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A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE
Full-Length Play, Comedy / 8w, 7m
Charles Busch
Played against the gaudy tapestry of turn-of-the-century California's notorious Barbary Coast, The Confession of Lily Dare tells the story of one woman's tumultuous passage from convent girl to glittering cabaret chanteuse to infamous madame of a string of brothels.
Behind Lily's every move lies her greatest secret: her undying devotion to the child she was forced to abandon. The Confession of Lily Dare is the latest comic melodrama written by the legendary master of theatrical parody, Charles Busch (Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Die Mommie Die!, The Divine Sister). The play celebrates the gauzy "confession film" tearjerkers of early 1930s pre-code cinema, such as The Sin of Madelon Claudet, Frisco Jenny, and Madame X.
(In Order of Appearance)
Various Locations in San Francisco, 1906 through 1950.
“Charles Busch's mash-up of mother-love weepies finds both pathos and hilarity in the tough talk of Hollywood divas.” – New York Times
“Charles Busch keeps the camp fire burning in a tongue-in-cheek tearjerker par excellence.” – Time Out New York
“As usual with the witty Busch, the script is a Godiva-chocolates-boxful of clever lines.” – New York Stage Review
“An amusing parody that even manages to tug at the heartstrings. Returning to the parodistic style with which he made a name for himself... the actor-writer here delivers an amusingly loving sendup of the sort of melodramatic, pre-Code weepies that used to star the likes of Ruth Chatterton, Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis.” – Hollywood Reporter
The Confession of Lily Dare - Sneak Peek
The Confession of Lily Dare - Primary Stages Promo
Charles Busch is the author and star of such plays as The Divine Sister, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset, The Confession of Lily Dare and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom; one of the longest-running plays in the history of off-Broadway. His play The Tale of the Allergist’s ...