I mean no disparagement whatsoever when I say La Cage aux Folles is a musical populated mostly by drag queens. Its two leads are a gay male couple, Georges and Albin. They run a drag cabaret in Saint-Tropez, France, circa 1983. That was the year Allan Carr, producer of the film adaptation of Grease, saw the 1978 French movie version of Jean Poiret's 1973 farcical, non-musical play and decided to tell its story on Broadway. Confused? It gets more complex yet. The French movie was a massive international hit that spawned two sequels; meanwhile, the original play was readapted for American audiences as the Robin Williams-Nathan Lane vehicle The Birdcage.

Read Christian Carvajal's full review of La Cage aux Folles in the Music & Culture section.

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, 8 p.m. Friday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday through Sunday, through June 8, Tacoma Musical Playhouse, 7116 Sixth Ave. E., Tacoma, $20-$29, 253.565.6867