Show notes
Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Charles Busch, Award-Winning Playwright and Drag Performer, Author, “Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy”
About Harvey's guest:
Today’s guest, Charles Busch, occupies a unique and highly acclaimed place in the world of entertainment.
He’s a playwright, actor, director, novelist, cabaret performer and drag legend, whose characters evoke the great cinematic actresses of the golden age of Hollywood. As a young man, his ambition was to have his own theatrical troupe, and write camp, movie-inspired comedies in which he could play the leading lady in drag. and that he did.
He’s written and starred in over 25 plays including “The Divine Sister”, “The Lady in Question”, “Red Scare on Sunset”, “The Tribute Artist”, “The Confession of Lily Dare”, and one of my all time favourites, “Pardon my Inquisition or Kiss the Blood Off my Castanets”, starring our guest in the dual roles of the tempestuous spitfire prostitute Maria Garbanzo and her look-alike, the tragic noblewoman the Marquesa del Drago. And I can’t resist mentioning his hilariously camp and heartwarming classic Christmas show, “Times Square Angel”, which has been performed annually for over 30 years.
But there can be no question that in the world of theatre, our guest is best known for 2 of his hit plays: “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom”, which is one of the longest running plays in the history of Off-Broadway; and his smash long-running Broadway hit, “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife”, which earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Play, and won our guest the Outer Circle Critics’ Award for playwrighting.
He also wrote and starred in the film versions of his plays, “Psycho Beach Party” and “Die Mommie Die”, which won him the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
He also directed the film, “A Very Serious Person” starring Polly Bergen, which won an honorable mention at the Tribeca Film Festival.
On television, for two seasons, he appeared as “Nat Ginzburg” on the highly acclaimed HBO series “OZ”. He’s a well-respected expert in film and theatre history, and he’s appeared as a guest programmer and in numerous documentaries for Turner Classic Movies, and he’s lectured and conducted master classes at many colleges and universities throughout America.
He's a 2-time MAC award winner, and in 2003, he received a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright. He also received the Flora Roberts Award for Sustained Achievement in the Theatre by the Dramatists’ Guild. He is also the subject of the acclaimed documentary film “The Lady in Question is Charles Busch”. And his CD, “Charles Busch Live at Feinstein’s 54 Below”, is one of the best cabaret albums out there - an absolute joy from beginning to end.
As an author, he wrote an auto-biographical novel in 1995 entitled, “Whores of Lost Atlantis”. And now, finally, he’s released his captivating, witty, insightful and poignant memoir entitled, “Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy”, in which he recounts a life as a trailblazer, lived with authenticity and purpose.
For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/
To see more about Charles Busch, go to:
https://www.charlesbusch.com/
https://www.facebook.com/charlesbusch.page
https://www.instagram.com/chasbusch/
#CharlesBusch #harveybrownstoneinterviews
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