Charles Busch

Last updated
Charles Busch
Charles Busch.jpg
Busch in 2015
Born
Charles Louis Busch

(1954-08-23) August 23, 1954 (age 69)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Education Northwestern University (BA)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • playwright
  • screenwriter
  • author
  • director
Years active1978–present
Website www.charlesbusch.com

Charles Louis Busch (born August 23, 1954) is an American actor, screenwriter, playwright and drag queen, known for his appearances on stage in his own camp style plays and in film and television. He wrote and starred in his early plays off-off-Broadway beginning in 1978, generally in drag roles, and also acted in the works of other playwrights. He also wrote for television and began to act in films and on television in the late 1990s. His best known play is The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (2000), which was a success on Broadway.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Busch was born in 1954 and grew up in Hartsdale, New York. [1] [2] He is the Jewish son of Gertrude (née Young) and Benjamin Busch. [3] [4] [5] His father, who wanted to be an opera singer, owned a record store. His mother died when Busch was seven. He has two older sisters: Meg Busch, who used to be a producer of promotional spots for Showtime, and Betsy Busch, a textile designer. [4] Busch's aunt, Lillian Blum, his mother's oldest sister and a former teacher, brought him to live in Manhattan after the death of his mother. [4] [6] Busch was intensely interested in films as a young child, especially those with female leads from the 30s and 40s. [2] [4]

Busch attended The High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. [4] He majored in drama at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois [1] and received his B.A. in 1976. [2] While at the university, Busch had difficulty being cast in plays and began to write his own material, which succeeded in drawing interest on campus. [6]

Early theatre years

Busch in drag CharlesMarlene edit.jpg
Busch in drag

In his plays, Busch usually played the leading lady in drag. He has said, "Drag is being more, more than you can be. When I first started drag I wasn't this shy young man but a powerful woman. It liberated within me a whole vocabulary of expression. It was less a political statement than an aesthetic one." [6] His camp style shows simultaneously send up and celebrate classic film genres. [1]

Busch has said, however, "I'm not sure what [campy] means, but I guess if my plays have elements of old movies and old fashioned plays, and I'm this bigger-than-life star lady, that's certainly campy. I guess what I rebelled against was the notion that campy means something is so tacky or bad that it's good, and that I just didn't relate to." [7] Busch toured the country in a non-drag one-man show he wrote called Alone With a Cast of Thousands from 1978 to 1984. [4]

By 1984, Busch's performance bookings grew slim. He held various odd jobs, such as temporary office assistant, apartment cleaner, portrait artist "at bar mitzvahs", phone salesperson, shop manager, ice cream server, sports handicapper [4] and artists' model. [2]

He thought perhaps that this last piece would be a skit put on in the Limbo Lounge, a performance space and gallery in the East Village in Manhattan. The skit was a hit and became Vampire Lesbians of Sodom (1984). [8]

Busch and his collaborators soon created a series of shows, mostly at the Limbo Lounge, such as Theodora, She-Bitch of Byzantium (1984) and Times Square Angel (1985, Provincetown Playhouse). [1] The company called itself "Theatre in Limbo" and attracted a loyal gay following. [6] Other early plays include Pardon My Inquisition, or Kiss the Blood Off My Castanets (1986), in which Busch played both Maria Garbanza, a prostitute, and her look-alike, the elegant Marquesa del Drago. [9] [10] and Psycho Beach Party , which ran from July 1987 to May 1988. [11] Other works include The Lady in Question, which ran from July to December 1989 at the Orpheum Theatre, [12] and Red Scare on Sunset, which ran from June to September 1991 at the Lortel Theatre. [13]

Busch rewrote the book for the musical Ankles Aweigh for a 1988 production staged by the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut. [14]

His Charles Busch Revue was produced at the Ballroom Theatre in May 1993 in New York. [15] Also in 1993, he performed in a revival of Jean Genet's The Maids at the Off-Broadway Classic Stage Company in the role of Solange. [16] [17]

