Birdcage
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Subj:Hi, Kato…
“The Birdcage” was hilarious.
Date: Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:51 pm.
Pacific Standard Time
From: diane3760@canada.ca
To: barclay1720@aol.com
Hi Kato,
How’s it going with you?
I read your article.
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(December 13, 2011)
Fascinating information in the above article!
I actually think I know the mysterious and inspirational lady you’re talking about.
She looks very much like the photo you displayed and she comes across as intelligent but disturbed at the same time.
Something must have happened to her that affected her more rational behavior, or at least that’s how it seems.
I certainly know about Kurosawa as he’s been famous and very popular here in Canada now for some time.
The movie “Throne of Blood” looks a bit too gory for me, though.
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More of a man’s film, I’d say.
Interesting story, for sure.
Are you keeping busy … too busy sometimes?
My boyfriend and I went to the Playhouse Theater on Saturday night and saw a hilarious play “La Cage aux Folles.”
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I had seen the movie years ago and then there was remake apparently with Robin Williams.
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The Birdcage (1996)
(Movie Trailer)
The movie was better, but the play was still quite marvelous.
Preparing now for Christmas.
Maybe I’ll get to Joe Fortes before that time. Hopefully.
Gotta run,
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Love, Diane ~
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Subj:Hi, Diane
What a big crook!
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Date: Tues., Dec. 20, 2011 10:11 PM
Pacific Standard Time
From: barclay1720@aol.com
To: diane3760@canada.ca
Hi Diane,
I’m glad to know that you’ve been happily preparing for the big event—X’mas!
Well…, I’m not a Christian, so X’mas is not such a big event in my life.
However, watching X’mas trees always makes me happy and puts me into a festival mood.
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Your big crook reminded me of James Herriot’s sheep story, in which a dying sheep is miraculously saved simply because she has been sent into a long sleep with a drug so that she couldn’t feel pain at all.
Pain and fear would give anyone a bad effect.
That’s what James Herriot said in the story.
Well, at least, your big crook gave me a bit of laugh, which made me happy. 🙂
By the way, the mysterious woman showed up in the afternoon with a DVD today.
She always puzzles me.
What is she doing?
She doesn’t have to sit at the online computer at all if she wants to view DVDs.
An offline computer will do.
How come she always sits at the online computer at the same time?
Some day, I might as well ask her.
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Sylvie had appeared 20 minutes earlier than you did.
You just missed her.
As usual, she seemed happy and satisfied with herself. 🙂 he, he, he, he, he,…
Well, I’ve just written a story about the “Titanic” movie and my own Titanic-like romance.
Please click the following link:
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(December 20, 2011)
I hope you’ll enjoy reading it.
Your truly romantic Taliesin,
Kato
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🙂 with love
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Subj:Hi, Kato…
Please come to see the play.
Date: Wed, Dec 21, 2011 11:27 pm.
Pacific Standard Time
From: diane3760@canada.ca
To: barclay1720@aol.com
Hi, Kato.
Yes, it’s a lovely crook isn’t it?
I’ll have to send you some photos of the cast when we’re in full regalia.
I’ve got an awesome shepherd’s outfit which I pretty well put together myself, and the rest of the group are really fun and committed to the play.
Of course, if I had got to be one of the three Kings it’d be an even better costume with more glitter and such, but what’s a girl to do.
You’ve got to dress for the role you’ve got.
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As it turns out, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is really sick and I’ve been substituting for her as well as playing my simple role as a shepherd, so it may turn out I get to do both roles on Christmas Eve.
Such fun I haven’t had since grade school, really!
It’s just filled me with such happiness.
We’ll perform the play at 5 PM on Dec. 24th.
Kato, come to my church & see for yourself, just for fun, why don’t you?
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By the way, I’m so fascinated with this mysterious lady.
You really should approach her and get to know her, if only to explain to her she can watch her DVD’s without booking time on the computer.
She’d probably bless you for this.
Let me know, okay?
Thanks for this information.
I’ve not got time right now but SOON I’ll peruse it.
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Love & Blessings,
Diane ~
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Kato, how come you didn’t come to my church to see the play?
