A Very Serious Person
World Premiere

A Very Serious Person

| USA | 97 MINUTES | English
Moviegoers familiar with Charles Busch's outrageous gender-bending stage parodies, such as Psycho Beach Party and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, will be pleasantly surprised by his feature directorial debut. A Very Serious Person is a sweet-natured coming-of-age tale, loosely based on director Charles Busch's life, which touches on profound issues of cultural identity and self-acceptance. Making a rare appearance out of drag, Busch (who co wrote the screenplay with frequent collaborator Carl Andress) steals the show as Jan, an effete Danish male nurse, who is charged to look after a terminally-ill woman (Polly Bergen) and her 12-year-old grandson over the course of a summer at the Jersey Shore. The distant and reserved Jan soon develops a friendship with the boy, whose love of show tunes and old Hollywood movies may presage his emerging sexuality. Feeling protective, Jan tries to put a damper on the lad's enthusiasms, aware that a very different life awaits him in Florida at summer's end, and that he had best start acting less like an embryonic queen and more like a "serious person." Thus, the film becomes less about the boy's encounters with homophobia and more about how the gay adults around him try to cocoon him from its effects. Newcomer P.J. Verhoest shines as the younger half of this charming duo, while Busch, the auteur, makes an effortless transition from high camp to conventional comedy-drama.

Cast & Credits
Directed by
Charles Busch
Charles Busch is the author and star of such plays as The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset, and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. His play The Tale of the Allergist's Wife won the Outer Critics' Circle John Gassner Award, as well as a Tony® nomination for Best Play. He wrote and starred in the film adaptations of his plays Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommie Die, the latter winning him the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2003, Mr. Busch received a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement. For two seasons, he appeared on the HBO series Oz and is the subject of a feature length documentary, The Lady in Question is Charles Busch, which premiered at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival. In 2003, he directed a short subject, Personal Assistant, for Showtime. A Very Serious Person marks his feature debut as a director.
* Rush Tickets available at venue except for
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The Rush system functions as a standby line that will form at the venue approximately one hour prior to scheduled start time. Admittance is based on availability and will begin roughly 10 minutes prior to program start time. Rush Tickets are the same price as advance tickets and are payable upon entry.

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