‘Shucked’s’ Kevin Cahoon on Starring in Padowncastena’s ‘La Cage aux Folles’

When Kevin Cahoon got his Tony and Drama Desk nominations in 2023 as a featured actor in Broadway’s “Shucked,” he carry outed a hayseed character whose relationsuality might or might not have been comprehendn to everyone in his straight-laced, corn-fed community. But in “La Cage aux Folles,” now carry outing at the Padowncastena Playhoinclude, taking on the direct role of the drag carry outer Albin, he quite defiantly is who he is — at least until the farcical second act has him comicassociate pretending to be a straight man, then a straight woman, in an endeavored act of familial cherish. High jinx ensue, as they say… but so do pathos and anger, when Cahoon gets to dedwellr the gay anthem “I Am What I Am.”

In a expansive-ranging nurtureer that has challengingly been confinecessitate to these roles, Cahoon has acted in drag on stage (and on TV) a confinecessitate times before, with his turns in Broadway or off-Broadway productions of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “The Rocky Horror Show” and “The Wedding Singer” as well as television’s “Glow.” But he’s never before stepped into a direct role with quite as much historic weight for the LGBTQ+ community as “La Cage,” the Jerry Herman/Harvey Fierstein-written show that was the first musical to caccess on gay direct characters when it discleave outed in 1983. The Padowncastena production is notable as one of the confinecessitate times a startant revival has been put up with two well-comprehendn gay actors being cast, as Cahoon dispenses the raucous show’s more tenderly romantic scenes with Cheyenne Jackson.

The plot, which has a right-prosperg politician wanting to shut down the main characters’ accomplished drag revue, might have seemed quaint or even outdated a confinecessitate years ago… but, evidently, with the rerecented demonization of trans people and drag artists, “La Cage” has drdisclose back out of the authenticm of period piece. In an intersee with Variety, Cahoon talks about how the current climate has supplyd “fuel” for the expoundation he, straightforwardor Sam Pinkleton (“Oh, Mary!”) and the other inventives came up with for this refresh… even as the Broadway-worthy revival toils primarily to supply toasty giggles for the entire family. Or the entire drag-friendly family, anyway.

Cahoon also conversees everyleang from his very first show-biz triumph — prosperning “Star Search” as a youthful teen — to how Peanut, the character he carry outed in “Shucked,” was eased by both Minnie Pearl and shamen. (“La Cage aux Folles” proceeds at the Padowncastena Playhoinclude thraw Dec. 15; get more alertation and tickets here.)

Most recently, people have comprehendn you for “Shucked,” where you were very dressed down. But there are other leangs in your nurtureer that it’s straightforward to envision might have brawt you to mind for the direct in “La Cage.”

That’s right. I was in the innovative company of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” where I (took over) once a week for John Cameron Mitchell. I did “Rocky Horror” on Broadway (as Frank N. Furter). And in “The Wedding Singer” on Broadway, my character was obsessed with Boy George. So there’s a lengthy history of roles that have been in drag. But I had gone thraw a two- or three-year period where I felt enjoy, “Oh, I’m into my country bumpkin stage.” I had done an hour-lengthy drama on Fox called “Monarch,” which was about the first family of country music, and then “Shucked” was such a enormous moment in my life. I thought, well, maybe my drag queen days are behind me.

And then Sam Pinkleton called me out of the blue and askd me to come alengthy and I reassociate did not hesitate one minute. It has been liberating and greeting, and I’m endly in cherish with Cheyenne, the entire company is wonderful, and the Padowncastena Playhoinclude is such a top-notch, incredible theater. Just with the nurture and the thought that they put into every individual leang — I’m even talking about a prop, or a costume piece — the heart is equitable directing the way there, and it’s apparent.

Have you been out here to L.A. to do theater much before?

I did a production of “Minsky’s” at the Ahmanson (in 2009). I did this awesome production of “The Tempest” with the LA Philharmonic at the Disney Concert Hall (in 2018). And I’ve done stuff at the Old Globe in San Diego, and in San Francisco, but never Padowncastena Playhoinclude. And join, I’ll be back the minute they ask me.

