It seems as if sooner or later, every male performer wants to try drag.

From Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in "Some Like It Hot" to Dustin Hoffman in "Tootsie," from Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in "Bosom Buddies" to the unfortunate duo starring in the new TV show "Work It" (which my colleague Gail Pennington summarizes as "stupid, crude, and insulting," so there!) the list goes on and on. Inherently comic and totally theatrical, drag brings out the actress in an actor, an irresistible lure.

If you want to see why for yourself, catch Christopher Sieber's divine performance at the Fox in "La Cage Aux Folles."

Playing Albin, the drag performer who stars at a club on the French Riviera, Sieber is sensational. In his big transformation in Act I, "A Little More Mascara," he changes not from a man to a woman but from a dowdy, crabby housewife to the alluring entertainer Zaza — and sets the tone for the farce all by himself.

"We are what we are/ And what we are is an illusion," sing Zaza's chorus, the Cagelles (played by six talented, beautiful and lavishly costumed dancers). Siebert pushes that idea about as far as it can go, laughing all the way and taking us along for the wild ride.

Albin has spent his life as mother to Jean-Michel (Billy Harrigan Tighe), the biological son of his husband, Georges (George Hamilton, suave as ever). Now Jean-Michel is engaged to the daughter of a homophobic politician (Bruce Winant, who's a riot) and begs his parents to help him create the illusion of a "normal" family. They even enlist the help of their flamboyant butler Jacob (Jeigh Madjus), who looks Asian but sometimes likes to sound black (race drag?).

When Albin comes up with his own solution to the family-by-illusion, it's comic — and yet, like most good jokes, fundamentally truthful.

You probably already know this show, which started as a French play by Jean Poirot, turned into a hit French movie, evolved into "The Birdcage" with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams and has triumphed on Broadway as a glossy Jerry Herman musical. (The book is by Harvey Fierstein, who played Albin on Broadway opposite Sieber's Georges.)

Herman is best known as the creator of "big lady shows" like "Hello, Dolly!" and "Mame."

Thanks to Sieber's physically extravagant, emotionally generous portrayal of Albin/Zaza, "La Cage" presents the biggest lady of all.

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‘La Cage Aux Folles'

When Through Jan. 15 • Where • Fox Theatre, 527 North Grand Boulevard • How much $15-$70 • More info 314-534-1111; fabulousfox.com