- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 2015-031", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"23316", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"b20869439", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1967-2015", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1967/2015"}
{"value"=>"1984-2014", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1984/2014"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1967
- date_inclusive_end
-
2015
- keydate
-
1967
- date_start
-
1967
- date_end
-
2015
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Charles Busch papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"9.07 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"22 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- repository
-
{"id"=>"THE", "value"=>"Billy Rose Theatre Division"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Charles Busch (1954- ) is a playwright, screenwriter, novelist, actor, and drag performer best known for his Tony-nominated Broadway production, <span class=\"title\">The Tale of the Allergist's Wife</span>. The Charles Busch papers date from 1967 to 2015 (bulk dates 1984-2014) and consists of correspondence, screenplays, scripts, and writings from Busch's career as a playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and performer."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Charles Busch papers, *T-Mss 2015-031. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Busch, Charles", "type"=>"persname", "role"=>"creator"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Charles Busch (1954- ) is a playwright, screenwriter, novelist, actor, and drag performer. He began his theatrical career at an early age, writing and performing his first play at Camp Lexington for the Performing Arts when he was twelve years old. He attended the High School of Music and Art in New York City, and then Northwestern University, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in drama in 1976. As a college student Busch penned his first full length play, <span class=\"title\">Out-Takes of a \"B\" Movie</span> (1975), and made his inaugural appearance in a female role with his 1976 one-act play, <span class=\"title\">Sister Act</span>. Busch made his New York City debut in 1982 with <span class=\"title\">Before Our Mother's Eyes</span>, which was performed at Theater for the New City. His break came with the off-off Broadway show <span class=\"title\">Vampire Lesbians of Sodom</span>, which premiered at the Limbo Lounge in the East Village in 1984. The show was picked up by the Provincetown Playhouse in 1985, where it ran for five years. Busch continued to write and perform with a group of collaborators known as Theatre-in-Limbo until 1991. These productions included, <span class=\"title\">Theodora She-Bitch of Byzantium</span> (1984), <span class=\"title\">Times Square Angel</span> (1984), ), <span class=\"title\">Gidget Goes Psychotic</span> (1986), <span class=\"title\">Pardon my Inquisition</span> (1986), <span class=\"title\">Psycho Beach Party</span> (1987), <span class=\"title\">The Lady in Question</span> (1989), and <span class=\"title\">Red Scare on Sunset</span> (1991). <span class=\"title\">Pyscho Beach Party</span> ran for a year off-Broadway and was subsequently adapted into a film screenplay by Busch for the Robert Lee King directed film, which was released in 2000.</p> <p>In 1993, Busch published an autobiographical novel, <span class=\"title\">Whores of Lost Atlantis</span>, which is based on his experiences with Theatre-in-Limbo. Busch continued to write and appear in Theatre productions, which include <span class=\"title\">You Should Be So Lucky</span> (1994), <span class=\"title\">Swingtime Canteen</span> (1995), <span class=\"title\">Flipping my Wig</span> (1996), <span class=\"title\">The Green Heart</span> (1997), <span class=\"title\">Queen Amarantha</span> (1997), <span class=\"title\">House of Flowers</span> (1998), and <span class=\"title\">Die! Mommy! Die!</span> (1999). In 1999, <span class=\"title\">The Tale of the Allergist's Wife</span> premiered at Manhattan Theatre Club before making its Broadway debut at the Barrymore Theatre in 2000. The play ran from 2000 to 2002, and Busch was awarded the Outer Circle Critics John L. Gassner Award for Outstanding Playwriting. <span class=\"title\">The Tale of the Allergist's Wife</span> received a Tony nomination for best play in 2001, and actresses Linda Lavin and Michelle Lee both received Tony nominations for their performances in the production. Busch's next play, <span class=\"title\">Shanghai Moon</span> (1999), earned him a Lucille Lortel best actor nomination in 2003. That same year he received a Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both a playwright and actor, was honored with a star on the Playwrights Walk outside the Lucille Lortel Theatre, and won the best performance award at the Sundance Film Festival for the film adaptation of <span class=\"title\">Die! Mommie! Die!</span> The Rosie O'Donnell produced, <span class=\"title\">Taboo</span>, debuted on Broadway in 2003, and featured music and lyrics by Boy George. This was followed by <span class=\"title\">Nina</span>, a comic monologue commissioned by the Lucille Lortel Awards in 2005, and <span class=\"title\">A Very Serious Person</span>(2006), which was Busch's directorial film debut. The film was awarded an honorable mention at the Tribeca Film Festival. Busch returned to theatre in 2007 with <span class=\"title\">Our Leading Lady</span> and a revived off-Broadway production of <span class=\"title\">Die! Mommie Die!