Bloomberg.com – By Robert Hilferty
(Bloomberg) – It’s a shock to see Charles Busch answer the door in jeans and a sweater after seeing him onstage as the murderous diva of “Die Mommie Die” in full wig, makeup and lavish gowns.
The 53-year-old female impersonator has a bald head and boyish face free of the calculated mannerisms of Angela Arden, his glamorous character in the show, which is currently in revival at Manhattan’s New World Stages. It’s one of the shows not shut down by the Broadway stagehands strike, and his performance is a tour de force.
Busch led me into his West Village duplex, where good taste tussles with kitsch in red Persian carpets, florid lamps and Japanese masks.