Hamilton contains big personality to play 'straight' man in 'La Cage'

Seeing George Hamilton as Georges in "La Cage aux Folles" at the Straz may defy expectations.

Not to brag, but I had breakfast with George Hamilton the other day.

For anyone who's seen the film "Love at First Bite," in which he portrayed a dapper Dracula/black chicken, this image might cause some concern.

Take heart; there was no Bloody Mary mix at this table. Hamilton ordered scrambled eggs and an English muffin from his hotel room in Washington, D.C., and I happened to be on the other line. So I only sort of enjoyed breakfast with the man who's known for his perpetual tan, brilliant-white smile and tremendous range as a performer.

Currently, he's starring as Georges in the national tour production of "La Cage aux Folles," which opens Tuesday at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. Seeing him in this role may defy expectations, especially if those expectations include madcap hilarity, as seen in "Zorro: The Gay Blade." He plays the straight man this time – gay, yes; comedian, no.

"There are a lot of times when my mad sense of humor wants to do something outrageous," Hamilton said. "I realize that's not my job in this [show]."

Georges owns a drag nightclub in St. Tropez, where his flamboyant partner, Albin, is the star. Their heterosexual son, Jean-Michel, comes home and tells them that he's engaged to be married. Since his fiancée's parents are ultra-conservative, Jean-Michel asks Georges to keep Albin away while Anne's family visits. For the sake of appearances, he also asks Georges to bring his birth mother, Sybil, onto the scene. When Albin finds out about the plan, he storms off. Then Sybil fails to show. Albin returns just in time to throw on a dress and pretend he has a uterus. His identity is eventually revealed, causing Anne's parents to freak out. In the end, love and reputations prevail.

As Georges, Hamilton acts as the calm voice of reason. He doesn't even get to wear pearls. But restraining his sense of humor is just one of many challenges that Hamilton is only too happy to face.

"Every four or five years, I always choose something that's really difficult to do, whether that's a dance contest or a program where you live in the wilderness. You're defined by what you take on and bump up against. I was finding that I was living a very flotsam-and-jetsam life. I thought, 'You'd better do something that gets your chops back,'" Hamilton said.

He accepted an offer to take over for Kelsey Grammer in the 2010 Broadway revival. But instead of staying on Broadway, "La Cage" took to the road. Hamilton went with it.

Along with traveling across the country and completing a long string of performances—something Hamilton said he hasn't done in 30 years—he's had to adapt to advances in the industry. Instead of projecting, which was once de rigueur for stage actors, he's now mindful of a highly sensitive microphone. He's balanced learning dialogue with realizing the subtleties of his character. And if that weren't enough, he tore his Achilles tendon during rehearsals.

Hamilton said he feels like he's back in school, but he embraces the newness. There's just one problem: "I don't get the laughs and they don't let me steal them."

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 8 p.m. Feb. 24, 2 and 8 p.m. Feb. 25, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26

Where: David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, Morsani Hall, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa; (813) 229-7827 or www.strazcenter.org

Tickets: $47.50-$79.50