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It was down-pouring. Too wet to go out.
I don’t think so. It was drizzling, but not definitely down-pouring. You should’ve come to see the play.
Anyway, I had a good laugh when you showed up at Joe Fortes Library with that giant crook. That was more than enough for me. 🙂 He, he, he, he, he,…
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Don’t be silly, Kato…I didn’t show up like that.
In any case, I could easily imagine how the play would go. So instead, I was looking for some funny X’mas video clips for a X’mas article.
You’re not dependable. You don’t show up or you come too late…always like that.
Talking of the play, Diane, you went to the Playhouse Theater to see “La Cage aux Folles,” didn’t you?
Yes, I did. Did you, Kato?
No, I didn’t…but I viewed the “Birdcage” DVD, which you mentioned in the mail.
Oh, did you? I think the movie is better, but the play is still quite marvelous.
It is a musical with a book by Harvey Fierstein and lyrics and music by Jerry Herman.
Based on the 1973 French play of the same name by Jean Poiret, it focuses on a gay couple: Georges, the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and Albin, his romantic partner and star attraction, and the farcical adventures that ensue when Georges’s son, Jean-Michel, brings home his fiancée’s ultra-conservative parents to meet them.
The original 1983 Broadway production received nine nominations for Tony Awards and won six, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book.
The success of the musical spawned a West End production and several international runs.
The 2004 Broadway revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival, the 2008 London revival garnered the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival.
The 2010 Broadway revival was nominated for eleven Tony Awards, winning the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.
La Cage aux Folles is the only musical which has won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical twice and the only show that has won a Best Production Tony Award (Best Musical or Best Revival of a Musical) for each of its Broadway productions.
A National Tour, based on the 2010 revival, will begin in October 2011 with George Hamilton as Georges and Christopher Sieber as Albin.
Synopsis
Georges, the master of ceremonies, welcomes the audience to his St. Tropez drag nightclub, “La Cage aux Folles”.
The chorus line known as Les Cagelles appear and introduce themselves to the audience.
Georges and his “wife”, Albin, have lived happily together for many years in an apartment above La Cage with their black “maid” Jacob.
Albin is a drag queen and the star performer of La Cage aux Folles under the alias of “Zaza”.
As Albin prepares to perform, Georges’ 24-year-old son Jean-Michel (the offspring of a confused, youthful liaison with a woman named Sybil) arrives home with the news that he is engaged to Anne Dindon.
Georges is reluctant to approve of Jean-Michel’s engagement, but Jean-Michel assures his father that he is in love with Anne.
Unfortunately, her father is head of the “Tradition, Family and Morality Party”, whose stated goal is to close the local drag clubs.
Anne’s parents want to meet their daughter’s future in-laws.
Jean-Michel has lied to his fiancée, describing Georges as a retired diplomat, and he pleads with Georges to tell Albin to absent himself (and his flamboyantly gay behaviors) for the visit.
Before Georges can break the news to him, Albin suggests that they hurry back to La Cage to make it in time for the next show.
They arrive in time and Albin takes the stage once more as Zaza.
While Albin is performing, Georges and Jean-Michel quickly redecorate the house.
Georges finally tells Albin of Jean-Michel’s plan and expects Albin to explode with fury, but he remains silent.
Albin then re-joins Les Cagelles onstage and tells them to leave.
He then begins to sing alone in defiance of Jean-Michel, stating that he is proud of who he is and refuses to change for anyone.
He angrily throws his wig at Georges and departs in a huff.
The next morning, Georges finds Albin after his abrupt departure and apologizes.
He then suggests to Albin that he dress up for dinner as macho “Uncle Al”.
Albin is still upset, but reluctantly agrees to act like a heterosexual for Jean-Michel.
Back at the chastely redesigned apartment, Georges shows “Uncle Al” to Jean-Michel.
Jean-Michel doesn’t like the idea and expresses his dislike for Albin’s lifestyle.
Georges angrily reminds Jean-Michel of how good of a “mother” Albin has been to him.
They then receive a telegram that Jean-Michel’s mother Sybil is not coming and Anne’s parents arrive.