In 1993, he wrote a novel, Whores of Lost Atlantis, a fictionalized re-telling of the creation of Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. [18] The Green Heart was adapted by Busch from a short story by Jack Ritchie into a musical which was produced by the Manhattan Theater Club at the Variety Arts Theatre in New York City, opening in April 1997. [19]

He took the male lead in his comedy, You Should Be So Lucky which opened at Primary Stages Company, New York City, in November 1994. [20]

Other works of the 1990s include Swingtime Canteen, produced at the Blue Angel, New York City, in August 1995. [21] His one-man show, Flipping My Wig ran at the WPA Theater, New York City, starting in December 1996. [22]

He wrote Queen Amarantha, which played at the WPA Theatre, starting in October 1997. [23] His play Die, Mommie, Die! was first performed in Los Angeles, opening in July 1999 at the Coast Playhouse. [24] [25]

Film and television

Busch's early film appearances include Ms. Ellen, a fortune teller in drag in Trouble on the Corner (1997). [26] Busch has twice appeared in film versions of his own plays: Die, Mommie, Die! (1999) and the comedy horror Psycho Beach Party (2000). He co-wrote, starred in and directed the film A Very Serious Person (2006), which starred Polly Bergen and received an honorable mention at the Tribeca Film Festival. [27] [28] In 2020, Busch co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the film, The Sixth Reel (2021). [29]

Busch had a recurring role in the HBO series Oz from 1999 to 2000 (the third and fourth seasons) as Nat Ginzburg, an "effeminate but makeup-free inmate on death row, certainly a departure from his usual glamour girl roles." [30] He wrote television sitcom pilots and movie treatments as a source of extra income while he was a cult performer. He sold three pilots to CBS that were not produced. [31]

Stage work, 2000s

Busch's work debuted on Broadway in October 2000, when The Tale of the Allergist's Wife opened, following an Off-Broadway run in February through April 2000. [32] The play, his first in which he did not star, and the first created for a mainstream audience, was written for actress Linda Lavin, [33] who played opposite Michele Lee and Tony Roberts. [34] Allergist's Wife received a 2001 nomination for Tony Award for Best Play and ran for 777 performances. [35] His other Broadway work was rewriting the book for Boy George's short-lived autobiographical musical Taboo . [36] Since 2000, Busch has performed an annual one-night staged reading of his 1984 Christmas play Times Square Angel. [37] In January 2003, he headlined a revival of his 1999 play Shanghai Moon, costarring BD Wong, at the Drama Dept, Greenwich House Theatre, New York City. [38]

He has taken the eponymous lead in three productions of Auntie Mame : a staged reading in 1998; a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in 2003; [39] and a small-scale summer touring production in 2004. [40]

Our Leading Lady, Busch's play about Laura Keene, was produced by the Manhattan Theater Club at the City Center Stage II Theatre, in 2007, and starred Kate Mulgrew. [41] [42] His play, The Third Story, premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in September 2008 with Mary Beth Peil as Peg, [43] and was then produced in New York by MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, starring Busch and Kathleen Turner (Peg), opening in February 2009. [44] Busch wrote and starred in a play, The Divine Sister, a satirical take on Hollywood films about religion, including Doubt and the Sound of Music. It ran at the SoHo Playhouse in New York City, opening in September 2010. [45] In 2013, Busch wrote and starred as Jimmy in the Primary Stages production of The Tribute Artist. [46] In March 2019, Busch starred as Lucille Ball in I Loved Lucy by playwright Lee Tannen at the Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, New York.

