A One-Night-Only event on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage
Featuring Charles Busch in conversation with Melissa Errico
Monday, November 6, 2023, at 6pm
On November 6, join us for a captivating conversation with Charles Busch alongside Melissa Errico as they discuss Charles’ new book Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy.
As the Tony Award-nominated writer behind The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife and the long-running hit Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, and a Sundance Festival award winner, Charles Busch has created a unique place in the entertainment world as a playwright, LGBT icon, drag actor, director, and cabaret performer, with his extraordinary gift for both connecting with and channeling the leading ladies of show business. Charles’ new book recounts his colorful and sometimes outlandish childhood memories, from his mother’s death to his surrogate mothers to his career interacting with film and theatrical luminaries in heartfelt and humorous ways.
Leading Lady is not only for fans of entertainment books but for anyone who enjoys real-life stories of artists who break the mold and find their own unique ways to sparkle. Don’t miss this one-night-only event!
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Tickets are free for this one-night-only event
Charles Busch is an actor, playwright, and drag legend. He is the author and star of many plays, including Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, one of the longest-running plays in Off-Broadway history. His play The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife played 777 performances on Broadway and received a Tony nomination for Best Play. Busch 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. He has been honored with a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright, and he also received the Flora Roberts Award for Sustained Achievement in the theater by the Dramatists Guild.
Melissa Errico, “The Maria Callas of American musical theater,” as Opera News has called her, referencing both her silken voice and dramatic, expressive intensity, Melissa Errico’s career is characterized by a dazzling range of passions as actress, singer, and author. She is thrilled to return to Irish Rep where she has starred in numerous productions including her Drama Desk Award-nominated performances in The Importance of Being Earnest and Candida, and playing Sharon in the musical Finian’s Rainbow twice (the second time she chronicled in an essay for The New York Times). She starred as Daisy Gamble in Irish Rep’s acclaimed production of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (which she also explored in an essay for The New York Times in a pioneering piece on the sexual gender stereotypes in American musicals). Also known for her starring roles on Broadway, her tribute album, Sondheim Sublime, was called by The Wall Street Journal “The best all-Sondheim album ever recorded.” Nominated for a Tony for her appearance in Michel Legrand’s only Broadway musical, Amour, she was asked to write the eulogy to Legrand in The New York Times in 2019; while, that fall, Ghostlight Records reissued an expanded version of her symphonic album, which Legrand arranged and conducted, as Legrand Affair Deluxe Edition. She is currently working on her first book, a memoir tentatively titled Terminal Ingenue.
Reviews:
Absolutely captivating . . . This joyful, upbeat, and witty memoir will likely capture the hearts of theater and movie buffs. — Literary Journal, starred review
Praise:
A magical tale of how Charles brought drag into the present by celebrating the glamour of the past. — Sarah Jessica Parker
Leading Lady is both a page-turner with name-drops and a book depicting the thrill of creation . . . If you aren’t sure of his influence on your own world, you will still be spellbound, but you will also come away with a new mentor for living an unafraid life true to who you are. — Jim Parsons
Fascinating, elegant, frank, and unputdownable. I devoured this book with a glee that could only be surpassed by watching Charles Busch perform live! — Alan Cumming