Performances of the Busch play began Oct. 10 and officially opened at New World Stages Oct. 21. Upon its Jan. 13 closing, Die Mommie Die! will have played 12 previews and 97 regular performances.
The limited engagement was previously scheduled to continue through Feb. 17; however, producers of the critically well-received work announced the production would shutter one month early.
Busch's "grande-dame Guignol," Die Mommie Die!, was first presented in Los Angeles. The playwright and star also headlined the film version of Die! Mommie! Die!, which was part of the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.
The 1960s-set Die Mommie Die! stars Busch as "Angela Arden, a fallen pop diva trapped in a hateful marriage to film producer Sol Sussman," production notes state. "Desperate to find happiness with her younger lover, Angela gruesomely murders her husband with the aid of a poisoned suppository, leaving her two children to avenge their father's death."
Busch is joined onstage by Bob Ari (The Constant Wife) as Sol Sussman, Chris Hoch (Spamalot) as Tony Parker, newcomer Ashley Morris as Edith, Kristine Nielsen (Our Leading Lady) as the Sussman's live-in domestic, Bootsie Carp, and "As the World Turns" Emmy nominee Van Hansis as Lance. Featuring direction by Carl Andress, the Die Mommie Die! creative team also includes Michael Anania (scenic design), Jessica Jahn (costume design), Ben Stanton (lighting design) and Lewis Flinn (sound design/music composition). Michael Bottari and Ron Case designed Busch's costumes for the "Die Mommie Die!" film; the stage production features several of those 40 costumes.
Charles Busch is both a celebrated playwright and performer. His play The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, which began life at the Manhattan Theatre Club, later transferred to Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. He wrote the book for the Broadway mounting of Taboo, and he also penned the screenplays for and starred in the films "Die, Mommie, Die" and "Psycho Beach Party." Busch made his directorial film debut with "A Very Serious Person."
New World Stages is located in Manhattan at 340 West 50th Street. For more information visit www.dmdtheplay.com.