Performance style and influences

Busch's style is based on movie star acting rather than naturalistic femininity. [1] Busch later said that he was described as "too thin, too light, which is the euphemism for gay. I was never cast at Northwestern for basically these reasons, and finally, I thought maybe what's most disturbing about me is what is most unique: my theatrical sense, my androgyny, even identifying with old movie actresses". [6] He specializes in femmes fatales. "I'm an actor playing a role, but it's drag. A lot of drag can be very offensive, but I like to think that in some crazy way the women I play are feminist heroines." [7]

Busch said, "I've always played a duality. I guess I've always felt a duality in myself: elegance and vulgarity. There's humor in that. I've always found that fun on stage, as well. It's not enough for me to be the whore. I have to be the whore with pretensions or the great lady with a vulgar streak. It's the duality that I find interesting." [1] Busch generally writes without a political agenda, and he predominantly portrays characters who are white, middle class, gay, and between 20 and 40 years old. Even though Busch worked in a time when gay individuals were viewed and treated differently than straight individuals, straight audiences still enjoyed his work because of his "ability to entertain without creating a members-only atmosphere" (42). [1]

Busch was inspired by Charles Ludlam, an avant-garde performer and playwright who founded The Ridiculous Theatrical Company in 1967 and wrote, directed, and acted in the company's exaggerated, absurdist camp productions. Busch presented his one-man show Hollywood Confidential in a theater owned by The Ridiculous Theatrical Company in July 1978 at One Sheridan Square, New York. He also appeared for several performances in the company's production of Bluebeard as Hecate, also in July 1978. Busch said of this experience: "If I had ever entertained a fantasy of working with the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, doing Hecate got it out of my system." [47] Busch has said that he was also inspired by seeing Joan Sutherland [2] and Zoe Caldwell perform when he was a child. [48] Busch recalled: "When I was about 13 years old, around 1968 or '69, I went to see Zoe Caldwell in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I was so dazzled that I don't think I've ever recovered." [48] In 1991, Busch was performing in his play Red Scare on Sunset. He said that he had difficulty connecting with the audience at one of the performances. Caldwell went backstage after the performance to give him some advice: "'You are so beautiful. But you were pushing too hard. You're much better than that.' ...It's the best lesson I've learned from a famous person." [48] During his run in The Tribute Artist, Busch revealed that he also found inspiration in drag performers Charles Pierce and Lynne Carter. [49]

Memoir

Busch released his memoir, Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy, in September 2023. [50] [51] In March 2024 it was shortlisted for the 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir or Biography. [52]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
2000 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play The Tale of the Allergist's Wife Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award John Gassner AwardWon
2001 Tony Award Best Play Nominated
2003Drama Desk AwardCareer Achievement AwardHonoree
Lucille Lortel Award Outstanding Lead ActorShanghai MoonNominated
2008 Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Die, Mommie, Die! Nominated
2011Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Play The Divine SisterNominated
Drama League AwardDistinguished PerformanceNominated
2020Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Actor in a PlayThe Confession of Lily DareNominated
Lucille Lortel AwardOutstanding Lead Actor in a PlayNominated
2024 Lambda Literary Award Gay Memoir or Biography Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual BoyPending

Busch received the Charlie Local and National Comedy Award from the Association of Comedy Artists in 1985 for "special contributions to the art of comedy." [2] He also received the Manhattan Academy of Cabaret Award in 1985 and 1993. [53]

In 2003, he won the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival for his performance in the film Die Mommie Die!

He has been honored with a star on the Playwright's Walk of Fame outside the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York City and the Legend Award by the Off-Broadway League of Theatres. He was awarded the Gingold Theatrical Group Golden Shamrock award in 2014. [54]

Busch is included in the book 50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre (2022), with a chapter written by theatre scholar Sean F. Edgecomb. [55]

