Sheep in wolves' clothing

By Donna Chernin

Nightclub owner Renato first thinks he has troubles when his boyfriend Zaza refuses to get jo ladies clothing because he is feeling rejectand jealous..

But Renato's problems are just beginning in “La Cage Aux Folles" at the World East and World West.

A little later, Renato's 20-year-old son Laurent stops by to announce that he is getting married. To a girl!

*Laurent asks his homosexual father and his father's transvestite lover Zaza to please make their life appear conventional the night his fiance's conservative parents come for dinner.

Conventional is hardly a word one could use in describing this French farce based on a long-running stage play by Jean Poiret.

Early in the frivolity, we learn that Renato and Zaza have lived together for 20 years. Naturally we wonder how two homosexuals managed to have a son:

That's easy enough to explain. Almost 21 years ago, Renato had had a fleeting lapse to Conventional sinning with an independent career woman who, after giving birth, abandoned the infant boy.

Now meet the parents of the bride:

Her father is the stuffy chairman of the morals squad who has just recieved some shocking news that jeopardizes his position. His wife decides that their salvation is the immediate wedding of their daughter to this Laurent. They think he is a diplomat's son.

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In Review

Terrified to tell her parents the truth, Laurent's fiancee had lied that her future father-inlaw is a cultural attache. Instead he owns La Cage Aux Folles, a risque club in St. Tropez that presents transvestite skits.

Michel Serrault as Zaza vividly conveys his feelings of rejection when Renato first asks him to leave their apartment for a few days, and later his jealousy when Renato pays a visit to Laurent's mother to invite her to the special dinner.

"Every time I leave you alone with that woman, it's the same thing. I couldn't go through another motherhood,” Zaza whines. Serrault justifiably won a French Cesar (the French equivalent of an Academy Award) for his portrayal, and Ugo Tognazzi's performance as Renato is also excellent.

In an especially comic scene, Renato tries to teach Zaza how to appear more masculine. Renato admonishes Zaza for raising his pinkie finger when he sips tea, but later notices that he does the same thing.

The movie bogs down with too many lover's spats between the two men, but the pace accelerates at the uproarious dinner. One accident piles on another. For example, their homosexual black maid abandons his usual mince and scanty clothing for a stately gait and

Michele Serrault, left, and Ugo Tognazzi in "La Cage aux Folles."

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Best of all, we can laugh at their predicament but never feel sorry for any of them, for all along it is clear that "La Cage Aux Follies" is pure farce intended for chuckles.

Rated adult for risque sex.