Last night I checked off an item on my bucket list: Seeing
Charles Busch live onstage in one of his original plays. For those of you who do not know him, he is legendary (in certain circles) for being a truly wonderful wit, playwright, satirist, and actress. He's been a major inspiration for me as an artist, and while I was lucky enough to catch his cabaret show at 54 Below a few months ago, I had yet to see him in one of his plays (plays that include
Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Psycho Beach Party, The Lady In Question, and
Die! Mommie, Die!) . Charles is famous for paying tribute to Hollywood epics of the past, and to the legendary ladies who starred in those classic films. I've admired his plays on their own merit, without ever having seen them performed, and been able to play in a few of them locally in Austin (always with the awareness that I wasn't doing "the real thing" as these were pieces written for a very specific group of people, their dynamics, their sensibilities, and their skills). Seeing one of these plays was something I feared I'd been too late in my arrival to New York to do, but I am happy to say that he is still putting up these irreverent, flashy, underground pieces of theatre that are equal parts camp and pathos. Tickets to
Cleopatra at the historic Greenwich Village gem,
Theatre For The New City, are worth grabbing while you can. When last I checked, the show had been extended due to very high sales, so if you want to see it, make haste.
You'll see some grand story telling, some really talented Broadway performers, and may even catch a star sighting (
Nick Adams was in the audience when I saw it last night) but most of all, you'll get the privilege of seeing Charles Busch shining as only he can.
