Actors from the musical, La Cage Aux Folles set to perform the play for the next month at the Short North Stage. Credit: Mariella Ticoras | For The Lantern

“La Cage Aux Folles” first opened in 1983 on Broadway at the Palace Theatre in New York City. After its debut, the play went on to perform 1,761 shows. Fast forward to 2018 and the production is coming to Columbus, but this time it will be at Short North Stage for a month-long run.  

The play will be the third production on the Short North Stage for the 2018-19 season, following “The Toxic Avenger” and “The Rocky Horror Show.” The performance dates for “The Rocky Horror Show” were extended due to positive reception, and will now run alongside “La Cage Aux Folles” until Nov. 18.

“La Cage Aux Folles” tells the story of Albin and George, a gay couple who run La Cage Aux Folles, a drag-entertainment nightclub in St. Tropez, France, that features their trope of drag queens, The Cagells. Albin, who is also a member of The Cagells, is the star drag queen of the nightclub and performs under the name “Zaza.”

The drag artists flourish on stage as exactly who they want to be. Off stage Albin’s son, Jean-Michael, struggles to accept his father’s drag alter ego.

Jean-Michael must decide what he values more: his father’s love or being accepted by his soon-to-be wife’s bigoted family.

Michael Licata, director of the show, will be premiering his third production at the Short North Stage, following “A Little Night Music” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”

Licata said he hopes to bring awareness to nontraditional lifestyles in society with this production.

“My goal is to entertain and enlighten the audience,” Licata said. “By enlightenment, I hope to encourage society’s tolerance of, for lack of a better word, alternative lifestyles and alternative family units.”

According to Licata, society’s opinions on the LGBTQ community aren’t unanimously supportive, and the importance of putting on this play in Columbus is to comment on the queer community’s relationship with modern society. Although “La Cage Aux Folles” is set in the 1970s, the social issues surrounding the LGBTQ community are still present today.

Thom Warren, who plays Albin, will be making his debut on the Short North Stage this weekend. Warren spent 15 years on Broadway and was a part of the touring cast for “The Lion King.”

Currently, Warren is a theater teacher at Otterbein University and said he hopes his performance will serve as another form of education for the audience.  

“I think Albin is there to illustrate one side of the spectrum of what we refer to as ‘masculinity,’ and how society, and even others within our own queer community, treat those who present as overly ‘feminine,’”  Warren said.

The show begins on Thursday and tickets range from $30 to $44. The play runs through Nov. 25.