Directed by Mark Rucker US, 2003, 35mm, 90 min. East Coast Premiere

Set in 1967 in a Technicolor saturated LA, this gloriously over-the-top hybrid of high camp and cocktail noir has more plot surprises than a martini twist. Semi-retired chanteuse Angela Arden (playwright/screenwriter Charles Busch), surviving twin of vaudeville act "The Arden Sisters", leads a pampered life as the not-so-happy wife of social-message movie producer Sol Sussman (Philip Baker Hall from Magnolia, Boogie Nights). Embroiled in a torrid affair with her tennis instructor, unemployed TV actor Tony Parker (Beverly Hills 90210's Jason Priestley), Angela also has to deal with the fact that her son Lance has just been kicked out of college for being (willingly) gang-banged by the (male) teaching staff. In addition, her daughter Edith (Natasha Lyonne from But I'm A Cheerleader), daddy's favorite, ridicules her mother's boozing and recreational drug use while scheming her demise.

The plot thickens when Sol, returning from Europe earlier than expected, discovers his wife's infidelity but refuses to grant her a divorce. One poisoned enema later, the family finds itself in an internal war when it is revealed that Daddy has left the bulk of his estate to loyal "Bible-quoting" maid Bootsie (Frances Conroy from Six Feet Under).

This debut film from veteran theater director Mark Rucker features fabulous costumes, extravagant sets and a divinely overwrought musical score. But it is the ensemble cast led by Charles Busch (who received a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance at this year's Sundance Film Festival) who bring this outrageously melodramatic parody to full life. Rucker and Busch combine inspiration from such Hollywood sudsters as Mildred Pierce starring Joan Crawford (1945), A Stolen Life with Bette Davis (1946) and Madame X featuring Lana Turner (1966) to move beyond mere drag - Busch in fact channels the greatest divas of yesteryear. Die Mommie Die will slip into your life, as one character so memorably puts it, "as easily as vermouth into gin".

Director Mark Rucker and actor Charles Busch will attend the screening and answer questions about the film after the screening

	Gusman Center for the Performing Arts 7:30pm Screening $26 Film Screening with MC Bruce Vilanch Only $101 Film Screening + Opening Night Gala Party at the City Club

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