Work

Theater

YearTitleRoleDetailsNotes
1976Sister ActEsther
Old CooziesKitLa Mere Vipere
1977Myrtle Pope, the Story of a Woman PossessedMyrtle PopeChicago, Illinois
1978Hollywood ConfidentialOne-man showScene One, New YorkPlaywright
The Ridiculous Theatrical Company, One Sheridan Square, NYC
Hollywood Confidential, Victory Gardens Theatre, Chicago
1979Elephant Woman—One Sheridan Square, June 1, 1979Replacement
Vagabond VignettesThe Duplex, New York"That's Show Biz" / "People on a New York Bus" / "La Marquesa"
1980A Theatrical PartyPerforming Garage, New York
1980Charles Busch Alone With A Cast of ThousandsSource Theatre, Washington, DCPlaywright
1981Valencia Rose, San Francisco
1982Chicago Gay Arts Festival, Chicago
1984Indiana Rep, Indianapolis
1981Welcome to Corona
1982Before Our Mother's EyesDavid / AndreasTheatre for the New City, New York City
Charles Busch Works Alone TonightSource Theatre, Washington, DCPlaywright
1984Sleeping Beauty or ComaFauna AlexanderTheatre-In-Limbo, Limbo Lounge, New York, NY, October 1984
1985 Provincetown Playhouse, June 19, 1985
1985 Vampire Lesbians of Sodom Virgin Sacrifice/Madeleine AsarteProvincetown Playhouse, June 19, 1985
Times Square AngelIrish O'FlanaganProvincetown Playhouse, December 11, 1985
1986Pardon My Inquisition, or, Kiss the Blood off My CastanetsMarquesa del Drago / Maria GarbanzaTheatre-In-Limbo Limbo Lounge, New York, NY, May 16 – June 1, 1986
Gidget Goes PsychoticChickletLimbo Lounge, October 10–26, 1986
1987 Psycho Beach Party (a.k.a. Gidget Goes Psychotic)Players Theatre, July 20, 1987
1988 Ankles Aweigh —Goodspeed Opera House, July–September 1998Book
The Lady in QuestionGertrude GarnetWPA Theatre, November 18, 1988Playwright
1991House of Flowers—February 1991Book
Red Scare on SunsetMary DaleWPA Theatre, March 19, 1991Playwright
Lucille Lortel Theatre, June 21, 1991
1993 The Maids SolangeEast 13th Street/CSC Theatre, September 21, 1993
The Charles Busch Review—The Ballroom, February–May 1993, July 13–August 1993Written by
1994You Should Be So LuckyChristopherPrimary Stages, November 2, 1994Playwright
1995Swingtime Canteen—Blue Angel, February 24, 1995
1996Flipping My Wig—WPA Theatre, December 19, 1996
1997The Green Heart—Variety Arts Theatre, April 10, 1997Book
Queen Amarantha—WPA Theatre, October 23, 1997Playwright; director
1999 Die Mommie Die! Angela ArdenCoast Playhouse, July 1999Playwright
2007 New World Stages/Stage I, October 21, 2007
2000 The Tale of the Allergist's Wife — New York City Center/Stage II, February 29, 2000
2003Shanghai MoonLady Sylvia Allington Greenwich House, January 15, 2003
Taboo —The Plymouth Theatre, October 28, 2003Book
2006An Oak TreeFather Barrow Street Theatre, November 4, 2006Replacement
2007Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell— Minetta Lane Theatre, March 6, 2007
Our Leading Lady—New York City Center/Stage II, March 15, 2007Playwright
2009The Third StoryQueenie Bartlett/Baba Yaga Lucille Lortel Theatre, February 2, 2009
2010The Divine SisterMother Superior SoHo Playhouse, September 22, 2010
2011Olive and the Bitter Herbs— 59E59 Theaters/Theater A, August 16, 2011
2013Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Musical Mystery—DR2 Kids Theatre, February 10–April 14, 2013Written by
2014The Tribute ArtistJimmy59E59 Theaters/Theater A, February 9, 2014Playwright
2019I Love LucyLucille BallBridge Street Theatre, March 22–23, 2019
2020The Confession of Lily DareLily Dare Cherry Lane Theatre, January 29, 2020Playwright
2024Ibsen's Ghost: An Irresponsible Biographical FantasySuzannah Thoresen Ibsen 59E59 Theaters, March 2-April 14, 2024Playwright

