The Birdcage: A Hilarious South Beach Comedy Starring Robin Williams & Nathan Lane

‍The opening shot of "The Birdcage" is pure Miami poetry. Films set in great cities love establishing shots—the Vegas Strip, the Manhattan skyline, the Eiffel Tower—but this one does something different. The camera flies low over the dark Atlantic Ocean, skims the surf, and glides straight into the glowing Art Deco neon of South Beach. At the time, it felt revelatory. South Beach had never quite been captured like this before: sultry, alive, unapologetically itself.

Released in March 1996, The Birdcage is a remake of the 1978 French film La Cage aux Folles, directed by Mike Nichols. The story centers on the impending marriage of Val Goldman (Dan Futterman) and Barbara Keeley (Calista Flockhart), and the cultural collision that follows when their wildly different families agree to meet.

Family, Facades, and Fabulous Chaos

Val’s father, Armand Goldman (Robin Williams), owns a celebrated South Beach drag nightclub called the Birdcage. His partner, Albert (Nathan Lane), is the club’s star performer, known onstage as Starina. Rounding out their unconventional household is Agador (Hank Azaria), the perpetually overwrought housekeeper whose attempts at “masculinity” become legendary.

Barbara’s parents could not be more different. Senator Kevin Keeley (Gene Hackman) is an ultra-conservative Ohio politician in the middle of a moral scandal, accompanied by his tightly wound wife, Louise (Dianne Wiest). To protect the engagement—and the senator’s image—Val asks his fathers to do the unthinkable: temporarily erase who they are.

The film walks a fine line between “quintessential” and “stereotypical,” and it was criticized and praised for exactly that reason upon release. Yet those exaggerated archetypes are the engine of the comedy. They’re instantly recognizable, freeing the audience to laugh without needing moral footnotes. The industry seemed to agree—The Birdcage earned nominations from GLAAD, the Academy Awards, and won Best Ensemble from the Screen Actors Guild.

South Beach as a Character

Beyond the performances, South Beach itself is a starring character. Much of the film is set in Armand and Albert’s apartment above the Birdcage, filmed at the Carlyle Hotel, 1250 Ocean Drive. Unlike films that merely pretend to be Miami, this one is unmistakably real, packed with exterior shots that ground the story in place.

Early scenes introduce Miami references almost casually. Agador dances in a red wig to Gloria Estefan, a wink to local culture. He later describes himself as a “combination of Lucy and Ricky,” a sly nod to Desi Arnaz, the Cuban-American icon closely tied to Miami Beach history.

One memorable exchange has Barbara describing Val’s family as cultured and diplomatic, claiming Armand is a cultural attaché to Greece and that they live at their “vacation house in South Beach.” Her mother asks, “Is that like Palm Beach?” The answer—“It’s about two minutes from Fisher Island, where Jeb Bush lives”—perfectly captures how South Beach was perceived in the mid-1990s.

Beaches, Thongs, and Changing Times

Some of the most striking scenes unfold outdoors. Armand and Albert sit beneath umbrellas on the beach, surrounded by bronzed bodies, framed by one of Bill Lane’s iconic lifeguard stands. That particular pink stand—once common—now survives near 10th Street, close to the Art Deco Museum.

Ocean Drive in 1996 is practically a character of its own, awash in day-glo thongs and rollerblading bodies. The film returns to this imagery repeatedly, unintentionally creating a time capsule. Today, that look has largely vanished, replaced by a more polished mix of tourists, locals, and fitness culture. Like Las Vegas, South Beach lost some of its kitsch as it gained mass appeal.

When Albert spirals into one of his signature hysterics, the pair duck into what was then the Leslie Hotel, another reminder of how much the strip has changed. One of the film’s final Miami shots places Armand and Albert at an Art Deco bus stop with Biscayne Bay and the Miami skyline behind them—quiet, elegant, and unmistakably local.

Laughter With a Point

At its core, The Birdcage is about people contorting themselves to meet expectations—and the absurdity of doing so. The clash between flamboyant honesty and rigid conservatism builds to a dinner scene that’s as uncomfortable as it is hilarious. The disguises unravel, the lies collapse, and the film lands on something warmer than satire: acceptance.

Even after repeat viewings, the dialogue still lands. The performances—especially Nathan Lane’s fearless physical comedy—hold up beautifully. This isn’t just a comedy of jokes; it’s a comedy of identity, place, and family, wrapped in Miami heat.

In Search of the Birdcage

Years after the film’s release, the real-world Birdcage still sends people searching. Many assume it was filmed at the Palace Bar (1200 Ocean Drive), which sits on the same block as the Carlyle. Longtime locals and staff will tell you otherwise—but they’ll also tell you why the confusion makes sense.

The Palace has been a cornerstone of South Beach’s gay community for decades, helping anchor the neighborhood’s cultural identity as it shifted south from 23rd Street toward 13th Street. Drag shows remain part of its DNA, much as they were when The Birdcage captured a moment of transformation.

Back in the mid-1990s, South Beach was still clawing its way out of the decay of the ’70s and ’80s. The Clevelander, News Café, and Palace were among the few constants. What followed was a renaissance—first bohemian, then commercial, now something else entirely.

The film preserves that earlier era, when South Beach felt louder, prouder, and less polished. Not better or worse—just different.‍

Editor’s Note: Originally published on November 30, 2007. Updated in 2026 with new photography; with Brad A. Schenck’s original perspective preserved.