The Birdcage ⁞⁞ Queer Classics

The 1996 acclaimed queer comedy The Birdcage starred comedy icon Robin Williams as Armand, the owner of the gay cabaret club "The Birdcage." When his son Val (Dan Futterman) arrives with news that he's marrying the daughter of conservative Senator Keeley, Armand agrees to adopt a "straight" facade for a visit from his fiancée Barbara's family. Armand's drag queen companion Albert (Nathan Lane) feels immediately shunned by the development and shocks both men when he appears in drag, introducing himself to the Keeley family as Val's mother. In addition to lead characters Armand & Albert, the cast includes their flamboyant maid Agador Spartacus (Hank Azaria). The comedic farce, based on the French stage play "La Cage aux Folles," proved to be a major hit and a milestone in gay film history as it held the record for the highest opening weekend gross for a film with an openly gay character in the lead role. It held that record until 2009 when it was surpassed by the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy Brüno. As with all Queer Classic features, check out the fun facts related to the film below.

• Robin Williams was originally approached to portray the role of Albert. In an effort to separate from his previous drag performance in Mrs. Doubtfire, he asked to takeover the role of Armand after the previously-cast Steve Martin dropped out of the film due to a scheduling conflict. 
• Robin Williams and Nathan Lane improvised in many of their scenes during filming.
  
• Despite her character Barbara's age being stated as 18, Calista Flockhart was actually 30-years-old at the time of filming. She was three years older than her co-star Dan Futterman, who was 27-years-old at the time of filming. Dan's character Val is stated to be 20 during the film. 
• Hank Azaria celebrated his 30th birthday during filming.
• The only queer actor on the cast, Nathan Lane had not come out at the time of the film's release.
• The film's cast included four Academy Award winners: Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest and Grant Heslov.
• Nathan Lane previously auditioned to play the gay brother of Robin William's character in Mrs. Doubtfire but lost out to Harvey Fierstein. Williams remembered Lane fondly from that production and lobbied for him to play the role of Albert after he gave it up.
• Dan Futterman would go on to play gay roles in the film Urbania and the television series Will & Grace.  
• Nathan Lane and Christine Baranski would later appear together on the television series The Good Wife. 
• The film was nominated for 32 awards and won 7, including the 1997 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast.