The second production of Primary Stages' 35th anniversary season is 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 her 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 and starring the legendary master of theatrical parody Charles Busch (Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Die Mommie Die, The Divine Sister) and directed by his long-time colleague Carl Andress. Here they celebrate the gauzy “confession film” tearjerkers of early 1930’s pre-code cinema, such as The Sin of Madelon Claudet, Frisco Jenny, and Madame X.
