Ari, Hansis, Nielsen, et al. to Join Busch in Die Mommie Die!

Bob Ari, Van Hansis, Chris Hoch, Ashley Morris, and Kristine Nielsen will join Charles Busch in his play Die Mommie Die! at New World Stages, October 10-February 17. The production, which will officially open on October 21, will be directed by Carl Andress.

Busch will play Angela Arden, a fallen pop diva who decides to murder her husband, film producer Sol Sussman (Ari), with the help of her younger lover, actor Tony Parker (Hoch). After Sol’s death, Angela’s manipulative daughter, Edith (Morris), convinces her “emotionally disturbed” brother Lance (Hansis) that they must avenge their father’s death by killing their mother. Nielsen will play the Sussman’s live-in domestic, Bootsie Carp.

Ari’s Broadway credits include The Man Who Came to Dinner and Bells Are Ringing. Hansis currently plays gay teen Luke Snyder on the CBS daytime drama As The World Turns. Hoch was most recently seen on Broadway in Spamalot. Morris is making her Off-Broadway debut. Neilsen, an Obie-winning actress, starred earlier this year in Busch’s Our Leading Lady at Manhattan Theatre Club.

The show’s creative team includes Michael Anania (sets), Jessica Jahn (costumes), Ben Stanton (lighting), and Lewis Flinn (sound/music composition). Busch’s costumes will be designed by Michael Bottari and Ron Case, and will feature some of the 40 costumes they designed for the 2003 film version, which starred Busch, Jason Priestley, Stark Sands, Nora Dunn, Natasha Lyonne, and Frances Conroy.