The Tribute Artist ***

If you are not a fan of Charles Busch's brand of female impersonation or of the kind of silliness that is often based on vulgarity, you can skip this play and the rest of this review. If, on the other hand, you enjoy high camp, you'll want to get to 59E59 for his newest play's Primary Stages premiere. To call the plot "convoluted" would be to oversimplify it; "preposterous" is a closer fit. The characters are Adriana (Cynthia Harris), a dying dowager with a townhouse in Greenwich Village; Jimmy (Busch), a drag queen --- oops, forgive me, celebrity tribute artist -- who stays with Adriana when he is in town; Rita (Busch stalwart Julie Halston), their lesbian friend who is an unsuccessful real estate broker; Christina (Mary Bacon), Adriana's feckless estranged niece; Oliver (Keira Keeley), Christina's teenage son who until recently was Rachel; and Rodney (Jonathan Walker), Adriana's shady long-lost lover. The madness does not reach the inspired level of Busch's "The Divine Sister" and it drags in spots [pun intended] but there are lots of funny lines along the way. Anita Louizos's townhouse living room set is sumptuous, Gregory Gale's costumes are droll, and Katherine Carr's wigs are perfect. Carl Andress, Busch's long-time director, does the honors again here. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes including intermission.

Harrison, TX ***

(Please click on the title to see the entire review.)

This evening of three short plays by Horton Foote, now in previews at Primary Stages, is not on the same high level as The Orphans' Home Cycle or Dividing the Estate, but it does offer moments of pleasure. Only the location -- the fictionalized version of Foote's hometown where most of his works take place -- unites the three plays. The first, Blind Date, is an affectionately satirical sketch about an aunt trying to teach her visiting niece a lesson in charm before an arranged date. Although the sketch eventually runs out of steam, it is the most satisfying of the trio. The One-Armed Man, a short but brutal confrontation between an injured man and the boss he blames. presents a jarring and unpleasant contrast. The longest and most ambitious play, The Midnight Caller, vividly portrays the soul-sucking, circumscribed life of the residents of a boarding house and the disruption caused by the arrival of two newcomers. The cast of nine (Devon Abner, Mary Bacon, Jeremy Bobb, Alexander Cendese, Hallie Foote, Andrea Lynn Green, Jayne Houdyshell, Evan Jonigkeit, and Jenny Dare Paulin) are all excellent. Kaye Voyce's costumes clearly evoke the time and place. Marion Williams' set is also evocative, but falters a bit in the third play when a corner of the stage suddenly has to represent a bedroom. Pam MacKinnon's direction is smooth and direct. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes without an intermission.