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People and performances in Arts and Entertainment. ■ September 8, 2010 A
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Local businessman Jeffrey Adair adjusts the robe he wears as a show girl in the opening act of “La Cage aux Folles” at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center.
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Warming up with fellow actors in a practice studio in Burlingame, Jeffrey Adair gets in shape for his return to show business. Mr. Adair worked as a dancer is Las Vegas for several years before opening his floral business 20 years ago.
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effrey Adair, successful businessman and longtime director of the Menlo School benefit, is back in show business. He’s appearing in the Broadway By the Bay production of “La Cage Aux Folles” Sept. 16 to Oct. 3 at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center. Mr. Adair was a professional dancer/ singer before he opened J Floral Art 20 years ago. Now he’s kicking up his heels (literally) with a new generation. He plays the part of Mercedes, one of the “Cagelles” (chorus girls) in “La Cage Aux Folles,” which has
Showtime
Story by Jane Knoerle Almanac Lifestyles Editor
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Photos by Michelle Le
Jeffrey Adair returns to the stage in ‘La Cage Aux Folles’
been delighting audiences since it opened in 1983. The musical is based on a French play and subsequent film by the same name; later, an American film based on the story was made: “The Birdcage,” starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. Mercedes is one of 10 “Cagelle” girls in the story of Albin and Georges, two middle-aged gay lovers who run a transvestite nightclub in St. Tropez. The plot revolves primarily around the complications that develop when their son announces he is getting married to a woman — not only a
woman, but the daughter of a local morals crusader. Although Mr. Adair is a pro in show business, playing Mercedes is a first for him. He’s never done drag before, and will appear in multiple wigs and full makeup, including false eyelashes. The worst part of playing Mercedes, he says, is wearing high heels. After doing the can-can and tap dancing in high heels, he has only sympathy for his women friends. Continued on page 23
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Jeffrey Adair dons false eyelashes for his role as Mercedes, one of the dancers in the Broadway by the Bay production of “La Cage aux Folles.” Photo by Michelle Le The Almanac.
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