Die, Mommie, Die! is a 1999 comedic play written by Charles Busch, who also plays the lead role (in drag). Partly spoof and partly homage, it draws heavily on the tropes and themes of American "Grande Dame Guignol" movies from the 1950s and 1960s that featured strong, sometimes dominating female leads, such as those by Bette Davis (Dead Ringer), Joan Crawford (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?), and Lana Turner (Portrait in Black). It was adapted ...
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Die, Mommie, Die! is a 1999 comedic play written by Charles Busch, who also plays the lead role (in drag). Partly spoof and partly homage, it draws heavily on the tropes and themes of American "Grande Dame Guignol" movies from the 1950s and 1960s that featured strong, sometimes dominating female leads, such as those by Bette Davis (Dead Ringer), Joan Crawford (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?), and Lana Turner (Portrait in Black). It was adapted for film in 2003 under the same name; Charles Busch wrote the screenplay and it was directed by Mark Rucker. Busch's 40+ costumes were designed by Bottari and Case, his longtime costume designers who are award winning New York theatre costume and set designers
The movie opens with Angela Arden (Charles Busch) kneeling in front of her twin sister Barbara's grave. Angela is a lounge singer who is attempting to resuscitate her floundering career. She's unhappily married to her movie-director husband Sol Sussman (Philip Baker Hall), who is always...
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