Charles Busch

Charles Bush is the author and star of such plays as Psycho Beach Party, Times Square Angel, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset, You Should Be So Lucky, Queen Amarantha, and Shanghai Moon.  His play Vampire Lesbians of Sodom ran five years in New York and is one of the longest running plays in Off-Broadway history.

In 1988, he wrote a new libretto for the 1955 musical Ankles Aweigh for Goodspeed Opera and has also adapted the book of the Truman Capote/Harold Arlen musical House of Flowers for a tour with Patti Labelle.

On film, he’s appeared in Addams Family Values, It Could Happen To You, and Trouble on The Corner. He wrote the screenplay and starred in the film version of his play Psycho Beach Party, which is available on video and DVD.

In June of 1994, Mr. Busch starred in Charles Busch’s `Dressing Up, a one night sold out extravaganza at Town Hall featuring guest stars Milton Berle, Beatrice Arthur, and the late Charles Pierce. In 1995, he co-authored and appeared in a critically acclaimed run in the Off-Broadway musical Swingtime Canteen.

1997 saw him performing his one man show Flipping My Wig at the WPA Theatre and writing the book for the musical The Green Heart, which was produced by Manhattan Theatre Club at the Variety Arts Theatre. During this time, Mr. Busch starred as the fabulous Mame Dennis in a memorable staged reading of Auntie Mame at the American Place Theatre along with Marcia Lewis, Kelly Bishop, Maxwell Caulfield, Juliet Mills, Barbara Feldon, John Davidson, and the late Peggy Cass recreating her original role of Agnes Gooch. 

In 2000, Manhattan Theatre Club produced his play The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife starring Linda Lavin, Tony Roberts, and Michele Lee. It was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for best play and won Mr. Busch the Outer Critic’s Circle John Gassner Award for Playwriting. It re-opened on Broadway in November, 2001, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. 

For two seasons he appeared as Nat Ginzburg in the HBO series Oz. His first novel Whores of Lost Atlantis was published in hardcover by Hyperion Press and released as a Penguin paperback.

Mr. Busch graduated from Northwestern University and is a member of the Dramatist’s Guild.