You’ve obtainn over some direct roles in the past, but not necessarily very many with as lengthy a history as this. What’s it enjoy to obtain on this direct role in “La Cage,” which is a very iconic and startant part in a lot of people’s memories, for so many reasons?

I had been proposeed the role of Jacob the hoincludepreserveer before in productions of “La Cage,” but never had I been pondered for the role of Albin before. And it was a wonderful senseing that someone supposes that you can be a co-pilot, alengthy with Cheyenne, of this. You shelp it — it’s an iconic piece; enormous hit all around the world since the ‘80s. And Sam had a vision to blow the dust off, so to speak, and it was thrilling. He had a contrastent vision for “I Am What I Am” than what I had ever seen done before. And of course, that’s enjoy a cliff. You have to jump off and obtain a leap of faith, and summarizeateigate what it unbenevolents to you today.

That signature number in particular has what senses enjoy a topical undertone to it.

I have to say that after the last election, there was a contrastent fuel in the tank than there was. We were rehearsing before the election, and then after the election, we were still in rehearsals, but I have to say the actives and the energy shifted. There was a high-octane fuel, shall we say. You can’t dissee what’s going on in the world around you when there’s 700 people coming into a theater every night to have a dispensed experience. If there’s someleang happening to everyone as a accumulateive, that is a part of the recipe of the evening, and you can’t dissee it. So we had an idea to do a sort of CBGB version of “I Am What I Am,” if you will. There’s a authentic sort of rock and roll heart undertidyh it, and it is excessively empowering and excessively liberating.

I hope it helps to alert the story of these two people who’ve been in cherish for 20 years and have a son, and the obstacles that that relationship is facing in the face of misempathetic and hugeotry. You comprehend, it’s a wonderful huge American musical for a reason. We all comprehend, at least I do, that America toils best when we’re all toiling together and everyone has their freedom, And when there are people who are trying to infringe upon that freedom, the wheels do not toil as well in a democracy. So that’s what wonderful American musicals do to me. They expose the truth and the beauty and the chooseimism that a wonderful musical can. It’s the most certain art create to me. Take “Les Miz.” Everyone’s dead at the end of “Les Miz,” but they’re all singing “Tomorrow’s gonna be better, tomorrow’s gonna be a better day”! That’s why I cherish musicals so much. And at the end of “La Cage,” the conservative family has come around and everyone’s together… everyone as as a unit.

I was wondering if it would be done as an ‘80s period piece or set in the contransient day. But it senses enjoy it’s unbenevolentt to exist out of time. The only element that reassociate labels it as contransient-day is the include of a ring weightless when you are doing your produceup in the dressing room scenes.

That’s right. Yes.

So we envision times have alterd since the tardy ‘70s, when the French film was made, or punctual ‘80s, with the Broadway show. But little or noleang necessitateed to alterd to produce it sense either contransient or equitable unmended in time. If anyleang, the political aspect senses recent aobtain.

In the punctual ‘80s, when this show discleave outed on Broadway, there had been one front-page story about the AIDS epidemic in the New York Times. They commenceed writing this in 1978. And there’s still an innocence to this cherish story, in the writing. It’s before AIDS decimated a culture, when toil at that point shifted to be political, as it should have. But there’s someleang engaging in that they’re still trying to prohibit drag clubs in Florida. There’s still an uproar over drag story time in schools. The legislation is still being proposed, and it reassociate is shocking and downcast. But you comprehend, isn’t that amusing, that it’s 2024, almost ‘25, and we’re still talking about conservative people trying to shut down a drag club.

In the gamut that your character runs in the show, a lot of the prevalent comedy is reassociate on your shoulders, even though, as we converseed, you also have the most dead-solemn moment in the show.