Hoping to save the day, Albin appears as Jean-Michel’s buxom, forty-year-old mother, in pearls and sensible shoes.
The nervous Jacob burns the dinner, so a trip to a local restaurant, “Chez Jacqueline”, belonging to an old friend of Albin and Georges, is quickly arranged.
No one has told Jacqueline of the situation, and she asks Albin (as Zaza) for a song, to which he hesitantly agrees.
Everyone in the restaurant begins to take part in the song, causing Albin to yield to the frenzy of performance and tear off his wig at the song’s climax, revealing his true identity.
Back at the apartment, the Dindons plead with their daughter to abandon her fiancé, for they are appalled by his homosexual parents, but she is in love with Jean-Michel and refuses to leave him.
Jean-Michel, deeply ashamed of the way he has treated Albin, asks his forgiveness, which is lovingly granted.
The Dindons prepare to depart, but their way is blocked by Jacqueline, who has arrived with the press, ready to photograph these notorious anti-homosexual activists with Zaza.
Georges and Albin have a proposal: If Anne and Jean-Michel may marry, Georges will help the Dindons escape through La Cage aux Folles next door.
The Dindons do so, dressed in drag as members of the nightclub’s revue, and all ends well.
Audition for
“La Cage aux Folles”
SOURCE: “La Cage aux Folles”
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Was the playhouse packed?
Oh, yes, it was with a lot of people. We really enjoyed the play. How about you, Kato?
I didn’t see the play, but the “Birdcage” is quite an amusing movie. Nathan Lane, who played as Albert, is a funny guy—actually, the funniest homosexual I’ve ever seen in my life.
Funniest? In what way?
Well…, he was eating at the table with Robin Williams. He picked up some slimy stuff with a fork, but couldn’t manage to hold it, and dropped it. In doing so, he overreacted in such a hilarious way that I laughed to death. He was really a drag queen in the true sense.
I cannot recall such a funny scene.
Anyway, if someone with homophobia see the movie, he or she might change his way of thinking about homosexuality.
Kato, are you a homosexual?
Diane, are you trying to insult me?
Oh, no, I’m quite serious and curious.
Do I look like a drag queen?
Oh, no, you don’t. But I’ve noticed that a wildest-looking man sometimes turns out to be a homosexual.
I’m not against homosexuality, but acting like a drag queen is the last thing I want to do.
You know, Kato, there are quite a few anti-gay activists in Vancouver.
I know that. So the Vancouver School Board is taking an anti-homophobia policy, using film and video to engage youth and educators on issues related to homophobia.
How do you know?
I saw the sign board the other day.
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Where did you find it?
Of course, in Vancouver. Look at the map in the background. Don’t ask me such a foolish question.
So the school board is providing anti-homophobia programs, isn’t it?
I suppose so. If I was one of the school trustees, I would propose that each student should see “The Birdcage” so that all the students would laugh off homophobia. What would you say, Diane?
Maybe a good idea. I agree with you.
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Wow! … What a funny drag queen!
As you know, a drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining.
There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once.
Drag queens also vary by class and culture and can vary even within the same city.
Although many drag queens are gay men, there are drag artists of all genders and sexualities who do drag for various reasons or purposes.
Women who dress like men for the same purpose are known as drag kings.
I hope Kato will write another interesting article.
So please come back to see me.
Have a nice day!
Bye bye …
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If you’ve got some time,
Please read one of the following articles:
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Hi, I’m June Adams.
I saw “The Birdcage” too.
It was indeed hilarious.
The Birdcage met with mixed reviews ranging from praise to condemnation in both the mainstream press and the gay press for the portrayals of its gay characters.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) praised the film for “going beyond the stereotypes to see the character’s depth and humanity.”
The Birdcage opened on March 8, 1996 and grossed 18 million dollars in its opening weekend, topping the box office.
By the end of its 14-week run, the film had grossed 124 million dollars domestically and 61 million internationally, coming down to 185 million worldwide.
So it became quite a popular movie.
If you happen to visit a library in your neighborhood, you might as well borrow the “Birdcage” DVD and view it.
I’m pretty sure you’ll laugh to death.
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Denman Blog2 