Arizona Broadway Theatre Production Of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES To Run In Peoria And Downtown Phoenix

Precursor to the well-known film The Birdcage, Tony Award-winning, La Cage aux Folles, remains one of the most revived, all-time biggest hits of Broadway and is running at Arizona Broadway Theatre in Peoria January 24 - February 29, 2020, and then transfers to Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix March 6 - 22, 2020.

La Cage aux Folles is a musical with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, and book by Harvey Fierstein. It tells the story of Jean-Michel and Anne who are newly engaged, and now her strait-laced parents want to meet his. The only problem? His birth-mother is out of the picture, his dad owns a drag nightclub, and his mom is the star of the show! Jean-Michel wants just one night with his parents playing it "straight" to impress Anne's parents. Audiences will devour the power ballads, the rowdy show tunes, and dreamy duets.

Beginning with Season 15, Arizona Broadway Theatre launched a new program to create community-related IMPACT PROJECTS to accompany each Season 15 production. These projects are designed to provide ABT the opportunity to expand its community engagement in meaningful, measurable and memorable ways that extend beyond the productions on stage. Art, as they say, imitates life, and with each production come real-life show specific themes that correlate and relate to topics and issues of the day. With this in mind, ABT will run a teen-youth anti-bullying community IMPACT PROJECT entitled, "I Am What I Am" in conjunction with the run of the La Cage at both locations.

Opening on Broadway in 1983, La Cage broke barriers for gay representation by becoming one of the first hit Broadway musicals centered around a same-sex relationship. The show's now-infamous torch-song "I Am What I Am" has become an anthem for inclusion and acceptance within the greater LGBTQ+ community worldwide.

"While the central theme of La Cage focuses on issues of inclusion and acceptance related to the LGBTQ+ community," says Brad York, ABT Director of Marketing & Development, "our intent with the "I Am What I Am!" teen-youth anti-bullying IMPACT PROJECT is to broaden the focus of inclusion and acceptance among all people, regardless of one's sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religious or socio-economic background, especially teen-youth who confront the demands and pressures inflicted by today's modern, fast-paced social atmosphere."

ABT's Season 15 Broadway Series continues in 2020 with Chicago (March 13 - April 19), Bonnie & Clyde (May 1-24), and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Peoria: June 5 - July 3; Phoenix: July 10-26). For more information about these and other upcoming productions presented at Arizona Broadway Theatre, visit azbroadway.org or call 623.776.8400.

*Presented in partnership with Herberger Theater Center. Show transfers to Herberger Theater Center at 222 E Monroe St, Phoenix, AZ, following the run at Arizona Broadway Theatre, located at 7701 W Paradise Ln., Peoria, AZ.