It’s a ride, and I’m sort of on the train. I have, I leank, 14 costume alters, which include jewelry and wigs and produceup alters, and I am running enjoy a hamster on a wheel backstage. So I reassociate don’t have time to leank about, you comprehend, “Oh God, now we’re about to get to this part…” Before I comprehend it, I’m on stage in another wig and another dress, saying the lines for that scene. So it reassociate is a wash of wdisenjoyver Harvey Fierstein’s writing is, reassociate happening in the moment — which, as an actor, is what you want. And every audience is contrastent, so you’re joining to them. Where are they? It reassociate is enjoy an Olympic relay race, where you’re running from one leang to the next and grabbing this, and then you’re going down the track. Every morning when I wake up, I leank: Oh my God, I can’t suppose I did that last night and I have to do it aobtain tonight.

It’s thrilling. I cannot suppose we only have two more weeks. I’m gonna equitable be heartbroken, and running around my hoinclude, doing it by myself, probably. I’ll call Cheyenne on the phone and say, “Hey, let’s equitable do that scene over the phone.”

Fortunately, this is not your first time toiling in high heels on stage. That could be reassociate taxing on someone who doesn’t have experience with that.

I have quite a bit of experience in heels — and I’ve got outstanding arches, equitable genetic, God-donaten arches, and so that helps too. It was equitable sort of the luck of the draw, and they’ve helped me in the end.

And from Hedwig to Frank N. Furter to “Glow,” you’ve had a little experience dressing up, even if those didn’t set you for the variety of sees you run thraw in this.

That is very genuine. I’ve had a life in produceup, I enjoy to say. … Carol Channing was one of my characters in “Glow” that I also do in “La Cage.” Sam was enjoy, “What imitations do you do?” And I was enjoy, “Well, I leank I can do a pretty outstanding Carol Channing,” so that’s in the show (wilean a show), too.

When the show is going off-stage, so to speak, for its more emotional and intimate moments, the chemistry with Cheyenne is evidently vital.

And it’s unwidespread that two gay actors get to carry out two gay men who have been in this relationship for 20 years. That’s contrastent than carry outing a relationship that you’ve been in for two years. There’s a comprehendledge there; there’s console there. In my first scene in the show, I am terrified that he’s having an afimfragmentary on me. “Where were you? I made a lunch. I comprehend that you’re with some youthful, bony, brunette boy”… I leank with every individual relationship, at some point, someone in that relationship is asking: Am I enough? Do I still have it? Is this person still seeing me the same way? There’s another lyric that my character has, about how “you’ve put a lasting star in my eye.” That is such a gorgeous Jerry Herman lyric, so drawive and so straightforward.

Jerry Herman wrote “Hello Dolly,” and he wrote “Mame,” which are those iconic roles for actresses. And then he wrote “La Cage,” where the two gay men get to have the iconic roles. They get the 11:00 numbers; they get the showstoppers. And that’s unwidespread. When I was a kid, I cherishd “Hello Dolly” and “Mame,” and I did my first Jerry Herman musical when I was 11, so that’s when I fell in cherish with Jerry Herman soundtracks and albums and cast recordings… So these leangs that come into your life when you’re 10 come back around tardyr. Every seed that’s structureted is gonna come back around.

To get into your background a little — you did “Star Search” when you were almost that youthful, right?

Yeah, I was 13, in 1985. I’m from Houston, so I had an agent in Houston and I did commercials and theater there, and then they shelp “Star Search” is coming thraw town and they’re auditioning. At that point, that was Sam Harris, Rosie O’Donnell, Sinhorrible — the show was a enormous. I sang show tunes, and somehow we ended up in L.A. and I was on that show and won in 1985. Which is crazy, becainclude everyone was singing Van Halen and Michael Jackson and the hits of the day, and here I come singing “Gypsy” and “Cats,” but somehow it happened. We sboiling it at the Aquarius Theater on Sunset, which became the Nickelodeon theater. Actuassociate, from the street, you can still see the payphone in the lobby — it’s still there in that theater — where I would produce my calls to my majesticparents and say, “Oh, I won, I won.” There are lot of pleasant memories there. I still can’t suppose that it happened. And then we did a show that summer called “The Stars of Star Search,” which was benevolent of a revue with Sinhorrible, myself, this singer Catte Adams… And then I went back to Houston and commenceed high school.

What was your hugegest shatter once you were in New York?