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1987 Gandahar GemnenVoice; English-version
1992 Addams Family Values Countess Cousin Aphasia du Berry
1994 It Could Happen to You Timothy
1997 Trouble on the Corner Ms. Ellen
1999–2000 Oz Nat Ginzburg8 episodes
2000 Psycho Beach Party Captain Monica StarkScreenplay credit
2002 Frasier Mark (voice)Episode: "Enemy at the Gate"
2003 Die, Mommie, Die! Angela Arden / Barbara ArdenScreenplay credit
2006 A Very Serious Person JanScreenplay and director credit
2008 Lipstick Jungle Ricardo BraginiEpisode: "Dressed to Kill"
2017Say What!: A Geriatric ProposalHayes / Cynthia / Mrs. WeinsteinShort
2021The Sixth ReelJimmyScreenplay and director credit
The House Arrest RooneysMargaret RooneyEpisode: "Proof of Concept Pilot"

Bibliography

Discography

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Niles, Richard (2004). "Wigs, Laughter, and Subversion: Charles Busch and the Strategies of Drag Performance". Drag Queen Anthology. Haworth. pp. 35–52.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Charles Busch". Newsmakers. July 18, 1988.
  3. ↑ "Charles Busch Biography", Filmreference.com, accessed January 8, 2012
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Witchell, Alex. "Shopping With: Charles Busch; After Divas, It's a Challenge To Play a Man" (abstract). The New York Times, October 19, 1994, Section C; p.1
  5. ↑ Raymond, Gerard (September 9, 2010). "Charles Busch: Interview with a Drag Artiste". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Tyrkus, Michael; Michael Bronski (1997). "Gay and Lesbian Biography". Gale Biography in Context.
  7. 1 2 Dodds, Richard (1990-11-16). """Psycho Beach Party" goes from a Joke to a Play"". Times-Picayune.
  8. ↑ Bruckner, D. J. R. (June 20, 1985). "Stage: 'Vampire Lesbians of Sodom'". The New York Times. p. C18. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Charles Busch, 'Pardon My Inquisition, or Kiss the Blood Off My Castanets' Listing" Archived 2017-06-26 at the Wayback Machine , doollee.com; accessed January 8, 2012
  10. ↑ Bennetts, Leslie. Busch Writes His Own", The New York Times (abstract), August 13, 1987, Section C, p. 21
  11. ↑ "Psycho Beach Party". Internet Off-Broadway Database. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  12. ↑ "The Lady in Question". Internet Off-Broadway Database. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Red Scare on Sunset". Internet Off-Broadway Database. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  14. ↑ Klein, Alvin. "Ankles Aweigh Gets Goodspeed Revamping", The New York Times (abstract), September 11, 1988, Section 12CN, p. 13
  15. ↑ Holden, Stephen (May 22, 1993). "Review/Cabaret; Charles Busch on Drag and 'Dragnet'". The New York Times. p. 1:13. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  16. ↑ "The Maids". Internet Off-Broadway Database. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  17. ↑ Brantley, Ben. "Review/Theater; Drag Star Tries On a More Serious Context", The New York Times (abstract), September 30, 1993
  18. ↑ Busch, Charles. Whores of Lost Atlantis, Hyperion (1993)
  19. ↑ Brantley, Ben. "Theater Review.How Cold Villainy Adds Warmth", The New York Times, April 11, 1997.
  20. ↑ Brantley, Ben. "Theater Review.Charles Busch Takes On a Trouser Role", The New York Times, November 3, 1994.
  21. ↑ Van Gelder, Lawrence. "Theater Review; Charles Busch Replaces Female Lead", The New York Times, August 25, 1995
  22. ↑ Brantley, Ben. "Theater Review.Between a Female Image and Fantasy", The New York Times, December 20, 1996.
  23. ↑ Brantley, Ben. "Theater Review.Charles Busch Plays It Straight, So to Speak", The New York Times, October 24, 1997.
  24. ↑ Hofler, Robert (July 22, 1999). "Review: Die! Mommy! Die!". Variety . Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  25. ↑ Phillips, Michael (July 19, 1999). "Half a Hoot Is Better Than None in the Campy Die! Mommy! Die!". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Trouble on the Corner (1997)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  27. ↑ A Very Serious Person allrovi.com, accessed January 8, 2012
