About The Movie

Info Thanks to IMDB and Wikipedia

Also Known As: Birds of a Feather
Director: Mike Nichols
Release Date: March 8, 1996
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Music
Running time 117 min
Tagline: Come as you are.
Plot Outline: A gay cabaret owner and his drag queen companion agree to put up a false straight front so that their son can introduce them to his fiancé's right-wing moralistic parents.

Cast

Robin Williams as Armand Goldman
Nathan Lane as Albert Goldman
Gene Hackman as Sen. Kevin Keeley
Dianne Wiest as Louise Keeley
Dan Futterman as Val Goldman
Calista Flockhart as Barbara Keeley
Hank Azaria as Agador/ Agador Spartacus
Christine Baranski as Katherine Archer

Movie Trivia

The original working title of the film was "Birds of a Feather" and the first drafts of the script still bear this title.

Robin Williams was originally cast as Albert, but he wanted a change from flamboyant characters, and asked to be cast as Armand. Mike Nichols agreed, and re-cast him.

Hank Azaria realized after filming that he had actually based his voice on his grandmother's.

Mike Nichols required that Nathan Lane and Robin Williams filmed at least one good take of each scene sticking to the script before he would allow them to improvise (something both of the two actors are known for)

Agador Spartacus is based upon Hank Azaria's grandmother

Hank Azaria created two different voices for the character of Agador Spartacus, one being somewhat of a more masculine voice and the other one being higher pitched. He was worried about the second one being too stereotypical until he asked a gay friend of his, who thought it was more realistic.

In his guise as "Mother", Albert tells the Senator that "she" grew up in "Grovers Corners". Grovers Corners is the fictional, idyllic small town in Thornton Wilder's famous stage play "Our Town."



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