| Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me | |
| Posted by: | NewtonUK 11:39 am EDT 03/17/14 |
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| Saw Tribute Artist yesterday - and confess it was against all odds the first Busch play I had ever seen on stage - I even missed 'Tales of an Allergists Wife' his Bway hit. And I see everything. TA is very long and very slow. Each actor has one thing to play and they play it loudly and broadly all night. Mr Busch as the famous eponymous character has a scene where he does lines from various films (as dialogue in a scene) and Julie Halston annotates for us and those on stage - but Mr Busch makes no effort to impersonate any of the stars he quotes. Is this the joke? That he can't do Marilyn or Mary Astor? That he's bad at it? And if so, boy it isnt funny. If I had seen this downtown on a ratty set, in a kind of anarchically low budget production, in a 90 minute version, I might have found some limited charm in it. But in Anna Louizas sumptuous Village Townhouse set, one expects a terrific grown up play - not a sophomoric one full of vulgar jokes (which arent especially funny) and a mediocre well worn plot which meanders on for scene after scene after scene after scene. Am I missing the great 'art' of Mr Busch which should make me revel in this mess? Or is this just a bad example of what he is about. Full disclosure, i napped a bit during both acts. Nothing could keep me awake at this show. | |
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| re: Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me | |
| Posted by: | perfectlyfrank 01:38 pm EDT 03/18/14 |
| In reply to: | Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me - NewtonUK 11:39 am EDT 03/17/14 |
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| The Emperor has no clothes. I remember seeing his early works VAMPIRE LESBIANS and PSYCHO BEACH PARTY. They were fun in that old, off-off Broadway setting, much in the way that Ryan Landry's stuff works in Provincetown on a drunken Monday night. But really, I never felt that either Busch or Landry were much more than cabaret drag acts dressed up to be theatre. We're not talking Tennessee Williams here. In a small theatre and a couple of drinks, it's fine but at top prices and big budget productions, not so much. | |
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| she does have clothes and they are oh so chic | |
| Posted by: | Billhaven 01:57 pm EDT 03/18/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me - perfectlyfrank 01:38 pm EDT 03/18/14 |
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| I have enjoyed seeing The Empress Busch for many years now. Sometimes the efforts are slight and silly, sometimes they are hilarious and silly (The Divine Sister). The Broadway production of Tale of the Allergists Wife was even better than that thanks to the deep and soulful performance of Linda Lavin. That was a very satisfying boulevard comedy. But I still enjoy the camp pieces, as well. I never got to see the piece about "Our American Cousin". | |
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| re: she does have clothes and they are oh so chic | |
| Posted by: | perfectlyfrank 02:57 pm EDT 03/18/14 |
| In reply to: | she does have clothes and they are oh so chic - Billhaven 01:57 pm EDT 03/18/14 |
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| I did not like Divine Sister at all. Linda Lavin elevates everything she's in. But I think his stuff is silly which is fine for dinner theatre fare but not for Broadway. | |
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| re: she does have clothes and they are oh so chic | |
| Posted by: | Billhaven 04:17 pm EDT 03/18/14 |
| In reply to: | re: she does have clothes and they are oh so chic - perfectlyfrank 02:57 pm EDT 03/18/14 |
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| I thought she elevated it to Broadway, the only one of his plays to play there. Busch has enough of a following to play off Broadway which he has done sometimes successfully, sometimes not. | |
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| re: Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me | |
| Posted by: | ryhog 02:44 pm EDT 03/17/14 |
| In reply to: | Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me - NewtonUK 11:39 am EDT 03/17/14 |
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| I think it is a bad example, but I also think it is a case of trying to do the wrong thing at the wrong place. If you want a better understanding of what CB is all about, watch The Lady in Question is Charles Busch. You still may come away not worshiping at his altar and you will still not have seen his masterpieces in situ but at least you'll have a more informed decision. | |
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| re: Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 02:12 pm EDT 03/17/14 |
| In reply to: | Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me - NewtonUK 11:39 am EDT 03/17/14 |
