12 Days of Christmas with Charles Busch: Day 8- Brenda Lee Rocks 'Round the Tree
By: Charles Busch Dec. 21, 2017
Deck the halls, trim the tree, and spin the dreidel. BroadwayWorld is continuing our tradition of celebrating the holiday season with a Twelve Days of Christmas countdown. This year we've invited the great Charles Busch to share his favorite holiday performances. Check back daily to get in the holiday spirit in time for December 25 and to find out what else made his list!
Among my strange jobs during my struggling years in the seventies was managing a memorabilia shop in Chicago. My boss closely resembled W. C Fields if he was a leather Daddy. He insisted that I play a tape of pop holiday songs non-stop from Thanksgiving through New Years. Eight hours a day, six days a week, I was inundated with the Chipmunks singing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and every obnoxious Christmas novelty song. I nearly lost my mind. However, one song that never irritated me was Brenda Lee singing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."
Busch is the author and star of such plays as The Divine Sister, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, which ran five years and is one of the longest running plays in Off-Broadway history. His play The Tale of the Allergist's Wife ran for 777 performances on Broadway and won Mr. Busch the Outer Circle Critics John Gassner Award and received a Tony nomination for Best Play. He 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. In 2003, Mr. Busch received a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright. Mr. Busch made his directorial debut with the film A Very Serious Person, which premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won an honorable mention. He is also the subject of the documentary film The Lady in Question is Charles Busch.
For more information, visit: http://www.charlesbusch.com
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