The Tony Award-winning musical will be produced by the Nederlander Organization and Clear Channel Entertainment. The revival will begin rehearsals next summer and play an out-of-town engagement prior to its Broadway run, reports the industry magazine.
La Cage aux Folles originally burst upon Broadway with an Aug. 21, 1983, opening — taking that season's Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book (Harvey Fierstein), Best Original Score (Jerry Herman), Best Actor (George Hearn), Best Direction (Arthur Laurents) and Best Costume Design (Theoni V. Aldredge).
Based on the play of the same name by Jean Poiret, the musical finds the son of two long-partnered gay men (his conception the result of a one-night fling a few years prior to their relationship) who returns to his father's home — which is adjacent to his nightclub where his lover is the star attraction. The young man is about to wed the daughter of a conservative politician, and they wish to meet his parents. The drama was also adapted in the film "The Bird Cage" starring Nathan Lane and Robin Williams.
Zaks, who directed the current Broadway bow of Little Shop of Horrors, has also staged The Man Who Came to Dinner, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Laughter on the 23rd Floor and Guys and Dolls — all of which starred Lane. Zaks won a Tony Award for his direction of the Guys and Dolls revival as well as for the plays Six Degrees of Separation, Lend Me a Tenor and The House of Blue Leaves.
The busy Mitchell — currently represented on Broadway by Never Gonna Dance, Gypsy and Hairspray— has also been attached to upcoming Broadway-bound stagings of West Side Story, Spamalot, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Legally Blonde. Other credits include The Rocky Horror Show, The Full Monty and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Composer-lyricist Herman previously confirmed to Playbill On-Line that he and the Nederlander Organization have entered into an agreement that would bring his three best-known shows — Mame, La Cage aux Folles and Hello, Dolly! — back to Broadway in the next five years. No official announcement has been made as of yet.
