Photo Coverage: Die Mommie Die! Benefit
By: Linda Lenzi Jun. 22, 2006
On Monday, June 19th, at 7:30 pm at The Hudson Theatre, over 650 guests were in attendance for a one-night-only staged reading of the Charles Busch cult classic play Die Mommie Die!, produced by The Actors' Fund of America. The event raised $65,000, and to celebrate, a cast party was held at etcetera etcetera.The reading, which raised over $65,000, starred playwright-actor Charles Busch as Angela Arden, Christopher Meloni (Detective Eliot Stabler on "Law & Order: SVU") as Tony Parker, Tony-nominated Jayne Houdyshell (Well) as Bootsie Carp, Jenn Harris (Silence! The Musical at last year's Fringe Festival) as Edith Sussman, Keith Nobbs (The Lion In Winter, the film Phone Booth) as Lance Sussman, and "Oz" veteran Tom Mardirosian (Wonderful Town and My Favorite Year), as Sol Sussman. Other cast members included Harry Bouvy, Bret Shuford, and Sam Turich. Carl Andress directed the production, which featured costumes by Michael Bottari and Ronald Case (who also designed Busch's gowns in the film version, as well as those in the original stage play).Busch returned to the role he premiered in Los Angeles in 1999, playing fallen pop diva Angela Arden who, trapped in a loveless marriage and anxious to be with her ne'er-do-well young lover (Meloni), plots to murder her husband. Busch also starred in the film version of the play, for which he won a 2003 Sundance Film Festival award for best performance.
The evening benefited The Actors' Fund of America, a nationwide human services organization that helps all professionals – both performers and those behind the scenes – in performing arts and entertainment. Visit www.actorsfund.org for more information.
Christopher Meloni (Tony Parker) and Charles Busch (Angela Arden)
Christopher Meloni, Charles Busch and Carl Andress (Director)
Carl Andress and Charles Busch
Christopher Meloni, Carl Andress, Charles Busch, Mario Cantone and Julie Halston
Carl Andress, Charles Busch, Keith Nobbs (Lance Sussman) and Victor Garber
Christopher Meloni and his wife Sherman
Christopher Meloni and Mario Cantone
Eric Meyer and Charles Busch
Victor Garber and Mario Cantone
Mario Cantone, Tom Mardirosian (Sol Sussman) and Victor Garber
Charles Busch and Jenn Harris (Edith Sussman)
Jenn Harris and Jayne Houdyshell (Bootsie Carp)
Julie Halston and Charles Busch
Jeffry Melnick, Julie Halston and Charles Busch
Carl Andress and Jeffry Melnick
Tom Mardirosian and Jenn Harris
Ronald Case (Costume Designer), Charles Busch and Michael Bottari (Costume Designer)
Tom Mardirosian, Julie Halston, Charles Busch, Bret Shuford and Carl Andress
Charles Busch and his sister Margaret
Scott Durkin, Charles Busch, Margaret and Nancy Balbirer
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