ABSTRACT
In 1973, while the American psychiatric association was controversially removing the word “homosexual” out of their mental disorder classification, Paris’ Theatre du Palais-royal was playing host to a new comedy smash whose plotline had been around since the inception of theater. While American audiences were beginning to see a few gay characters appear in movies or television, always as the butt of the joke or perpetrating the idea that sexuality was a choice, French audiences were light years ahead when the film version of La Cage Aux Folles hit cinemas in 1978. La Cage Aux Folles sailed into Broadway’s Palace Theatre in 1983, received mostly glowing reviews, and took home the Tony award for best musical, best book, best score, and best actor for Mr. Hearn. For many years, La Cage Aux Folles became the most positive example of queer representation throughout the world.