</span>. His other theatre works include <span class=\"title\">The Third Story</span> (2008), <span class=\"title\">The Divine Sister</span> (2010), <span class=\"title\">Olive and the Bitter Herbs</span> (2011), <span class=\"title\">Judith of Bethulia</span> (2012), <span class=\"title\">Stars of David</span> (2012), <span class=\"title\">Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Musical Mystery</span> (2013), and <span class=\"title\">The Tribute Artist</span> (2014).</p> <p>Busch lives in New York City, where, as of 2015, he is writing his memoir and continues to perform in cabaret acts.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Charles Busch papers date from 1967 to 2015 (bulk dates 1984-2014) and consist of materials chronicling Busch's career as a writer and performer in theatre and film. The collection encompasses the entirety of Busch's creative output, which also includes unpublished and unreleased works. Items are grouped together by format into the following categories: Correspondence; Theatre; Screenplays; Television Scripts; Cabaret; Writing; and Promotional Materials.</p> <p>The correspondence dates from 1979 to 2012 and is mostly incoming communications. Included are letters written by individuals with whom Busch collaborated, as well as friends, colleagues, and fans of his work. Some of those who corresponded with Busch include Julie Andrews, Kathie Lee Gifford, Angela Lansbury, Paul Newman, Joan Rivers, and Stephen Sondheim. There are also letters of recommendation written about Busch by Michael Feingold, Daryl Hine, Christopher Isherwood, and Charles Ludlam.</p> <p>Items from Busch's theatrical career comprise the bulk of the collection, and feature works from solo performances, early student plays, his work with Theatre-in-Limbo, plays in which he was a performer, and scripts he wrote. There is an assortment of early work, the earliest of which is a play entitled <span class=\"title\">Lovely Lace</span>, that was written and performed by Busch at age twelve. The collection also holds scripts written by Busch as a student at Northwestern University, as well as his debut New York City performance, <span class=\"title\">Before Our Mother's Eyes</span>. Most of the theatre files contain various drafts, rewrites, and revisions of scripts, many of which include notes and annotations. Busch also retained photographs, flyers, reviews, and press clippings, which can be found among the theatre files.</p> <p>The screenplays encompass script drafts and notes for Busch's four films that were produced and released: <span class=\"title\">Psycho Beach Party</span>, <span class=\"title\">Personal Assistant</span>, <span class=\"title\">Die! Mommie! Die!</span>, and <span class=\"title\">A Very Serious Person</span>. There are also a number of unproduced screenplay drafts including a commissioned film adaptation for <span class=\"title\">The Tale of the Allergist's Wife</span>, and notes for a 1992 Disney Animated feature called <span class=\"title\">Witches</span>.</p> <p>Busch worked on television scripts for six programs, none of which were produced. Among the television scripts is a commissioned HBO adaptation of his novel, <span class=\"title\">Whores of Lost Atlantis</span>, and the script for <span class=\"title\">City of Bachelors</span>, which Busch wrote for the HBO anthology film, <span class=\"title\">If These Walls Could Talk II</span>. Each production includes the unproduced pilot script, and some also contain notes and revisions.</p> <p>The cabaret materials are comprised of notes, song lyrics, and flyers dating from Busch's 2012 return to cabaret performing.</p> <p>Books, journalistic pieces, a creative journal, a grant proposal, and some early short stories comprise Busch's writings. Most of the book material is for his novel, <span class=\"title\">Whores of Lost Atlantis</span>, and contains a treatment, proposal, sample chapters, notes, and reviews. There is also a draft of an unfinished novel called <span class=\"title\">Jeri</span>, and a collection of writings for his in-progress and untitled memoir. Also held with Busch's writings are transcripts of interviews he conducted with Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Zoe Caldwell, and Terence Stamp; remembrances he wrote about Joan Rivers; short stories and dramatic sketches he composed while in high school; and a cover story he wrote for <span class=\"title\">New York Magazine</span> about the drag scene in 1995.</p> <p>There is a small collection of promotional materials consisting of seven headshots and portraits; theatre programs; and reviews of Busch's writing and acting.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>Materials are arranged chronologically.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Purchased from Charles Busch, 2015.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"type"=>"processing", "value"=>"<p>Compiled by <span class=\"name\">Heather Lember</span>, <span class=\"date\">2015</span>.</p>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>The author/creator retains copyright of materials. For information on obtaining permission to publish, contact the Theatre Division at theatre@nypl.org.</p>"}
- dsc_type
-
combined
- extent_statement
-
9.07 linear feet (22 boxes)