INTERVIEW: Charles Busch explores being a ‘Native New Yorker’
Photo: Charles Busch performs in Native New Yorker at Feinstein’s / 54 Below in New York City. Photo courtesy of Michael Wakefield / Provided by the performer with permission.
Charles Busch is a quadruple threat: actor, playwright, cabaret performer and drag legend. He is the theatrical voice behind such modern classics as Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Die Mommie Die! and The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, which played a long run on Broadway.
In recent years, Busch has been performing his one-man cabaret show Native New Yorker around the world, and he returns for a two-performance encore at Feinstein’s / 54 Below in Midtown Manhattan. He will be at the venue July 23-24 with his longtime musical director Tom Judson.
Audience members should expect a much more intimate affair compared to his madcap comedic performances in plays. In the show, he opens up about how he found his place in show business, combining humor with poignancy, all the while singing songs from the 1970s and 1980s. He has an uncanny ability to make the crowd laugh and then remind them of some biting satire or a tender moment or a dramatic arc.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Busch as he was returning from a cabaret engagement in London. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What can your fans expect at your upcoming performances at Feinstein’s / 54 Below?
I’ll be telling them the story of how in the 1970s I had to figure out how I was going to find a place for myself in the theater. It was a tough one. While I was in college at Northwestern, it was clear to me that there were no roles for androgynous young men with a great affinity for Norma Shearer and Bette Davis. I was blessed with a rather tough pragmatic nature. As the character Helen Lawson in the movie Valley of the Dolls says, ‘I’m a barracuda. … The blows come left, right and center.’
I was also thankfully raised with no concept of worrying what people will think. The thought never occurred to me. That led to being a writer and creating roles for myself where I could be unique and not try to fit into a mold where I was doomed to fail. This show takes me from college up to 1985 when I got my big break with my Off-Broadway show Vampire Lesbians of Sodom.
Do you feel the audience leaves knowing a lot more about you personally and professionally?
I sincerely hope so. It’s a totally auto-biographical show! The challenge is to be open and honest but not be self-indulgent.
What do you like best about the cabaret format?
I’ve drifted in and out of cabaret, but only in the last seven years have I completely embraced it. I love it. I love the authenticity of it. Cabaret performance demands that the performer have a genuine insight into themselves and be able to project a persona that isn’t fake. I’ve found that exploring a song allows me to express my view of life and emotional history in a way that is more direct than when I’m playing a character in a play.
Working with my musical director/arranger/pianist, Tom Judson, for the past seven years has been a fascinating musical and dramatic education. That sounds a bit pretentious, when actually what I’m trying to say is that cabaret performance demands that you strip away pretension and just ‘be yourself… only better.’
Among the many hats you wear — playwright, cabaret performer, etc. — is there a first love? Or do you embrace it all?
I’m not really sure. When I’m doing one thing, I miss the other. I’ve come to believe I am happiest when I’m deeply in the throes of writing a play. It becomes something of a wonderful addiction. I can’t wait to get back into the document on my desktop four times a day. I can’t keep away. Of course, then my deep-rooted need to perform acts up, and I’ve gotta to get back onstage. I’m just, well, too much.
Many of your projects are loving homages to classic film and theater. When did this love begin for you?
Very early. I think I’m one of those people who was fully formed by the age of 10. I was born and raised in New York City. That’s why my show is called Native New Yorker. I was so lucky that I was brought up by my Aunt Lillian after my mother died when I was 7. Aunt Lil was a mixture of Auntie Mame and Tom Sawyer’s Aunt Polly and David Copperfield’s Aunt Betsy Trotwood. She began taking me to Broadway shows when I was 9 years old. I recall those performances with a real sense of adult perception.
I began immersing myself in old movies at that same time. I think my entire frame of reference and artistic aesthetic was established before the age of 12. At 12, I felt 64, and at 64, I feel 12.
Do you remember your first drag performance? Has the art form changed a lot over the years?
When I was at Northwestern, we used to go into Chicago at night and visit a fantastic drag club called the Baton Lounge. They had a cast of wonderful drag performers who had great professionalism and style. They each had an identifiable persona.
I don’t think the art form has changed all that much. Like any theatrical or performance convention, there are infinite possibilities of self-expression. There are great people out there today doing great things. Without necessarily knowing it, they are continuing a tradition. They are in a wonderful way standing on the shoulders of performers of the past, and they will inspire performers of the next generation.
I think it’s great that drag has so much visibility. It’s only natural that those who have TV exposure are the most visible. It would be nice if some of that visibility would rub off on those who haven’t been a regular of TV competition show, but that’s life. The important thing is to keep digging deep and exploring your own creativity.
What can fans expect from you in the coming months and years?
I continue to tour my cabaret act, and Tom and I have just begun developing a new show. However, I’m very excited that this January, I will be appearing in a new play of mine called The Confession of Lily Dare. It’s being produced by Primary Stages theater company and will be playing at the historic Cherry Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village January through March. We tried it out for a few weeks about a year ago, and at the risk of sounding a tad sappy, I honestly can say it’s my favorite play of mine and favorite role. I’m chomping at the bit. I can’t wait to start rehearsals in December.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Charles Busch performs in Native New Yorker July 23-24 at Feinstein’s / 54 Below in Midtown Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
