BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Lily Dare is a lady who’ll elicit all the laughs you rightfully expect from the man playing her—but this female lead from the creator’s considerable catalog might also move you to tears. From the cast to the costumes to songs to the set, pleasures abound in The Confession of Lily Dare, the latest theatrical parody from, dare we say, legendary Charles Busch.

Seen by this scribe during its 2018 debut at essential East Village Pulitzer Prize-winner Theater for the New City, rest assured the abovementioned waterworks delivered by Lily Dare are as earned as they are unexpected, in the script and the performance from drag artist, cabaret entertainer, playwright, and film historian, Charles Busch. We were going to list his theatrical achievements at this point, but better to go the horses’s mouth route and just click on his name, at the tail end of the previous sentence. Check out the “Biography” section of his website and then return here, to get the skinny on Lily Dare, in his own words.

Back now? Wonderful. You look good lately, by the way. And don’t believe that old wives’ tale about laughs causing wrinkles. Even if it were true, which it isn’t, it would be worth it for what Busch and company have on the plate. So let’s proceed, with a primer.

With Lily Dare, Off-Broadway not-for-profit theater company Primary Stages celebrates their 35th anniversary. Dare is, they note, “the newest work from one of their most frequent collaborators, legendary [there’s that word again] master of theatrical parody, Charles Busch (best known to Primary Stages audiences from their productions of The Tribute Artist, Olive and the Bitter Herbs, and You Should Be So Lucky). Busch’s newest play, The Confession of Lily Dare, tells the story of one woman’s tumultuous passage from convent girl to glittering cabaret chanteuse to infamous madam of a string of brothels—all while hiding her undying devotion to the child she was forced to abandon. Directed by Busch’s long-time colleague Carl Andress (The Tribute Artist, The Divine Sister), this comic melodrama celebrates the gauzy confession film tearjerkers of early 1930s pre-code cinema, such as The Sin of Madelon Claudet, Frisco Jenny, and Madame X.”

Joining Busch in the cast are Nancy Anderson (Sunset Boulevard), Christopher Borg (Judith of Bethulia), Howard McGillin (The Phantom of the Opera), Kendal Sparks (Judith of Bethulia) and Jennifer Van Dyck (Judith of Bethulia).

Busch recently chatted with Chelsea Community News via the modern miracle of email. See the below, for a window into what makes Lily Dare different.

Chelsea Community News: What does it mean to you, to be working with Primary Stages, and presenting the work at the Cherry Lane Theatre?

Charles Busch: It’s a wonderful thing to establish a relationship with a theater full of trust and encouragement. I’ve done about five plays with Primary Stages Theater and there’s a remarkable lack of bureaucracy. The play doesn’t have to go through years of “development.” They trust that I’ve worked closely for the past year with my director, most often Carl Andress, and that we will deliver a play that we can all be proud of. I’m delighted to be at the Cherry Lane Theatre. It’s on the most romantic street in Greenwich Village and has a long and beautiful history. I’ve only performed there a few time,s for readings with the Red Bull Theater. This will be my first actual production at the Cherry Lane. It’s also only a seven-minute walk from where I live and isn’t that one of the great joys in life?

CCN: What are your thoughts on having an unusually long run, and playing this specific character for an extended period of time?

BUSCH: We’re actually in a quite limited run, playing only January 11-March 5. Still, it is seven shows a week and, yes, I don’t do that all that frequently. It’s a strenuous role. I almost never leave the stage, and when I do, I’m performing all sorts of calisthenics, getting changed into another complicated costume and wig. The offstage shenanigans are more exhausting than the onstage scenes. However, I think I will really enjoy this run. I wrote the play for these specific actors who are all dear friends of mine. It’s just fun being with them all.

CCN: Has the cast and/or script changed from the play’s run Theater for the New City (TNC)? If so, how?

BUSCH: The cast and designers are the same. However, we have a much more substantial budget this time around and so the physical production is more elaborate. My longtime collaborator, Brian Whitehill, has really outdone himself on the set. It’s so evocative of turn-of-the-century San Francisco. It’s like a child’s pop-up book. The script is a bit tighter. I’ve done some editing and trimming, but also expanded a few scenes that needed fleshing out. On one hand, it was hard waiting a year and a half to do the play again since we performed it at TNC. It seemed like forever. The thing was that Primary Stages wanted me to be a part of their 35th anniversary season and that wasn’t last season but this season. Then suddenly it was upon us. On the positive side, the long delay did give me time to reflect on the previous production and see where I felt it could be improved.

CCN: Lily Dare is described in the press material as a “comedic melodrama.” Talk about the play’s mix of humor and deep emotions—within the context of your body of work, and specific to the way TNC audiences reacted.

BUSCH: A great many of my plays have been comic homages to classic Hollywood movie genres. Over the years, I’ve experimented with the balance of comedy and drama. I’ve learned a lot. Sometimes in my learning process, I’ve gone too far in one direction. But I love comedy that also has a deep vein of emotion. With this play, the director, Carl Andress, and I, wanted to have a lot of outrageous fun with the bawdy world of the turn-of-the-century Barbary Coast, but we wanted to see if a modern audience could also be genuinely moved by the story of this woman’s love for the child she was forced to give up. It’s a very sentimental mother love story, a la Madame X. I was delighted that the audiences at Theater for the New City were so viscerally moved at the end. We should have had a concession for Kleenex. As an actor, I love playing that roller coaster of tone. It’s a bit like walking on a tightrope.

CCN: What can audiences expect at the post-performance talkbacks scheduled for Feb. 13, 19, and March 1?

BUSCH: We have an unusually articulate cast, so it should be lively. I hope the audiences like the show and don’t throw tomatoes at us afterwards. Some of our cast are quite athletic so, they can toss ’em back with great accuracy.

Currently in previews; opening Jan. 30, runs through March 5. The performance schedule is as follows: Tues.-Fri. at 8pm; Sat. at 2pm & 8pm; Sun. at 3pm. There will be no performance on Wed., Jan. 29. There will be additional 2pm performances on Wed., Feb. 19, Tues., March 3, Wed., March 4, and Thurs., March 5. Tickets start at $80, with premium seating options offered. Tickets are available at PrimaryStages.org or by calling 212-352-3101. Group tickets are available by contacting 212-840-9705, x204.

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