Director Watch Podcast Ep. 87 – ‘The Birdcage’ (Mike Nichols, 1996)

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 87 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by our Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson to discuss the next film in their Mike Nichols series, The Birdcage (1996).

For the better part of two decades, Mike Nichols was chasing the idea of directing some version of the iconic play, La Cage aux Folles. Nichols called the play “one of the greatest comedy structures” of all time, and knew he to be involved with it somehow. So in the mid-1990s, he was able to convince the studios and producers to let him make an American remake of the play and have his longtime, iconic stage collaborator, Elaine May, to write the script; and thus The Birdcage was born. Centering around a gay Miami couple whose son is set to marry the daughter of a conservative U.S. senator, The Birdcage is a groundbreaking, iconic comedy that remains hilarious and timely to this day thanks to the incredible ensemble cast, May’s sharp script, and Nichols steady direction bringing it all together. Ryan, Jay, and Erik discuss their thoughts on the film, what their favorite performance is in the movie, how Nichols was able to wrangle Robin Williams’ persona in, the dozens of iconic lines, the entire third act of the film, and tangents, tangents, tangents.

You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

This podcast runs 1h55m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Mike Nichols with a review of his next film, Primary Colors. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro)

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Ryan McQuade

Ryan McQuade is the AwardsWatch Executive Editor and a film-obsessed writer in San Antonio, Texas. Raised on musicals, westerns, and James Bond, his taste in cinema is extremely versatile. He’s extremely fond of independent releases and director’s passion projects. Engrossed with all things Oscars, he hosts the AwardsWatch Podcast. He also is co-host of the Director Watch podcast. When he’s not watching movies, he’s rooting on all his favorite sports teams, including his beloved Texas Longhorns. You can follow him on Twitter at @ryanmcquade77.

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