Charles Busch to Join STAGE FRIGHT at Red Eye NY in April

Stage Fright, hosted by OUT 100's Marti Gould Cummings with Drama Desk-nominee Yaz Fukuoka on the keys, will welcome actor, playwright, performer, drag legend, and member of New York's Theater Hall of Fame Charles Busch on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.

For over five decades, Busch has forged a unique place in the world of entertainment. He is the author and star of over 25 plays including The Divine Sister, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset, The Tribute Artist, and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom; one of the longest running plays in the history of Off-Broadway. His play The Tale of the Allergist's Wife ran for 777 performances on Broadway, won the Outer Circle Critics' John L. Gassner Award for playwriting, received a Tony nomination for Best Play, and is the longest running Broadway comedy of the past 25 years.

The native New Yorker wrote and starred in the film versions of his plays, Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommie Die, the latter of which won him the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Busch has directed two films including A Very Serious Person, which won an honorable mention at the Tribeca Film Festival. His most recent film is the comedy caper The Sixth Reel with Julie Halston, Margaret Cho and Tim Daley. In 2003, Busch received a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright and was given a star on the Playwrights Walk outside the Lucille Lortel Theatre. He is also the subject of the documentary film The Lady in Question is Charles Busch.

A two-time MAC award winner, a Bistro Award Honoree, Busch has performed his cabaret act in cities around the world. In 2016, his show The Lady at the Mic premiered at Jazz at Lincoln Center's American Songbook series. ​

His autobiography "Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy" was published by BenBella Books.

"Stage Fright" is a weekly Broadway talk show where a Hell's Kitchen crowd gets up close and personal with the hottest stars of the New York City theater scene. This month Marti has welcomed Stephen Trask and Our Lady J, Cat Cohen, and next week Orville Peck, who is currently starring in Cabaret, will make a very special appearance.

Host Marti Gould Cummings is a NYC Drag staple. Marti has been featured in Vogue, W Magazine, Paper Magazine, Time OUT NY, The NY Times, among others as well as on Good Morning America, The View, and Inside Edition. They produced and starred in the number one-rated Fusion Television Docuseries Shade Queens of NYC, hosted their own talk show, The Marti Report on Logo, Worst Cooks in America, Hulu's Drag Me to Dinner, The X Change Rate, and Dragged for Yahoo! Marti has appeared in ad campaigns for COACH, McDonalds, Brooklyn Brewery, and Steve Madden. They currently serve as a performer and cruise director for Vacaya LGBTQ Travel.