Breakaway Pop Hit: As covered by Gloria Gaynor, the song "I Am What I Am" became a disco hit that is still popular to this day.
Magnum Opus Dissonance: Harvey Fierstein told Jerry Herman that the show "Look Over There" was going to be the 11 o'clock number, however "I Am What I Am" became this while Harvey's predicted song is forgotten to the point that Jerry use to tease him when "Look Over There" was played.
Recursive Adaptation: Played with. Word of God is the musical is based off Jean Poiret's 1973 stage play and not the movie (due to the creative team only having the rights to the play and not its adaptations), though Jerry Herman admitted he was excited and inspired to compose the musical after watching the 1978 film.
What Could Have Been: It originally was conceived by a completely different creative team — aside from producer Allan Carr — as The Queen of Basin Street, which would have been set in New Orleans rather than St. Tropez. The executive producers fired that team and started from scratch! Originally hired director Mike Nichols would go on to Americanize the story as the 1996 film The Birdcage.
The Franco-Italian film trilogy (1978-1985).
Same Language Dub: Ugo Tognazzi had his role completely re-dubbed by Pierre Mondy (who had previously directed the first run of the stage play) because the producers feared his French wasn't good enough.note Although other sources claim that Tognazzi, fearing to be eclipsed by his more flamboyant co-star Michel Serrault, refused at the last moment to play in French as his contract provided for; which had the effect of destabilizing Serrault who didn't understand Italian. He's still dubbed in the sequels, but by different actors.note Michel Beaune in the second, and Serge Sauvion in the third.
