Charles Busch's CLEOPATRA

[macnyc]

Has anyone seen this yet at Theater for the New City? I have tickets for next weekend, and I'm really excited. Two people on Show-Score.com have given it a 100% rating. The run is sold out, but tickets are being released about 72 hours ahead of the performance. I noticed that there are seats for this Saturday, both shows.

 

Here's the link if you're interested:

 

http://tix.smarttix.com/Modules/Sales/SalesMainTabsPage.aspx?ControlState=1&DiscountCode=&SalesEventId=5021&DC=

 

[PalJoey]

They just released some tickets for the 2 PM and 8 PM shows on Saturday.

[WhizzerMarvin]

I'm going next week and can't wait! 

[rosscoe(au)]

Any one catch this yet? 

[LightsOut90]

i loved this, brilliantly campy hope it comes back for a longer run in the future.

 

[Huss417]

Going this weekend. Have been looking forward to this.:)

[WhizzerMarvin]

I was there tonight and had a ball. Busch is hysterical and gets the most out of every gown, wig and zinger he has written. He is a treasure and so is his Cleopatra. 

 

At the curtain he gave a very sweet speech about Theater for the New City, saying that whenever he begins to doubt himself he comes back there to put on a play for a very kooky reason: just for fun! This ain't a workshop...this is the real thing! 

 

This world can be a crummy place sometimes; thank god we have people like Busch who bring a little joy into our lives. 

 

The supporting cast is great, especially Tony Sheldon and Jen Cody. 

 

I'm walking on air and can't wait for the next one! 

 

PS Bette Midler was sitting two rows in front of me!

[PalJoey]

 

Charles Busch is one of those things that keeps New York alive.

I'm so glad you saw it, Whizzer. Was it your first?

 

[WhizzerMarvin]

No, I saw (and loved) The Divine Sister and Judith of Bethulia. Wish I could have seen Die, Mommie, Die! live instead of just the film. 

 

What have been some of your favorite Busch roles/plays? 

[newintown]

I'm with Whizzer - Charles Busch is a NYC theatre treasure. I've been going to see his shows ever since Pardon My Inquisition, or Kiss The Blood Off My Castanets played the old Limbo Lounge back in the 80s.

Cleopatra, like Judith of Bethulia, is classic-Busch, bringing his own unique synthesis of himself foremost and Mae West/Paulette Goddard/Tallulah Bankhead to an epic, Bernhardt-style narrative. It's lots of fun, and Jen Cody, Andy Halliday, Ashley Austin Morris, and particularly Tony Sheldon provide skilled comic support to Busch's star turn.

Whizzer, you ask about favorite Busch roles; I've loved watching him as he progresses through a terrific career. The Tribute Artist was great; but I'll never forget the maniacal comic energy of Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, The Lady in Question (Meghan Robinson's climb up the stairs could be one of the funniest pieces of physical comedy I've ever seen), and Psycho Beach Party (maybe my favorite of all).

[WhizzerMarvin]

Thanks for the response and I'm so jealous you saw all of these plays! Have you ever seen any of them in revival without Busch in the starring role? Do you think they would hold up with a different actor, or are they so tailored to his sensibilities that they would collapse without him?

 

I think back to last night and the joke where Calpurina confronts Cleopatra over sleeping with her husband and Busch surveys the stage, looks out at the audience and says, "I love what you've done with the place," only to start sneering and twitching his face as if he were smelling rotten fish and someone threw acid in his eye. Could anyone else pull that off half as well?

 

I also love, "Oh Antony! You're so...butch. I bet you couldn't tell Lamé from burlap."

[macnyc]

Glad you enjoyed the show, Whizzer! 

 

I am wondering, what time should I get there Saturday night for the 8 p.m. show? I want to get good seats. Also, I assume there will be a line. If I get there early and get on line, can my friend join me later? (I already have our tickets.) Thanks for any advice!

[WhizzerMarvin]

There was a line and the space is small. I was with two other friends and we wanted to make sure the three of us would be able to sit together. We got there at 7:15, which may have been a tad overkill, but it wasn't that much long after the line really got long.

[nasty_khakis]

I've seen Cleopatra twice (also having seeing Judith, Divine Sister, Die Mommie Die!, and The Tribute Artist, as well as other plays without him in them) and it's absolutely a gem. It's classic Busch giving us what we want to hear and see. The entire cast shines and supports in their own ways.

Whizzer, my favorite line was the reaction to the soothsayer at the beginning, "Well, that's what makes it camp!" I also commented to my friend that the closing line of this play is probably his greatest closing line. I won't share it because I honestly don't want to spoil it, but it downright slayed me.

Having seen Busch a number of times, that touching curtain speech is always word-for-word the same, down to stuttering over certain words. I love that he just wants to say the exact right thing, thanking the theatre, making it personal by grabbing Julie's (or in this case Andy's) hand, and making us laugh when asking for donations. 