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| he's part of a downtown tradition that goes back to ludlum. there is actually a direct connection. he was young and if i remember correctly it was toward the end but he was there. he played hecate, i think, in BLUEBEARD but i could have that wrong. he was definitely there, though. he's one of the few genuinely downtown artists that made it uptown unscathed without the least bit of compromise. he's fantastically brave performer and a damn good writer . ALLERGIST'S WIFE is an anomaly in my book and pales in comparison the truly great works like VAMPIRE LESBIANS OF SODOM and KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY CASTANETS and PSYCHO BEACH PARTY. i know of no other playwright from that period/scene that could have a camp work like DIE MOMMY DIE play uptown without the slightest concession. i wasn't wild about TRIBUTE ARTIST but i saw it early in the run. i think the play itself is very good (if a little too long) but the performances were the problem for me. they felt underrehearsed and could well have been - unless it's closed i'm going to try to make it back to see if they got better. i suspect they did. i liked OLIVE AND THE BITTER HERBS and DIVINE SISTER is as good as anything he's ever done. if you find him sophomoric and vulgar i suspect it's not just this play you won't like. he's not for every taste. i think he's fucking brilliant. | |
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| re: Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me | |
| Posted by: | twocents 11:59 am EDT 03/18/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me - enoch10 02:12 pm EDT 03/17/14 |
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| DIVINE SISTER is as good as anything he's ever done. I just loved that play, and the Soho Playhouse was the perfect jewel box for it. Tales of the All Wife was pure laugh riot as well. I haven't seen this one. Hey, they can't all be certifiable hits. | |
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| re: Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me | |
| Posted by: | NewtonUK 09:51 am EDT 03/18/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me - enoch10 02:12 pm EDT 03/17/14 |
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| This play, to me, was just boring, and a story we have seen a million times )sans the drag queen - sorry - tribute artist). What I was saying is that in the setting, uptown, it seemed out of place. Bad script, bad direction, SLOW, bad acting - from actors whose work I know and like. I am not judging all Busch from this - I was just asking if this was representative. | |
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| The Divine Sister (Spoiler) | |
| Posted by: | BroadwayTonyJ 04:04 pm EDT 03/17/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me - enoch10 02:12 pm EDT 03/17/14 |
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| The Divine Sister is the only Busch play I have seen. For me the show was hilarious although it relies a lot on outrageous, irreverent, low humor. Just thinking about the scene with the farting nun and Alison Fraser's facial expressions in reaction to the repeated occurrences makes me laugh out loud. | |
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| re: Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me | |
| Posted by: | MichaelAS 12:04 pm EDT 03/17/14 |
| In reply to: | Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me - NewtonUK 11:39 am EDT 03/17/14 |
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| I've been a Busch fan for years & there have been just as many hits as misses! The 'downtown' 90 minute shaggy set plays were the best: Vampire, Red Scare, etc. "Tales" was also a VERY good play. The recent "nun" play (forget the title) worked very well & was quite entertaining. There was an AWFUL one ("Murder or Death" in the title) at New World Stages a few years ago but I truly believe "Tribute Artist" is close to his WORST play. As a fan no one was more shocked than I when I had to flee at intermission. I never laughed once. It wreaked of "past one's prime" desperation! I truly felt sorry for Charles & Julie - a boring mess of a non-play! PUSHED to overacting over directed over designed OVER produced extremes! And poor Ben Brantley w/ that rave; I think that oft-sited 'gay' support for one's "own" was rampant! An awful play badly done & OVER-HYPED by the NYTimes. Get a new critic & new perspective & Primary Stages needs new readers. | |
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| re: Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 12:09 pm EDT 03/17/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Tribute Artist: Explain the Busch thing to me - MichaelAS 12:04 pm EDT 03/17/14 |
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| I didn't think Tribute Artist was great or anything but when I saw the play there was lot of laughter in the audience and no one falling asleep, though the audience was elderly. I found the play moderately amusing though I didn't like the actor who played the former model because that didn't seem believable at all. | |
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