  28. ↑ Jones, Kenneth (September 12, 2005). "Broadway's Ivey, Bergen, Halston Punctuate Charles Busch Movie, 'A Very Serious Person'". Playbill. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  29. ↑ Rabinowitz, Chloe (October 22, 2020). "Julie Halston, Tim Daly, André De Shields and More Star in Charles Busch and Carl Andress' New Film The Sixth Reel". BroadwayWorld . Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  30. ↑ Che, Cathay (March 28, 2008). "Charles in Charge". The Advocate. Liberation Publications Inc.: 81–82.
  31. ↑ Unknown (May 28, 2000). "Charles In Charge". Advocate.
  32. ↑ "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife". Internet Off-Broadway Database. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  33. ↑ Shewey, Don. "The Tale of Charles Busch: From Drag Diva to Broadway Farceur", The New York Times (reprinted at donshewey.com), October 29, 2000
  34. ↑ Brantley, Ben (March 1, 2000). "THEATER REVIEW; A Woman On the Verge Of Another Breakdown". The New York Times. p. E5. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  35. ↑ "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife – Broadway Play – Original". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  36. ↑ Simonson, Robert; Gans, Andrew (January 2, 2003). "Charles Busch Working on Book of Musical Taboo; Due in Fall". Playbill. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  37. ↑ Bacalzo, Dan. Charles Busch to Star in Times Square Angel Staged Reading December 13", Theatermania.com, September 29, 2010
  38. ↑ Somer, Elyse. "A CurtainUp Review. Shanghai Moon", Curtainup.com, January 17, 2003; accessed January 8, 2012
  39. ↑ Gans, Andrew (November 14, 2003). "All-Star Auntie Mame Benefit a Sellout". Playbill. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  40. ↑ Simonson, Robert (June 28, 2004). "Charles Busch Begins Summer Life as Auntie Mame on June 28". Playbill. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  41. ↑ Cote, David. "Review. Our Leading Lady ", Time Out Magazine (New York), March 21, 2007
  42. ↑ "Our Leading Lady". Internet Off-Broadway Database. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  43. ↑ McNulty, Charles. Charles Busch's 'The Third Story' at LaJolla Playhouse", Los Angeles Times , September 24, 2008.
  44. ↑ Brantley, Ben. "Theater Review. For Some Mothers, Letting Go Is So Hard to Do", The New York Times, February 3, 2009
  45. ↑ Brantley, Ben. "Theater Review. No Doubt, Not a Typical Singing Nun", The New York Times, September 22, 2010
  46. ↑ Stasio, Marilyn. "Off Broadway Review: 'The Tribute Artist'". Variety. Feb. 9, 2014
  47. ↑ Kaufman, David. "Charles Busch", Ridiculous!: the theatrical life and times of Charles Ludlam (2005), Hal Leonard Corporation, ISBN   1-55783-637-X, pp. 284–85
  48. 1 2 3 Piepenberg, Eric (September 1, 2010). "You Never Forget That Star-Struck Encounter With Your Idol". The New York Times. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  49. ↑ Ferri, Josh (February 5, 2014). "Five Burning Questions with The One and Only Charles Busch". BroadwayBox.
  50. ↑ "Leading Lady by Charles Busch". Penguin Random House . Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  51. ↑ Brantley, Ben (September 8, 2023). "Confessions of a Drag Legend: Charles Busch's Memoir is Here, Darling". The New York Times . pp. C1, C4. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  52. ↑ "Announcing the Finalists for the 36th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". them. 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  53. ↑ Rooney, Terry, editor. Newsmakers 1998: The People Behind Today's Headlines. Gale Group, 1999. ISBN   9780787612306 p. 80.
  54. ↑ http://gingoldgroup.org/temp/about-us/golden-shamrock-gala/%5B%5D
  55. ↑ Edgecomb, Sean F. (2022). "Charles Busch". In Noriega and Schildcrout (ed.). 50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre. Routledge. pp. 35–39. ISBN   978-1032067964.
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