He is a true New York treasure and if this production returns as rumored, I'll be seeing it twice more. 

I think most of the "downtown" Busch plays work with another actor/actress in the lead. No one plays it like Charles, but they're still out-and-out funny. I'd love to see Jinkx Monsoon do 2 or 3 in rep somewhere for a few months. Maybe Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Psycho Beach Party, and Theodora, She-Bitch of Byzantium?

[PalJoey]

I also used to see him back at the Limbo Lounge. I lived around the corner and was there frequently. A friend was Julie Halston's roommate and we used to go there to see her (before she was a Broadway star) in Charles's "Theodora, She-Bitch of Byzantium"--my favorite Charles Busch title ever. As much as I liked Vampire Lesbians (who didn't?), I thought Theodora was genius. Times Square Angel was also a favorite.

I also remember going with a large group of friends to the American Place Theater for a Broadway Cares benefit in which Charles played Auntie Mame in a staged reading of the play, with Peggy Cass--the original Gooch, as Gooch!--as well as John Davidson, Barbara Feldon, Marcia Lewis, Maxwell Caulfield and Juliet Mills and Harvey Evans!

And then there was a beautiful musical he wrote with the late Rusty Magee called The Green Heart, which starred Rusty's wife Alison Fraser.

So many others...midnight shows of Gidget Goes Psychotic at Limbo after they did Vampire Lesbians off Broadway--and then he expanded it into Psycho Beach Party. And then The Lady in Question, in which he really seemed to take on the mantle of the other Charles, whom we lost to AIDS: Charles Ludlum.

And, if you haven't read it, his novel, Whores of the Lost Atlantis, really captures the spirit of those Limbo years.

 

[newintown]

"Have you ever seen any of them in revival without Busch in the starring role?"

I saw David Drake as the 1st replacement in the original Vampire Lesbians and he was, of course, terrific. I've seen regional productions of Psycho Beach Party and Red Scare on Sunset with women in Busch's roles, and they were not close to competent.

[PalJoey]

David Drake was fabulous in Vampire Lesbians!

 

http://daviddrakeproductions.com/#/gllry-vls/4532459188

[songanddanceman2]

Love this man, he was so lovely to us when my company produced the UK premieres of Psycho Beach Party and Die, Mommie, Die! He even sent us copies of all his past shows on DVD. I did a great interview with him a few years back

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interviews-TonyNominated-Charles-Busch-20110122

 

[Relevance81491]

Had a really weird experience yesterday trying to buy tickets to this show. I happened to check the website and see a date that was not listed as Sold Out. When it wouldent let me buy tickets online, I called SmartTix. The operator couldn't understand why he couldn't make it work either and did his best to help. 

As a last ditch effort, I called Theatre For a New City directly to see WTH was going on   When a woman answered the phone she said hello..... Who is this???"  I said I was looking for tickets and she told me to "hang on"   When she came back to the phone, she said she had availability for dates that were listed as Sold Out online (Tonight, Friday, Saturday...)

anyway, I decided to purchase one for this weekend. I was hoping to get some sort of a confirmation number before I hung up, but the woman said she couldn't give me one. I asked about an email and she said fine...  I'm still waiting for the email to arrive 

 

long story short, TFNC seems to have better availability if you call them directly 

[CurtainsUpat8]

I've been a huge fan of Charles Busch for decades. I didn't see him at the Limbo but I started seeing his shows right after he left the Limbo when Vampire Lesbians went off Broadway. It played at that little theatre near Washington Sq Park that NYU owns now.  I think the best I have seen was the original production of The Lady In Question when it was at the old WPA theatre in Chelsea. 23rd Street I think. It was just amazing. Over the years he has had some hits and misses.  In all honestly I'd have to put Cleopatra in the middle somewhere. I liked both Die Mommy Die and Divine Sister better.
Cleopatra was a bit unfocused and for the first time I wasn't taken by Carl Andress's direction. I thought Tony Sheldon was the best thing in it. He was so great. Followed by Jennifer Cody and Ashley Austin Morris who both were funny and brought a lot of young energy to the show. Special mention to Andy Halliday as the soothsayer. So good to see him back with Charles and he was as funny as ever.  I love Charles Busch, I really do... but he plays better a little farther back. He's not 25 anymore, (and neither am I). The trouble is Cleopatra is supposed to be young.  The two weak links were Joe Zaso and Lawrence Bullock.
I didn't laugh non stop like I have at several of his past shows. I would still recommend it, that's for sure.

But I agree with everyone.. he is a treasure. 

[PalJoey]

 

The trouble is Cleopatra is supposed to be young.

I think you missed a rather heaping serving of irony and a double dose of camp..

 

[CurtainsUpat8]

I think you missed a rather heaping serving of irony and a double dose of camp..


I don't think I missed anything. I get it.