Interview: Maxwell Freudenthal of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES at Lush Lounge And Theatre

This November 2022, musical theater is coming to LUSH Lounge and Theatre and will debuting La Cage Aux Folles!

We chat with Director Maxwell Freudenthal about this production.

How does it feel to have live audiences and theatres back?
Theater has always been a huge part of my life, but despite how much I loved performing I always knew it wasn't necessarily a career I wanted to pursue. When I moved to the Twin Cities to attend the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, the first thing I did was organize a theater club where I made some of my closest friends. After graduation, I participated in several community theaters around the cities, as a performer and more recently as a set designer, and that's when Minnesota started to truly feel like home. The experience of creating live theater is truly magical and special to so many people, so losing that opportunity during a period when so many people felt alone and isolated was devastating. While audiences are hesitantly returning (with good reason), I'm glad that opportunities to return to the stage and connect with other passionate performers are returning as well. I think its absence helped many of us realize how much we need it.

Who were your influences and inspirations?
I'm a video producer by profession, so many of my influences actually come from films. As a closeted gay boy growing up in rural Wisconsin, The Rocky Horror Picture Show made a huge impact on me, even though I wasn't able to fully realize or admit it at the time. Then in college, Netflix recommended me Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which changed the entire course of my life. Shortly after I followed it up by watching Shortbus and learned how John Cameron Mitchell collaborated with the actors to create the characters and stories. It disrupted everything I thought I knew about film and inspired me to change my major from animation to filmmaking and then promptly set out to produce my own feature-length musical which I completed my senior year. I've been advocating for queer representation in various industries ever since.

What inspired you to put on La Cage Aux Folles at Lush and how does it feel to be putting on the first musical there?
Aside from playing Rod in our college theater club production of Avenue Q that I produced, I've never had the opportunity play a queer character on stage. In fact, I have a track record of playing romantic straight characters who kiss at least one female character. On the very rare occasion when a community does a popular show like Rent, my friends and I are all hungrily competing for the same roles. I'm also accustomed to having directors ommitting or altering lines that would imply a character was queer, usually to avoid potentially offending straight actor or conservative audience members. After I turned 30, I decided that I didn't want to play straight anymore, at least not until I was able to be obstensively gay on stage.
So after a 5 year hiatus, when the chance to audition for Pinocchio in Shrek (who is extremely queer-coded, IMO) came up I decided to go for it, no expectations. Without going into too much detail, the initial audition went well but I left the callback feeling defeated, inadequate, and that I had no business auditioning for community theater. It was heartbreaking, and I, as a professional director/producer, could not understand how the exercises they had me go through would indicate whether or not I could perform the role. It seemed like I had just undergone hours of unnecessary stress and humiliation to be considered for a show that was, based on my experience, already essentially cast. I know there are better ways of doing this, so I decided it was time to prove it.
The first step was finding a venue, and as a queer-run establishment centrally-located in the Twin Cities, LUSH was at the very top of my list. So I approached them with my vision of a non-professional theater company to tell LGBTQIA+ stories, create opportunities for actors to see themselves in those roles, and challenge the status quo by doing it in a more accessible, equitable way, they were all-in. Then we had to find a show. It's our first show, so I wanted to do something that would get people excited. After considering timing, budget, and the venue, La Cage was the obvious choice. I mean, a show about a drag club being staged inside the one of the Twin Cities' hottest drag clubs? You can't capture that atmosphere in a lofty, high school theater. We get to present this incredibly heartfelt show in a truly authentic way. It's going to be an amazing experience.

What are you hoping anyone in the show takes away from being in this production?
For me, it starts with the audition process. I want everyone to feel that they have an equal chance when they show up. There's no guesswork of picking a hopefully-relevant-but-not-overdone song, praying the pianist will even be able to play the music, or wondering what the director was looking for because they didn't give any direction or feedback. If you put in the effort to learn the songs and study the scenes, you have just as much of a chance of being cast as anyone else. And if you make the effort to audition, I will personally phone call you to let you know the outcome. I know what it's like to leave an audition feeling completely dismissed, so I'm doing everything I can to avoid that.
And to be clear, there is definitely value in learning how to navigate the traditional casting process, but mostly for people who are looking to make a career out of it. Similar to standardized testing, there are people who excel in those situations and others, for reasons beyond their control, who don't. It favors people who have the time, money, and network to set themselves apart. As a non-professional company, we have flexibility to try new approaches and hopefully level the playing field for people who have the talent and passion but lack the resources needed to succeed in professional auditions.
As far as being in the show, I want the actors to know that they don't have to look or present a certain way to be cast in the shows they love. As a director, I know how I want the audience to feel at any moment, but I have no idea what the cast is going to look like. I know how it's looked in the past, but that doesn't mean that's how it has to be done. We're not necessarily changing the script at all, we're just acknowledging the actors' identities and experiences and leveraging them to inform creative decisions as opposed to finding someone who best fits a predetermined mold. In Cinderella terms, imagine if the prince actually talked to the potential brides instead of blindly testing to see if they fit into a shoe. Wouldn't that make more sense? I want actors to know they were cast because they brought something special and unique to the performance, not because they simply looked the part.

What do you hope audience members take away from this production?
I want people to see how relevant and important it is to make space for marginalized people to tell their stories and be their authentic selves. There's a big difference between being accepted and being celebrated, and I want the actors to be celebrated. The story is campy, funny, and extremely moving all at the same time. Because of the intimacy of the space, we get to inject the production with a lot of the nuance that is normally lost on larger stages, which is extremely exciting for me as a film director. The themes are also timely but also universal. It challenges audiences to open their eyes, see life at a different angle, and live life authentically. It's going to be an incredible experience that hopefully generates enough excitement to carry us into future productions.

What are your favorite local spots?
I mean, if you haven't been to LUSH since it reopened, you really should. The food, drinks, and entertainment are all top-notch. The Alamo Drafthouse is a godsend for moviegoers, so I highly recommend that. I haven't been to a brewery in the Twin Cities that I didn't enjoy, but Pryes has some of my favorite sours. Lastly, if you've haven't been to a Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus concert, you're missing out on an incredible experience for the entire family.

Thank you Maxwell for your time!

Stay tuned for more show and ticket information

Photo courtesy of Maxwell