Meeting my favorite writer. Playwright/actor Charles Busch and me following a performance of his play The Divine Sister February 13, 2010 at Theater for the New City in New York.
Have you ever met your favorite writer, one you just wanted
to tell how much you loved their work, and they were just as wonderful as you
hoped they would be? And has said author
ever included a reference to your hometown in one of his works? For me, that
writer is actor/playwright Charles Busch.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Busch in February 2010 after a
performance of his play The Divine Sister, and I must say he was one of the
kindest people I’ve ever met. Also, he includes a reference to Scranton in a revised monologue from one of his first and most successful plays.
Now, if you’ve never heard of Charles Busch: first, tsk tsk
tsk; and, second, Charles Busch is one of the funniest and most talented
actor/playwrights who has ever graced the New York stage.
For nearly 35 years, Charles Busch has been a successful
playwright, actor, and staple of the New York City theater community. A theater major and graduate of Northwestern University, Charles Busch actually began to write his own plays out of necessity,
both to give himself great parts to play and casting himself as the leading
lady, magically channeling the ladies of the stage and screen he so admired all
his life—actresses from the stage (Eleanor Duse and Sarah Bernhardt) and screen
(Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Mae West) he had
admired since he was a young child.
In 1984 Charles Busch (with his talented group of friends including Julie Halston, Andy Halliday,
Theresa Marlowe, Kenneth Elliot, Arnie Kolodner, and the late Bobby Carey and Meghan Robinson)
formed his acting troupe Theater-in-Limbo (at the Limbo Lounge in the East Village), where he wrote and performed several
plays that led to Off-Broadway transfers.
Among Charles’s most successful plays is Vampire Lesbians of
Sodom, which ran for five years and remains one of the longest running
off-Broadway plays in theater history.
Charles’s other hit plays include: Psycho Beach Party (originally Gidget
Goes Psychotic); The Lady in Question (a tribute to Nazi war films of the 1940s);
the Christmas-themed Times Square Angel; and
2010’s The Divine Sister (a parody of every Hollywood film featuring
nuns), which ran for over eight months off-Broadway.
Charles is also a Tony nominee for his 2000 play The Tale of
the Allergist’s Wife, which ran for 777 performances on Broadway and
starred theater legends Linda Lavin, Michelle Lee and Tony Roberts. Charles
recently adapted his play for an upcoming film version, which is set to star
Bette Midler and Sharon Stone.
Charles adapted his play Die, Mommie, Die! (winning the 2003
Grand Jury Prize for Best Film Performance) and Psycho Beach Party (featuring
future Oscar nominee Amy Adams in only her second film appearance) into
successful feature films.
He is also the author of the 1993 semi-autobiographical
novel Whores of Lost Atlantis.
In 2017, Charles published the book Outrageous! Monologues and the Odd Scene - “a
collection that puts the spotlight on the hilarious
monologues and two-character scenes from his many plays that have kept
audiences in stitches for more than three decades. It is an invaluable resource
for actors seeking unique audition or competition material but can also be appreciated
by readers simply enjoying the work of a brilliant comic imagination." The book also features selections from previously unpublished plays, as well as insightful commentary on each of the monologues.
The Scranton reference occurs on page 37. It is featured in an expanded and revised monologue from Busch's first major success, 1984's Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. The play tells the story of two aging actresses battling over two centuries. The Scranton reference occurs in Act Two of the play, set in the 1920s. In the monologue, aspiring actress Renee Vain is not-so-delicately dumping her actor boyfriend King Carlisle in favor of one of the vampire lesbians, La Condesa.
RENEE:
Please go away, King. You don't understand. You can never understand. Our dreams are different. You started out as a scrawny little boy from Pennsylvania. You may have become a great big movie star, the idol of millions but you're still a hick from Scranton.
Charles Busch is currently starring in his new play The Confession of Lily Dare, playing a limited 24-performance run at the Theater for the New City in New York.
Copies of Charles Busch's Outrageous! Monologues and the Odd Scene are available for purchase exclusively from Dramatic Publishing; click here to purchase a copy.
Two films written by and starring Charles Busch—Die, Mommie, Die!, and Psycho Beach Party, as well as the excellent documentary The Lady in Question is Charles Busch --are available to borrow for the Lackawanna County Library System. Click on any of the three titles to place a
hold.
To see Charles Busch in his element, click here to watch an extended clip of his 2010 hit play The Divine Sister. You can also click here to watch an interview with Charles Busch.
