.
Tickets range from $25 to $100, and will be available through Ticketmaster.com at (212) 307-4100.
For more information please visit www.lacage.com.
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Beach received the 2001 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his performance as Roger DeBris in The Producers. Other Broadway credits include Beauty and the Beast (Tony nomination and Ovation Award nomination), Sweet Adeline (Encores!), Doonesbury, The Moony Shapiro Songbook, Annie, Something's Afoot, 1776.
Davis was most recently seen on Broadway in Lincoln Center Theater's The Frogs (current) and The Invention of Love. Other Broadway credits include Wrong Mountain (Tony nomination), Amadeus (Salieri). In 2003, Off-Broadway, he appeared in Talking Heads (Obie, Outer Critics, New York Drama Critics Circle Awards). He was the dry and salty butler on TV's "The Nanny" for six seasons.
