It’s taken a long time but Ginger Minj is finally playing her dream role. The finalist on “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” has the lead in Music Theater Works’ production of “La Cage aux Folles” at North Shore Center for the performing Arts in Skokie.
The Tony Award-winning musical by Jerry Herman (music and lyrics) and Harvey Fierstein (book) runs from March 10-April 3 with performances at 1 p.m. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, plus 1 p.m. March 10 (preview).
“I was slated to do it years ago when I was 18 at our local community theater here in Orlando,” Minj said. “And it got canceled because all of the conservative people in town said, ‘We don’t want that kind of show here.'”
That was 19 years ago. In retrospect, Minj realizes that cancellation was for the best. “I would have been awful when I was 18,” she said. “I wouldn’t have understood this show at all.”
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The role of drag queen Albin is a perfect fit for her now, Minj believes.
“Albin is me,” she said. “Everything is so over-the-top and dramatic but it’s rooted in such an honest place. I don’t think he ever realizes how dramatic he’s being. He just feels really deeply and strongly about everything and so it just comes out in a very passionate way.”
Minj compared Albin to her non-drag persona, Joshua Allen Eads.
“As Joshua, I’m a little more reserved. Kind of in the background,” she said. When she transforms into Ginger, “As soon as I hit the stage and I’m dressed and the lights are there, I’m the only person in the world,” Minj said.
The performer noted that family is all important to Albin. “He cares so deeply for his husband and his child that he is willing to do anything,” she said.
Albin’s husband Georges is played by Jason Richards.
Richards previously appeared in a production of “La Cage,” at the Marriott in 2015, five years after moving here from Detroit. “It was a very, very small role but I got to understudy Gene Weygandt as Albin. I got to learn the whole role. I never went on for it but the show has been in my heart ever since.”
When he was in that production, Richards was attracted to the role of Georges and was determined to play that role someday.
“Albin is a fantastic character but Georges is kind of the audience’s conduit through the show,” Richards said. “He’s a little more like the beating heart of the show. People feel for him because his family is in jeopardy of falling apart. He’s desperately trying to keep his family together which is incredibly stressful.”
That role also attracted Richards because he believes that Georges has the best songs. The performer particularly enjoys sings “Song on the Sands.”
“The melody is fantastic,” he said, adding that it was boundary-breaking when it was written. “It was not in the musical theater lexicon to have a loving male couple singing a love song to each other.”
The song in this show that means the most to Minj is “I Am What I Am.”
“I sang ‘I Am What I Am’ on the Trailblazer Awards for Harvey Fierstein probably five years ago,” she said. “That was one of those moments that completely defined my life, changed it.”
That song is Minj’s “favorite song in the world,” she declared. “I have closed every cabaret, everything that I’ve done my entire career with ‘I Am What I Am.'”
Richards noted that his character and Minj’s character tend to play a game of one-upmanship. “They both want the spotlight and they have been married 25 years,” Richards said. “They love to win their little bickering arguments as much as they love each other.”
Producing Artistic Director Kyle A. Dougan of Winnetka is directing this production, which is his first Jerry Herman show.
He wanted Music Theater Works to stage this musical because, “I thought it was very relevant to today,” Dougan said. “We’re trying to find ways to keep these great classic musicals alive.”
The director said that a lot of care is being taken to make this production special.
“When you come into the inner lobby, there’s going to be a bird cage with a drag queen dancing in it. There’s going to be an onstage bar. Some audience members will be sitting at cabaret tables on the stage as if you’re coming into La Cage aux Folles.”
Minj said that she has been offered the role of Albin in other productions of “La Cage” but this is the first time she has accepted the part because she felt that the entire staff was “on the same page” as her, she said.
The production is turning out to be a great experience for Minj, she said. “They’re the most wonderful people I’ve ever worked with as far as collaboration goes.”
Dougan concluded, “It’s important that all the artists are really involved, especially someone like Ginger. Her brand is herself.”
‘La Cage aux Folles’
When: March 10-April 3
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Where: Music Theater Works at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie
Tickets: $19.50-$106; Q&A with Ginger Minj after selected performances for an additional charge
Information: 847-673-6300; northshorecenter.org
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.