Carl Andress, who staged Busch's Die Mommie Die! and The Third Story Off-Broadway, will helm the developmental engagement that runs Feb. 6-March 7, 2010.

Busch will portray Mother Superior in a cast that also features Tony nominee Alison Fraser (Gypsy, The Secret Garden), Julie Halston (Hairspray, Twentieth Century), Amy Rutberg (Our Leading Lady), Jennifer Van Dyck (The Third Story, Hedda Gabler) and Jonathan Walker (The Third Story, Dinner with Friends).

"It gives me great pleasure to return to Theater for the New City to launch my new comedy, The Divine Sister," Busch said in a statement. "Crystal Field provides a great atmosphere in which one can try out new ideas and where a new production can find its sea legs. Carl and I first presented my play Shanghai Moon here in 1999 before we moved it to an Off-Broadway production, and we thought it was high time we returned to TNC, this time to give the 'Sisters of St. Veronica's' their first home."

According to press notes, "The Divine Sister is an outrageous comic homage to nearly every Hollywood film involving nuns. Evoking such films as 'The Song of Bernadette,' 'The Bells of St. Mary's,' 'The Singing Nun and Agnes of God,' The Divine Sister tells the story of St. Veronica’s indomitable Mother Superior (Busch) who is determined to build a new school for her Pittsburgh convent. Along the way, she has to deal with a young postulant who is experiencing 'visions,' sexual hysteria among her nuns, a sensitive schoolboy in need of mentoring, a mysterious nun visiting from the Mother House in Berlin, and a former suitor intent on luring her away from her vows."

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." His noted plays include The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset and the long-running Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. Busch's recent Off-Broadway appearances include The Third Story and Die, Mommie, Die. He made his directorial film debut with "A Very Serious Person."

Tickets begin sale Jan. 4, 2010. Phone (212) 352-0255 or visit OvationTix. Theater for the New City is located at 155 First Avenue in Manhattan.