THEATER
Parody Master
Charles Busch stills delight with humor, heart & whores
BY DAVID KENNERLEY
Charles Busch is a living
legend with talent oozing
from every pore. For decades
the multi-hyphenate
artist (playwright-actor-cabaret
performer-director-teacher-novelist
drag doyenne) has been a beloved
fixture in New York theater,
not to mention a queer icon.
Obsessed with campy, overwrought
1930s movies featuring
tough-as-nails broads, Busch
has written and starred in more
than 25 parody-rich plays such
as “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom,”
“Psycho Beach Party,” “Red Scare
on Sunset,” and “The Divine Sister.”
And he shows no signs of
slowing down.
There aren’t many 65-year-old
men who would hazard the role of
a naïve teen girl and knock it out
of the park. But that’s exactly what
Busch does — and then some —
in his latest cockamamie confection,
“The Confession of Lily Dare,”
courtesy of Primary Stages.
Inspired by tawdry weepies like
“Madame X” and “Frisco Jenny,”
the convoluted plot is vintage
Busch. Set in San Francisco in the
early 20th century, it traces the
rise and fall of one Lily Dare (played
by Busch, natch), an orphan full of
pluck and vinegar who catapults
from convent schoolgirl to cabaret
chanteuse to hardened jailbird to
whorehouse impresario.
The wry melodrama is framed
by scenes of Lily’s longtime confidantes
— her pansy piano player,
Mickey (Kendal Sparks), and
Emmy Lou (Nancy Anderson), a
former prostitute — who stand
➤ WE DANCED, from p.23
when he is in love. He is engulfed
and happy. He never backs down
when confronted; he stands up
for himself. He is never a victim. I
wanted to show that.”
Gelbakhiani is tremendous in
the lead role, capturing the flush
of emotions — from happiness to
anxiety — that come from first
Jennifer Van Dyke, Christopher Borg, and Charles Busch in Busch’s “The Confession of Lily Dare,”
directed by Carl Andress, at the Cherry Lane through March 5.
at Lily’s graveside recalling the
events. In flashback we witness
how the 1906 earthquake shatters
Lily’s world, killing her fiancé and
her Aunt Rosalie. Later, Lily lands
in the clink after being doublecrossed
by Blackie Lambert (Howard
McGillin), a filthy rich cad who
gets his comeuppance by losing everything
in the stock market crash
of 1929.
One dizzying subplot involves
Lily’s daughter Louise, who ends
up being raised by a wealthy couple
(don’t ask). Louise grows up to
become a world-famous opera diva,
on par with Jenny Lind. Will the
down-and-out Lily be able to connect
with her long lost daughter
before meeting a tragic end?
Rest assured, “The Confession
of Lily Dare” elicits the guffaws we
expect from a Busch farce. The
love. (Akin admitted that his personal
experiences influenced the
film and the character). But the
actor had concerns initially about
playing queer.
“Levan was very hesitant in the
beginning, but he was curious,”
Akin explained. “He talked to his
family and friends and they supported
him, and he felt safe. But it
wasn’t an easy choice.”
PHOTO CAROL ROSEGG
dialogue is sharp and sublime,
preposterous in a good way. The
costumes (by Jessica Jahn and Rachel
Townsend) and wigs (by Katherine
Carr) are dazzling and on
point. Longtime collaborator Carl
Andress is at the helm, ensuring
the performances are outrageous
yet rooted in reality. Though for my
taste, I’d prefer the drollery goosed
up even more.
Busch’s turn is brilliant as ever.
One moment he’s channeling Hayley
Mills, then Mae West, Marlene
Dietrich, and Bette Davis. It’s as
much about the delivery and facial
expressions as the actual dialogue.
When young Lily recounts her exciting
cross-country journey to
Frisco, she is chipper until the end
of the story. “Don’t ask me about
To-pe-ka,” Busch growls with his
trademark grimace.
Both Gelbakhiani and Valishvili
live in Georgia, and an adverse reaction
to the film could have hurt
their careers. However, the opposite
happened.
“Thankfully the film has done
very well, which helped. The media
has been positive and very supportive
of it, which is very amazing,”
Akin explained. “That helped
them and helped make their families
The supporting cast threatens
to upstage the star, no easy feat.
The versatile Christopher Borg and
Jennifer van Dyck are exceptional
juggling multiple roles. Borg plays
Lily’s doomed fiancé, a decadent
Austrian baron, Louise’s adoptive
father, an Italian maestro, and an
Irish priest, all with wildly exaggerated
accents. Van Dyck portrays
the brusque Aunt Rosalie,
Louise’s adoptive mother, an adventurous
baroness, and, oddly
enough, young Louise.
The production is a nice fit for
the historic and intimate Cherry
Lane Theatre, a bastion of counterculture
and billed as New York’s
longest continually running Off-
Broadway theater. Busch’s career
was established in similar downtown
venues (one exception being
“The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife,”
a surprise hit that transferred to
Broadway in 2000).
The scenic design, by B.T. Whitehill,
is dominated by a backdrop
painted with a gaudy psychedelic
pattern suggesting a cartoon bordello
on acid. The proscenium, if
you look carefully, appears to be
made of crimson plastic dinner
plates and bottles strung together.
Surely this is a nod to the ultracreative,
micro-budget, DIY aesthetic
that drove Busch when he
first trod the boards in the Village
some 40 years ago.
THE CONFESSION OF LILY DARE
| Primary Stages | Cherry Lane
Theatre, 38 Commerce St. near Bedford
St. | Through Mar. 5: Tue.- Sat.
at 8 p.m.; Sat. at 2 p.m.; Sun. at 3
p.m. | $82-$152 at primarystages.
org | Two hrs., with intermission
more accepting and the film
more mainstream. Had the film
not done as well, it would have
been more difficult for them, but
they are stars in Georgia now.”
AND THEN WE DANCED | Directed
by Levan Akin | In Georgian, with
English subtitles | Music Box Films
| Opens Feb. 7 | Quad Cinema, 34
W. 13th St.; quadcinema.com
January 30 - February 12, 2 24 020 | GayCityNews.com
/quadcinema.com
/GayCityNews.com
