The holiday season is a time for families, especially in the world of live theater where Christmas shows are staples and become annual classics.

Nobody would ever call "La Cage Aux Folles" a holiday show, but as staged by Skylight Music Theater with a couple of magical stars, it’s a warm-hearted and very funny tale of what it means to be in a family – both the benefits and the responsibilities.

With Ray Jivoff and Norman Moses commanding a stage and an audience unlike any duo I’ve seen recently, the story of "La Cage" is a well known one, especially if you’ve ever seen the 1996 movie "The Birdcage" starring Nathan Lane and Robin Williams.

Drag queen shows are widely known for the extravagance of the costumes and the outrageous nature of the performances, and this production, under the direction and choreography of John de los Santos and with costumes by Chris March, a refugee from television’s "Project Runway," don’t disappoint.

Moses plays Georges, the owner of a drag cabaret, and Jivoff plays Albin, his partner of 20 years as well as the star of the drag shows as the queen, Za Za.

The two men have raised a son, Jean-Michel, the result of a youthful night of straight sex experimentation by Georges. For 20 years, Georges has been his father and Albin his mother. But trouble is on the horizon.

Jean-Michel (Colte Julian) is about to marry a young woman (Stephanie Staszak), and she is bringing her parents to meet Jean-Michel’s. The problem is that her father Edouard (Dylan Bolen) is a leading politician running for election on a campaign of family morality, leaving little room for gay people.

Near panic ensues until the son and father conspire to keep Albin from attending the dinner and inviting Jean-Michel’s real birth mother instead for a one-day charade. Albin, of course, is at first adamantly resistant but eventually agrees – even through his feelings have suffered a disastrous hurt.

One of the issues to deal with in a show about drag queen showgirls/showmen is what limits to you place on over the top you can really be. The answer here is that there are no limits.

The luxurious costumes proved to be limitless in their use of feathers and spangles. If it sparkles, March found a way to put it on costumes. If it blows in the wind, he got them on board, too. If the material colors were garish and blindingly bright, Marsh draped the Cagelles in them, as well.

The Cagelles, perhaps the funniest sight of the night, were a group of seven men who wore bras, sexy dresses, wigs, makeup and high heels and danced routines mixed with awkward sexuality, awkward kicks and thrusts, and awkward cohesion.

In short, they were perfect.

They kicked off (pun intended) the show with the anthem of drag queens everywhere.

"We are what we are
And what we are
Is an Illusion
We love how it feels
Putting on heels
Causing confusion.
We face life
Tho it’s sometimes sweet and sometimes bitter
Face life
With a little guts and lots of glitter.
Look under our frocks
Girdles and jocks
Proving we are what we are
We are what we are."

Here’s the guys in an early rehearsal, and an early rehearsal on heels, with the opening number.

But for all the brassy and ostentatious costuming and all the gay guy exaggeration, this is, in the end, a story about love and about the love that binds a family together despite every obstacle that comes its way.

George tries to assure Albin that his love is strong even though he and his son have decided to keep Albin out of the prospective in-law dinner. Jean-Michel is fearful that Albin’s flamboyant and extravagant feminine mannerisms will nix the wedding.

But true to the faith that families stay strong and together no matter what the fates allow, Jean-Michel throws caution to the wind, embraces Albin as his mother and his betrothed stands by his side, and all’s well that ends well.

In the final moments – after Anne’s parents have been defanged, after Jean-Michel has returned to the womb of his family and after the Cagelles have pirouetted their last pirouette – the stage is left to Moses and Jivoff.

With a big moon shining down on a tender kiss, they face that moon, each professing the kind of love that a father and mother have for each other, no matter what their gender may say.

"La Cage Aux Folles" runs through Dec. 23 and information on tickets and showtimes is available here.

Production Credits: Director and Choreographer, John de los Santos; Music Director, Shari Rhoades; Scenic Designer, Liliana Duque Pinero; Costume Designer, Chris March, Lighting Designer, Noele Stollmack; Sound designer, Zack Berinstein; Stage Manager, Daniel J Hanson.

Notable

• Jivoff, who is the interim artistic director at Skylight, proves once again that he is one of the most exciting comedic actors, singers and dancers in the city. He understands the breadth of physical comedy, but what sets him apart is his clear understanding of nuanced comedy as well, the little things – a scoff here, a sidelong glance there, a raised eyebrow. Dressed in black as he mourns the slings and arrows of life, you can’t help but be heartbroken through your delirious laughter.
• Moses, who is an actor of almost unparalleled skills, always amazes me when he breaks into song and/or dance. He’s got one of the most expressive voices on stages in this city and dances like he really means it. Moses oozes the same kind of smooth sophistication as the late Cary Grant. All that’s left is for him to walk down a flight of stairs as beautifully as the late actor.
• This season at Skylight is the final one that was programmed by Viswa Subbaraman, who resigned after last season. And "La Cage" may well be the first of three hard-to-get ticket shows. Next up is the "I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change," the second longest Off-Broadway musical in history. Then the season winds down with the Stephen Sondheim musical thriller "Sweeney Todd." Between those two will be the baroque opera, "Beauty and the Beast," which might turn out to be the kind of show that caused some of the Skylight board's dissatisfaction with Subbaraman.
• If there were minor quarrels I had with the production, they were only two. One was that there was some over-reliance on the huge production numbers. They didn't always advance the story and could have been trimmed. I thought some of them were staged just to show off March's costume chops. The second is that I'd have loved to see Jivoff reprise "I Am What I Am" on a bare stage with the kind of sorrow he can bring. It was, instead, performed as a defiant scream at his world. It would have been a nice time for pathos.