Birdcage, The

The Birdcage is a 1996 American comedy produced and directed by Mike Nichols, with a screenplay by Elaine May. Robin Williams and Nathan Lane star as Armand and Albert Goldman, a longtime gay couple who run a South Beach drag club called The Birdcage, where Albert performs as the star, Starina. When Armand's son announces he is marrying the daughter of a conservative senator, played by Gene Hackman, the couple scrambles to pass as a straight, conventional family for a chaotic dinner. An Americanized remake of the French film La Cage aux Folles, it was a major commercial and critical success and is remembered as a mainstream Hollywood comedy that gave its gay characters warmth, dignity, and top-billing star power.