In DIE MOMMIE DIE, written by and starring female impersonatorCharles Busch, tongues aren't the only thing dipped in acid. Busch stars as Angela Arden, a role he created on both stage and screen, when L.A. Theatre Works records his camp send-up of '60s melodramas for broadcast on public radio, podcast and online streaming. Four performances take place May 17 through May 19 at UCLA's James Bridges Theater.
In Busch's over-the-top Greek tragedy on gay Hollywood steroids, ex-pop singer Angela wants to be free of her suffocating marriage to sleazy film producer Sol Sussman. What better way than poison? Distraught by their father's death and convinced of Angela's guilt, her kids plot to get the truth out of their mother using any means necessary.
Joining Busch on the LATW stage are
Mark Capri, recreating his role as
Tony Parker from the original cast;
Willie Garson (White Collar, Sex and the City) as Sol Sussman;
Jeffery Self(Search Party, Jeffery & Cole Casserole) as Lance Sussman; and
Ruth Williamson (White Christmas and La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway) as Bootsie - a role that Busch originally wrote for her, but which she has never previously had the chance to play.
Carl Andress directs.
DIE MOMMIE DIE premiered at the Coast Playhouse in Los Angeles in 1999, where the cast included Busch, Capri and Andress. Busch also wrote and starred in the film version, which earned him a "best performance" award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. The play made its off-Broadway debut at NYC's New World Stages in 2007, again starring Busch and Capri - but this time, with Andress in the director's chair. A 2017 revival by L.A.s
Celebration Theatre was chosen for inclusion in
Center Theatre Group's annual Block Party with
Celebration Theatre's ensemble cast.
Charles Busch is the author and star of such plays as The Divine Sister (recorded by L.A. Theatre Works in 2013), 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 (also recorded by LATW) ran for 777 performances on Broadway, garnering an the Outer Circle Critics
John Gassner Award and a Tony nomination for best play. In addition to DIE MOMMIE DIE, Busch wrote and starred in the film version of hisPsycho Beach Party. Mr. Busch received a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright. He 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. His many plays are published by Samuel French.
Each of the four performances of DIE MOMMIE DIE at UCLA's state-of-the-
Art James Bridges Theater will be recorded live in front of an audience for future radio broadcast, distribution on CD, digital download and online streaming. L.A. Theatre Works' syndicated radio theater series broadcasts weekly on public radio stations across the U.S. (locally, in Southern California, onKPFK 90.7 FM); can be heard daily in China and around the world on the Radio Beijing Network; can be downloaded as a podcast via iTunes and NPR One; and can be streamed on demand atwww.latw.org.
Performances of DIE MOMMIE DIE take place on Friday, May 17 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, May 18at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, May 19 at 4 p.m. The James Bridges Theater is located at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, 235 Charles E. Young Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90095. Tickets range from $15-$65. For more information and to purchase tickets, call (310) 827-0889 or go to
www.latw.org.
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