Adieu, Zaza

Sad news today - Michel Serrault, unabashed star of that marvellous camp classic film La Cage Aux Folles, is dead.



As the outrageous drag queen Albin (whose alter ego Zaza was queen of the nightclub run by her boyfriend Renato), Serrault set a superb precedent of hysterical camp that could not be matched by any future pretenders to the throne - not even the fab Nathan Lane, who reprised the role for The Birdcage with Robin Williams.

The film itself was ground-breaking stuff in 1978. Its sympathetic portrayal of two ageing gay men and their relationship with each other - and their cultural clash with so-called "normal" life as Renato's son prepares to marry the daughter of an ultra right-wing politician - was practically unheard of in its day and quickly became a cult hit, even though it is entirely in French. It was nominated for three Oscars, and won several awards including a Golden Globe.

Those giants of Broadway Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein were inspired to make a hugely successful musical out of the story, which spawned an uber-gay anthem in I Am What I Am, and one of my favourite songs The Best Of Times Is Now.

And of course without La Cage, where would such films as Torch Song Trilogy, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and To Wong Foo be?

Farewell, Zaza!

The Best of Times is Now (from La Cage Aux Folles the musical)
The best of times is now.
What's left of Summer
But a faded rose?

The best of times is now.
As for tomorrow,
Well, who knows? Who knows? Who knows?

So hold this moment fast,
And live and love
As hard as you know how.
And make this moment last
Because the best of times is now,
Is now, is now.

Now, not some forgotten yesterday.
Now, tomorrow is too far away.

So hold this moment fast,
And live and love
As hard as you know how.
And make this moment last,
Because the best of times is now, is now.

So hold this moment fast,
And live and love
As hard as you know how.
And make this moment last,
Because the best of times is now,
Is now, is now
Is now, is NOW!

La Cage aux Folles (film) on Wikipedia

La Cage aux Folles (musical) on Wikipedia

Michel Serrault - BBC article