Music Theater Works' 'La Cage aux Folles' revival fulfills actors' long-standing ambitions
You could say that by performing in Music Theater Works' revival of "La Cage aux Folles," Ginger Minj and Dane Strange are making up for missed opportunities.
Minj, who plays Albin, an aging drag performer who stars in his husband's nightclub revue, was set to play the role years ago in a Florida community theater production. That production was canceled after city officials balked at doing a show about a gay family, said Minj, who was disappointed, but admitted that at 18, the role wasn't a good fit.
It's a perfect fit now.
"At 37 years old, I really understand the story as being fiercely devoted to my family and fiercely devoted to the art of drag," said the two-time "RuPaul's Drag Race" finalist.
During his senior year in college, Strange was set to play Jacob, Georges and Albin's butler, but things didn't work out.
After 10 years, the Palatine resident - a veteran of Theatre Nebula and Music on Stage - finally has the opportunity to play the role.
Music Theater Works' production marks the professional theater debut for the New Jersey native, who began his career at age 7 on the Disney Channel educational series "Out of the Box." Commercials and TV guest spots followed. But by the time he began studying theater arts at Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School, Strange decided his place was on stage.
Like Strange, Minj has been performing since infancy. At six months, she played a baby "Fiddler on the Roof." She grew up doing community theater.
"I liked drama better, but I was more suited to musical comedy," said Minj, a veteran of Chicago's renowned Baton Show Lounge, which has showcased drag performers for more than 50 years.
"La Cage aux Folles," which premiered in 1984 - the year Minj was born - has been a big part of her life and holds a special place in her heart.
Whatever reaction audiences have to it, the tuner "sparks a conversation and pushes things forward," she said, adding, "I've always felt art and artists are the ones who truly lead the change in the world."
Despite her affection for the Jerry Herman-Harvey Fierstein musical, Minj turned down repeated requests to play Albin because she felt theaters didn't understand the role of drag in the show. But after talking with Music Theater Works' producing artistic director Kyle A. Dougan, she signed on.
"He (Dougan) said the story is about the family," said Minj, who realized then that "we're coming at it from the same place."
"I've never seen a production that gets it the way this one does," Minj said. "It tells the story in a fresh way while keeping everything you love about the original."
Moreover, the musical can be a way of introducing the LGBTQ+ community to people who may be unfamiliar with it, Minj said, showing them "that we are as much a family as they are with our quirks, with our idiosyncrasies, with our drama and with our love ... We are the same way."
For Strange, "La Cage aux Folles" is about acceptance: self-acceptance and acceptance from others. And while things have improved for members of the LGBTQ+ community, battles remain.
"I had my own personal struggles as a Black, gay man," said Strange who found the role of Jacob more challenging than he anticipated until he concluded that he had to accept himself.
"I am what I am," Strange said referring to the show's signature anthem. "We are what we are."
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"La Cage aux Folles"
When: 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; 1 p.m. Wednesday, through April 3
Where: Music Theater Works at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, (847) 673-6300 or musictheaterworks.com
Tickets: $19.50-$106
COVID-19 precautions: Proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test and masks required