La Cage aux Folles is a musical with a book by Harvey Fierstein and lyrics and music by Jerry Herman. Based on the 1973 French play by Jean Poiret and subsequent 1978 French-Italian screen version (one of the most popular foreign films ever released in the United States), the musical focuses on a gay couple: Georges, the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and Albin, his star attraction—and the adventures that ensue when Georges' son brings home his fiancée's ultra-conservative parents to meet them.
The musical's 1983 Broadway production overcame competition from several strong new shows that season, including Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George, Kander and Ebb's The Rink and David Shire and Richard Maltby, Jr.'s Baby, winning six Tony Awards out of nine nominations, including the top honors of Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. Among the forward-looking themes of the musical is the idea that gays can form stable, long-term relationships and raise children.
A gay-themed project was risky in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, even though many Broadway performers, crew members, and devotees were gay. But the creative team—all gay men—felt that such a show was the tonic needed by those suffering from the illness and to combat the overt homophobia that had surfaced in some quarters due to the threat posed by the epidemic.
Although La Cage was Broadway's first gay-themed musical, it was nevertheless a mainstream production. Laurents did not allow his lead characters so much as a peck on the cheek for fear that he might offend his audience. It was an old-fashioned production in the best sense: elaborate costumes by veteran Theoni V. Aldredge, exquisite sets, glamorous chorus girls (including mostly boys in drag), and a lushly romantic score. According to theatre historian John Kenrick, La Cage and the strong 1983 season was the last great Broadway season. After the next season's Big River, for "the first time since Oklahoma, a full decade would go by before a new American musical would pass the 1,000 performance mark."
Awards and nominations
1983 production
- Tony Award for Best Musical (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Original Score (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (Hearn, winner; Barry, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Costume Design (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Lighting Design (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Choreography (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (winner)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Hearn, winner; Barry, nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music (winner)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design (winner)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design (nominee)
Source:
"I Am What I Am" is a song originally featured on the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles (1983–1987). The song is found on the finale number of the play's first act, and performed by the character of Albin Mougeotte. The song was composed in 1983 by Jerry Herman, an openly gay man.
Gloria Gaynor Version
The song was later re-recorded and released as a single by gay icon and disco diva Gloria Gaynor in 1983, and proved to be one of the singer's best known hits among her fans. While pretty much unknown to the mainstream American public (it reached a peak position of #82 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart), Gaynor's version of "I Am What I Am" was a hit elsewhere, reaching no.13 in the UK charts, and would become the rallying cry of the Gay Pride movement, alongside another song of hers, "I Will Survive" (1979).
The Lyrics and Chords:
[La Cage Aux Folles]
[ Fm6 = ]
I am what I am, I am my own special creation
So come take a look, give me the hook or the ovation
It's my world that I want to have a little pride in
My world and it's not a place I have to hide in
Life's not worth a damn 'til you can say, hey world
I am what I am
/ A C#m F#m Esus4E7 / A C#m F#m Bm7E7 / AC#7 F#m /
/ Bsus4B7 Dm6 / A C#m F#m / BmE7 A /
I am what I am, I don't want praise I don't want pity
I bang my own drum, some think it's noise I think it's pretty
And so what if I love each feather and each spangle
Why not try to see things from a different angle
Your life is a sham 'til you can shout out loud
I am what I am
/ B Ebm Abm C#mF# / / BEb#7 Abm / C#mC#7 Em6 / B Ebm Abm / C#m7F#7 B - /
I am what I am and what I am needs no excuses
I deal my own deck sometimes the ace, sometimes the deuces
There's one life and there's no return and no deposit
One life so it's time to open up your closet
Life's not worth a damn 'til you can say, hey world
I am what I am
/ C Em Am7 DmG7 / / Cmaj7Dm6 Am / Am7/D-D9 Fm6 /
/ C Em Am / D7sus4 G7 C - /
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
__._,_.___
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