Charles Busch News

Baby Jane doesn't hold a crazy candle to the madness of Angela Arden in the Who Wants Cake? production, Die! Mommie! Die!, the insanely funny Charles Busch parody playing this spring at Ferndale's hot spot, The Ringwald Theatre. Die! Mommie! Die! opens Friday, May 14th and plays for an exclusive four week engagement ending on Monday, June 7th.

Baby Jane doesn't hold a crazy candle to the madness of Angela Arden in the Who Wants Cake? production, Die! Mommie! Die!, the insanely funny Charles Busch parody playing this spring at Ferndale's hot spot, The Ringwald Theatre. Die! Mommie! Die! opens Friday, May 14th and plays for an exclusive four week engagement ending on Monday, June 7th.

The ghosts who have taken up residence with The Production Company are a restless lot, filled with a crackling, questing vitality rarely found even among the living. As embodied with disquieting fierceness by Sara Lilly, David Ross Paterson, and Skip Pipo in COPENHAGEN, this endlessly fascinating play by Michael Frayn is directed with surgical exactitude by August Viveirto to a fever pitch. These spectral presences just won't stop haunting one another with their questions and revisions and caveats. Give them the courtesy of your full attention, and you'll find them taking possession of your own imagination as well, probably raising your blood pressure in the process. They prove themselves electrifying companions.

Lately, my favorite part of Broadway has been the extras - the bonuses - what happens when the shows are dark.

PREMIERES (Paulette Haupt, Artistic Director/Producer), in association with Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Founder & Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director), presents the special 4-week presentation of Inner Voices: Solo Musicals, with the premieres of two new one-act solo musicals: Mosaic with Book & Lyrics by Cheri Steinkellner and Music & Lyrics by Georgia Stitt, featuring Heidi Blickenstaff as Ruth, and Whida Peru: Resurrection Tangle with Book & Lyrics by David Simpatico and Music by Josh Schmidt, featuring Judith Blazer as Whida Peru.

Charlie Williams, Mr. Memphis, was crowned as winner of the 4th The Broadway Beauty Pageant held Monday evening at Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th St.). The popular event is the annual spring benefit for New York's Ali Forney Center, which houses homeless LGBT youth in New York City.

'TalkOut Mondays' (after the performance) continues April 26th with Chuck Wolfe (President & CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund) at the critically acclaimed hit show 'The Temperamentals' by Jon Marans at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street). Daryl Roth, Stacy Shane and Martian Entertainment are presenting the new American play.

Actress/ singer Michele Lee will appear in S.T.A.G.E. benefit's Original Cast on May 1 at the Luckman Theatre. Star of stage, screen and TV, Lee starred on Broadway with Robert Morse in How to Succeed in Businees Without Really Trying (1961-65) and then repeated the role of Rosemary on film in 1967, Bravo Giovanni in 1962, Seesaw in 1973, winning a Drama Desk Award as Best Actress and a Tony nomination as Best Actress in a Musical and in Charles Busch's comedy The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (2000-2002), receiving a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Play.

The winner for the year was Charlie Williams who rapped and danced his way to victory from this year's celebrity judges - Christine Ebersole, Charles Busch and Jackie Hoffman.

Primary Stages closed its celebratory 25th Anniversary Season by proudly announcing the naming of its School of Theater in honor of founding board members Marvin and Anne Einhorn last week on April 16. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the ceremony. The school will now be officially known as Primary Stages Marvin and Anne Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA). Twenty-five years after helping to found Primary Stages, Marvin and Anne Einhorn continue to serve the theater company and still report to duty each day at the Primary Stages office. They personify the renowned theater company's fierce and unwavering commitment to producing exciting work Off-Broadway.

The critically acclaimed, Olivier Award-winning production of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES opened Sunday, April 18 at the Longacre Theatre to RAVE reviews! Here's photos from the opening night red carpet!

'TalkOut Mondays' (after the performance) continues April 19th with David McReynolds (American historian and literary critic) & Matthew Scheck (cast member) at the critically acclaimed hit show 'The Temperamentals' by Jon Marans at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street). Daryl Roth, Stacy Shane and Martian Entertainment are presenting the new American play.

