This enjoyable musical started out as a sarcastic French comedy that reached the movies in 1978 and the bright lights of Broadway in 1983 where it won multiple Tony awards. In 1996 Robin Williams and Nathan Lane starred in a second Hollywood version titled “The Birdcage” that did well in the box office. Now, the talented musical/theatrical group Diablo Light Orchestra (sic) brings to the Bay area this musical work where the glamorous presentation, with feathers and sequins, luxurious dresses and dance routines as stimulating as ostentatious are only surpassed by the excellent interpretation of the theatrical team and the pure and excellent dramatic and musical direction.

“La Cage aux folles” which in French means something like “the crazy house” or “loony bin” takes place in a transvestite nightclub in the heart of the French Costa Azul, St. Tropez, in which the queen of the transvestites is the famous Zaza, whose name offstage is Albin (Peter Del Florentino), a sensitive, sweet gay who is almost the whole life of Georges (Curt Denham), who is apparently very male and well adjusted, but has the same sexual orientation and is the master of ceremonies in the transvestite nightclub.

This gay duo lives a relatively peaceful and normal life with their occasional relationship problems. The relative peace of their life is suddenly smashed when Jean Michel (Charlie Levy) the biologic son of Georges from a distant heterosexual affair decides to marry with the love of his life the beautiful young Anne (Rebecca Jayne Pingree), the daughter of a politician who is a member of an ultra conservative and Catholic party. In order to deal with the situation Jean Michel asks George to contact his natural mother to meet the parents of his girlfriend and redecorate the house to transform it from what it is, lively and chaotic and brothel-like, to a conservative and ascetic dwelling filled with religious crosses and statues of Catholic saints.

In this eagerness(?) the couple has the assistance of an entertaining butler (Moka Davis), who acts and thinks more like a sexy and bold maid ( I am not sure of the translation of “mistress of the keys”). Davis shows his comic talent in spite of the fact that he has few lines to interpret.

Jean Michel does not initially have the strength to express to his fiancée and her parents the moral values as much emotional as biological, which are the foundations of his formation, in spite of the sexual orientation of his ancestors. It is this weakness that makes him lie to his fiancé and her parents, Edouard Dindon(Charles Evans) and his wife (Judy Ryken), who have bourgeois rectitude and backward appearance that are foreseeably ridiculous and amusing. Those who remember their French classes will know that “Dindon”, the surname of the parents, means “turkey”, no surprise given the role played by this extreme, traditional couple.

The performances of the principle leading roles, Denham and Del Florentino, are really spectacular, their voices are equally captivating, especially when they sing and dance together. The rest of the cast has a great performance with artistic and entertaining songs and dances. The dramatic direction of Sue Ellen makes it easy to see how she won the Shellie for her direction of “Ragtime”. Cheryl Yee conducts her orchestra of 18 instruments musically and surely. The set design by Andrea Bechert is really a creative wonder that has the vertiginous cadence and charming lights of a St. Tropez nightclub.

The Cage Aux Folles, is the perfect musical work for an entertaining night of theater in a place as rich and pleasant as the Dean Lesher Center after a pleasant dinner in one of the many neighborhood restaurants and to enjoy the dramatic and musical art of the talented theatrical group, Diablo Light Orchestra Company.