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Playwright and performer Charles Busch will receive the Bistro Award for Creative Artistry March 9 at the Gotham Comedy Club. The Tony nominee for The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife and creator of The Divine Sister and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom currently stars in his The Confessions of Lily Dare, which opened January 29 at Primary Stages.
Busch joins the previously announced lifetime achievement honorees, Tony-nominated songwriting duo Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire (Baby, Big).
Also receiving honors at the 35th annual ceremony are Lorna Dallas, Michele Brourman, Aisha de Haas, Spencer Day, Gabrielle Stravelli, Nancy McGraw, Gretchen Reinhagen, Elizabeth Ward Land, and Stephanie Trudeau. Previous individual Bistro Award winners Sean Harkness, Lina Koutrakos, and Marcus Simeone will receive the award for Best Musical Group. This year’s Ira Eaker Special Achievement Award—given to an outstanding performer on the rise and named after Back Stage’s co-founder and first cabaret critic—goes to Jack Bartholet.
Joanne Halev will be honored for her debut show Like a Perfumed Woman, while vocalist Sue Matsuki and musical director-pianist Gregory Toroian, who have been working together for 25 years, will receive an award for their longtime collaboration.
This year's ceremony will be directed by League of Professional Theatre Women Co-President Shellen Lubin. Sherry Eaker producer of the event since its inception, heads up the awards committee, which includes critics Gerry Geddes, Roy Sander, Robert Windeler, and Mark Dundas Wood.
For more information, visit BistroAwards.com.
Busch has been a special guest performer on Playbill Travel’s Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Cabins are now on sale for Broadway in the Great Northwest, Playbill Travel’s first domestic cruise featuring Kate Baldwin, Tedd Firth, Aaron Lazar, and Beth Leavel (April 26–May 4, 2020), and for Broadway on the Mediterranean (August 31–September 7, 2020), featuring Audra McDonald, Will Swenson, Gavin Creel, Caissie Levy, and Lindsay Mendez, and for Broadway on the Nile (December 27, 2020–January 7, 2021) and Broadway on the Caribbean (February 15–22, 2021), with performers soon to be announced. To book a suite or stateroom, call Playbill Travel at 866-455-6789 or visit PlaybillTravel.com.
