February 18, 2020

Episode #23 - Director Carl Andress Interview

54 minutes

On this episode of Baring It All with Call Me Adam, I am recording at The Houdini Museum in NYC with Director Carl Andress, whose long time collaboration with Tony nominee Charles Busch is continuing at the Cherry Lane Theatre with Charles' hilarious new show The Confession of Lily Dare, running through March 5.

The Confession of Lily Dare is part of Primary Stages 35th Anniversary Season. 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—all while hiding her undying devotion to the child she was forced to abandon. 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.

The Confession of Lily Dare will play at The Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street) through March 5, 2020.

More on Carl:

Carl Andress is an American theater director whose credits include the world premieres of Charles Busch’s critically acclaimed comedies, such as: The Confession of Lily Dare (Theater for the New City, Cherry Lane Theatre with Primary Stages in 2020); The Tribute Artist (Primary Stages); The Divine Sister (Soho Playhouse, Theater for the New City, Bucks County Playhouse, LA TheaterWorks); The Third Story starring Kathleen Turner (MCC Theater, La Jolla Playhouse); Charles Busch's Cleopatra and Judith of Bethulia (Theater for the New City, GPR Records); Die! Mommie Die! (New World Stages, LA TheaterWorks); Queen Amarantha (WPA Theater); Bunnicula (DR2 Theater, TheaterWorks USA); and Shanghai Moon (Drama Dept., Bay Street Theater, Theater for the New City).

Carl is the director of such plays as FAKE by Carmen Pelaez (Colony Theater, Miami New Drama), Still at Risk by Tim Pinckney (Theater for the City), Matthew Lombardo's Who's Holiday! starring Lesli Margherita (Westside Theater); Joe Godfrey's Romance Language (Ars Nova); Crush the Infamous Thing - the Adventures of the Hollywood Four (Coconut Grove Playhouse); My Fair Lady (Tent Theater); Paul Rudnick's I Hate Hamlet (Dorset Theater Festival); Carmen Pelaez's Rum & Coke (FringeNYC, Abingdon Theater); and Douglas Carter Beane’s The Cartells (Drama Dept.).

Other credits include the New York concert premieres of Kander, Ebb and McNally's musical, The Visit, starring Chita Rivera and John Cullum (Ambassador Theater); Sheldon Harnick and Joe Raposo’s A Wonderful Life (Shubert Theater); Charles Busch & Julie Halston Together on Broadway (Music Box Theater); Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (Actors Fund); The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife (Paper Mill Playhouse; Coconut Grove Playhouse; Royal Poinciana Playhouse); the annual Times Square Angel (Theater for the New City); It's Not My Fault, It Was On Fire When I Got There (FringeNYC, Theater for the New City); Tenderloin, Harold & Maude, I Love My Wife and The Mad Show (all for “Musicals in Mufti” – York Theater Co.); Here's to the Girls! and Being Comden & Green (Lyrics & Lyricists – 92nd Street Y); numerous galas and special events, including the annual Broadway on the Boardwalk concert series in Atlantic City, Valley of the Dolls and A Party for Comden & Green for The Actor’s Fund. Carl is also the co-writer and costar of the independent feature, A Very Serious Person (Tribeca Film Festival, available on DVD).