Broadway's fourth annual all-male beauty contest, The Broadway Beauty Pageant, will take place Monday, April 19th. Broadway star Tovah Feldshuh will host. The 2010 contestants are Wes Hart (Mr. West Side Story), Eddie Pendergraft (Mr. Wicked), Daniel Soto (Mr. Fela), Rickey Tripp (Mr. In The Heights) and Charlie Williams (Mr. Memphis).

The A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) Program and Young Conservatory present the world premiere production of Riot, celebrated Irish playwright Ursula Rani Sarma's hard-hitting play, in the newest commission from A.C.T.'s international partnership with Britain's Theatre Royal Bath. Directed by Young Conservatory Director Craig Slaight and featuring young actors from the A.C.T. M.F.A. Program and Young Conservatory, Riot follows the story of a young man who lands in a residency clinic for emotionally disturbed teens following an unexpected act of violence. Riot weaves Max's relationships with his fellow patients, his doctor, and his nurses into a moving portrait of the deep human need for connection. The show plays April 1-17, 2010, at Zeum Theater, located at Yerba Buena Gardens (Fourth and Howard streets). Tickets are $15.50-$20.50 and are available by calling A.C.T. Ticket Services at 415.749.2228 or online at www.act-sf.org.

The critically acclaimed hit show 'The Temperamentals' by Jon Marans, has a new block of tickets now on sale and beginning Monday, May 10th there will be a new performance schedule, with an addition of a Wednesday evening show at 8pm and no Saturday matinee.

'TalkOut Mondays' (after the performance) is honored to announce for May 3rd the guest will be Barney Frank at the critically acclaimed hit show 'The Temperamentals' by Jon Marans at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street).

The Civil War has ended, but conflict rages backstage at Ford's Theatre on the night of Lincoln's assassination. Playwright Charles Busch mixes fact with outlandish fiction in this unlikely comedy (yes, comedy!) set against the backdrop of one of the most dramatic events in our nation's history: Our Leading Lady.

Democratic Massachusetts representative Barney Frank will take part in a discussion after the performance of THE TEMPERMENTALS on May 3 at New World Stages,the New York Times reports.

GAYFEST NYC, Inc., (Bruce Robert Harris and Jack W. Batman, Producers), the country's premier producer of new LGBT-themed plays, will hold its Fourth Annual Festival, a five-week event filled with new theatre works spotlighting gay issues. This year, the Festival will include four fully-staged productions featuring professional actors, talk-backs with the authors of the Festival plays, appearances by celebrated members of the LGBT community, plus special events. All proceeds from GAYFEST NYC benefit the Harvey Milk High School. Performances are scheduled from May 6 - June 6, 2010 at the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex (312 West 36th Street). Casting will be announced in April.GAYFEST NYC, Inc., (Bruce Robert Harris and Jack W. Batman, Producers), the country's premier producer of new LGBT-themed plays, will hold its Fourth Annual Festival, a five-week event filled with new theatre works spotlighting gay issues. This year, the Festival will include four fully-staged productions featuring professional actors, talk-backs with the authors of the Festival plays, appearances by celebrated members of the LGBT community, plus special events. All proceeds from GAYFEST NYC benefit the Harvey Milk High School. Performances are scheduled from May 6 - June 6, 2010 at the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex (312 West 36th Street). Casting will be announced in April.

The ghosts who have taken up residence with The Production Company are a restless lot, filled with a crackling, questing vitality rarely found even among the living. As embodied with disquieting fierceness by Sara Lilly, David Ross Paterson, and Skip Pipo in COPENHAGEN, this endlessly fascinating play by Michael Frayn is directed with surgical exactitude by August Viveirto to a fever pitch. These spectral presences just won't stop haunting one another with their questions and revisions and caveats. Give them the courtesy of your full attention, and you'll find them taking possession of your own imagination as well, probably raising your blood pressure in the process. They prove themselves electrifying companions.