In honor of Pride:
Legendary playwright, cabaret performer, actor, and drag superstar Charles Busch in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in New York’s Greenwich Village in late July, 2018
Charles Busch, as a playwright, was nominated for the Tony Award for “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife.” Among his other works are “Red Scare on Sunset,” which had a production at San Francisco’s New Conservatory Theatre in the fall of 2018, “The Divine Sister,” “The Lady in Question” and the long-running off-Broadway hit, “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom.”
From his website:
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. For two seasons, he appeared as Nat Ginzburg on the HBO series OZ and is the author of the auto-biographical novel Whores of Lost Atlantis. He has directed two films; the Showtime short subject, Personal Assistant, and a feature, A Very Serious Person, which won an honorable mention at the Tribeca Film Festival. Due to his love and knowledge of film and theatre history, he has appeared as a guest programmer and in numerous documentaries for Turner Classic Movies, and has lectured and conducted master classes at many colleges and universities including NYU, Harvard, UCLA and Amherst College.
In this interview, he talks about “Red Scare on Sunset,” about his early career and how he came to be a playwright and performer, and about drag and the politics of drag.