The Confession of Lily Dare

The second production of Primary Stages' 35th anniversary season is the newest work from one of the organization's most frequent collaborators, master of theatrical parody Charles Busch. Busch's newest play, The Confession of Lily Dare, tells the story of one woman's tumultuous passage from convent girl to glittering cabaret chanteuse to infamous madam of a string of brothels — all while hiding her undying devotion to the child she was forced to abandon. Directed by Busch's longtime colleague Carl Andress (Who's Holiday!), this comic melodrama celebrates the gauzy "confession film" tearjerkers of early 1930s "pre-Code" cinema, such as The Sin of Madelon Claudet, Frisco Jenny, and Madame X.