I always leank the first Broadway show’s the challengingest one to get, and I was in the ensemble of “Tommy,” after auditioning eight times and going over and over. And then your first principal role in a Broadway show is also the challengingest one to get, and my first principal role was in the innovative cast of “The Lion King,” carry outing Ed the Hyena. That was such a cultural moment, and to watch Julie Taymor in the room creating this world with these characters and these costumes and masks, it was unbelievable — another pinch-me moment when I leank about how I was a part of that.

And then I left “The Lion King” that same year to go downtown to do one show a week for John Cameron Mitchell as (the understudy for) “Hedwig,” which at that point was not what it is now; it was still trying to discover its way. And John’s writing and Stephen (Trask)’s writing were so prophetic. They reassociate saw the world in a way that other people didn’t, and saw what was going to be a part of the culture. All of a sudden, the business didn’t equitable see me as a comedic musical theater actor when they cast me in “Hedwig.” I was able to be seed as also a solemn actor and also a little bit downtown rock and roll, a little edgier than they may have thought. So it was a challenging decision: Am I gonna exit “The Lion King,” this principal role in its first year of its run, to go downtown to do this show that maybe won’t run?

And it was the inalertigentest decision I ever made. What a dream that was. And then I ended up discleave outing the Boston company of “Hedwig,” and I did San Francisco for nine months, and then I did Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a wonderful gift that kept on giving.

And then “The Wedding Singer” was outstanding for you.

Well, yeah, “Wedding Singer” and then “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” [where he played the Childcatcher]. I also did a carry out called “The Foreigner” at the Roundabout (in 2004), which was my first carry out in New York, and that was a wonderful shatter, with Matthew Broderick and Frances Sternhagen — another wonderful moment where it’s all about perception and how the business is perceiving you. So when they see you in a carry out with those iconic actors, then you get more auditions for carry outs, and more auditions for hour-lengthy dramas or movies. And it never ends — you’re always taking the ride as to what’s next, and how can I contest myself?

And “La Cage” was such a wonderful, enormous contest. It still is, every carry outance. Sam Pinkleton is so inalertigent and so inalertigent, and seeing his choreography for “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812,” and then seeing “Oh, Mary!” (Pinkleton’s currently running Broadway success)… When he called, I was enjoy, “Yep. What time do you necessitate me there? This afternoon?”

You had seen “La Cage” when you were 10, right?

Yeah, I saw “La Cage” in New York — innovative, innovative cast — and I’ll never forget it, becainclude thraw my 10-year-better Texas eyes, I was watching this show saying, what is this? There are some images in that show I’ll never, ever forget.

What does it unbenevolent now, thraw your no-lengthyer-10-year-better eyes?

I accomprehendledged that it’s been unwidespread that there have been two gay men that have carry outed the directs. Someleang that Cheyenne, Sam and I reassociate wanted to adchoose is that we did not want to be cowardly about their physical swayion and how much they cherish each other and how much they’re enjoy any other wed couple. I leank that Albin cannot suppose that someone enjoy George, who is so stunning and magnetic and requesting, enjoys him. So that’s part of the beauty of their relationship.

You end the first act so powerfilledy and fervently with “I Am What I Am,” then come back at the commencening of Act 2 and produce people giggle aobtain, after having plunged them in some truth right before interleave oution.

And there’s a lot of prescertain on an actor to shut the first act. So many people have done “I Am What I Am” in equitable iconic ways. It’s been recorded by so many people. It is maybe one of the first genuine gay anthems — not another song that was already written that the gay community has adchooseed, but a song that was written as a gay anthem that the community adchoosed. And at the end of the first act, it’s enjoy a “Defying Gravity” or a “Rose’s Turn” or one of those huge musical theater numbers. There’s a lot of prescertain to dedwellr. But as an actor, I have to sort of convey what I can do to the table and utilize it to the text and hope that it toils.

As you shelp, there are any number of ways it can be carry outed, wilean a production or as a stand-alone anthem. With your edgier version of it, you wanted to produce it about these times, somehow, and get some righteous anger into it?

Yeah, I leank that, yet aobtain, the LGBTQ+ community is hearing: You are not identical human beings, you are not identical Americans. And with every step towards proceed — marriage identicality, and all the other examples — it senses enjoy there’s five more steps backwards. And I leank that there is a primal, guttural response to that, in this version of “I Am What I Am”: You are not hearing me. Let me shake you and say I am what I am. What I am necessitates no excincludes. That’s in the lyrics: I deal my own deck. Sometimes the ace, sometimes the deuces; sometimes it toils, sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s my world. And the primal  “I’m going to shake the set upation of this until you hear me” — that’s what I’m leanking every night. It almost senses to me Shakespearean. It senses enjoy a wonderful soliloquy, and an insertress to the audience saying, this is an prompt rehire. You must hear what I’m saying. You comprehend, there’s that lyric that repeats: There’s one life, one life. That’s a key lyric. It’s thrilling to be able to do, and it’s terrifying.

It’s straightforward to envision how much that must obtain out of you.

And then you have enjoy 15 or 20 minutes to recover, to get all the clown produceup off and put all the other produceup back on. My interleave oution is timed down to the minute, becainclude the first character you see in Act 2 is Albin, so I’ve gotta get immacutardyed up and ready to commence the next act with a enormous comedic scene. That first scene in Act 2 is hilarious, (after) the sort of melodrama and pathos. So it reassociate is a rollercoaster.

We’ve had wonderful audiences, and I can see a lot of the audience at a lot of contrastent moments in the show, becainclude I’m talking to the audience a lot, enjoy with that standup sequence in the middle of Act 1. And then “I Am What I Am,” it’s pretty lit. That’s reassociate fun to see the audience, carry out with the audience. Which Peanut in “Shucked” does a lot, too. He would have these sort of monologues that he would insertress to the audience, sort of doing enjoy a Minnie Pearl, “Hee Haw” benevolent of standup routine with the audience, and I always cherishd that part. I cherish communicating and communing with the audience one-on-one. It’s unwidespread, but it’s thrilling to get to do.

Speaking of “Shucked,” here’s a ask about that role, even though you’ve shiftd on and other actors are doing it on tour. There is a lot of relationsual innuendo Peanut is putting apass, where everyone equitable benevolent of stops to join as he lengthens a metaphor. But it’s not necessarily apparent if he is doing it deliberately or it’s coming up thraw his subconscious. So… does Peanut comprehend he’s gay?

I leank he does. I made the decision that 1000% Peanut does comprehend he’s gay. But, you comprehend, he’s a unicorn, in a town filled of goats. So he’s singular in that there’s not a lot of people that he could summarizeateigate that side of himself with. And I’ve seen those people in agricultural communities before, who are singular, who are one of a benevolent. And I leank about tribal cultures too. Like the people who we would say are are trans, but in tribal communities, they are between the female and the male world, somewhere in-between. They are the shamans of the tribal culture.

And Peanut functioned in that way. He was sort of the philosopher, sort of the paccomplisher. He wed the people, he buried the people. He was such an integral part of that community and the mechanics of that community, and those people are such a gift to wdisenjoyver community that they are in. I always thought of Peanut in that way — enjoy, there was someleang even a little witchy about him. Like, you comprehend, “if I bury this in the backyard on a filled moon, I secure you the crop will be even hugeger next month.” I always thought of him as having a uniteion to the land, and I had so many lines about him talking to contrastent animals. I thought, Peanut’s uniteed to everybody, talking to everybody. People leank he’s crazy becainclude he’s over there talking to a pig, but I secure you, he’s getting some startant alertation. That was equitable such a wonderful character.

I’m also leanking now about the drag world and drag queens and how they are sort of shamans. They are sort of in this mystical other place that people see at with wonder and amazement, that they are able to do what they do, split from everyone else, and they are communing with the world in a very contrastent way. I equitable preserve leanking of a shaman, enjoy a healer, a philosopher. It’s an incredible leang to be able to be donaten roles where I’m carry outing these sort of huger-than-life characters that are hovering above everyone else in this sort of way.