Charles Busch at 54 Below

"I love him in his plays, not so much his cabaret shows," one of my best friends, a true connoisseur of all things drag, cabaret and Broadway and an unabashed Charles Busch fan, told me when I mentioned that the legendary Downtown diva would be once again appearing at 54 Below.

At this point in his career, Busch is one of the few drag performers to whom "legendary" really can be applied, without irony or tongue implanted in cheek. From off-off-Broadway, beginning with the hit "Vampire Lesbians of Sodom," and through a remarkable string of film spoofs (two of them, "Die, Mommie, Die!" and "Psycho Beach Party" themselves turned into films), to his highly successful Broadway playwrighting debut, "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife," Busch has forged a unique place in New York's theater pantheon.

Just as his plays have taken him from the East Village alternative scene of the 1980s to Broadway and Hollywood, Busch himself has traveled to the point where the major Uptown critics treat him as a bona fide major talent, if not downright genius. Busch's forte is sending up the great ladies of the screen like Greer Garson and Joan Crawford. But while definitely campy, there's a real intelligence behind the broad gestures and one-liners. His plays and his impersonations, however, are light years ahead of the silly, vulgar slapstick of most drag spoofs. Think Carol Burnett, not Lady Bunny.

As he showed in his most recent play, "The Divine Sister," Busch is equally talented as a composer of songs that are every bit as hilarious and spot-on as his dialogue. Earlier this year, I got the chance to catch Busch as a nightclub performer at 54 Below. This downstairs venue, the city's one major cabaret that feels as cozy as a Grove Street piano bar, is perfect for a Downtown diva playing Midtown.

This time around, Charles Busch at 54 Below decided to play it straight. Not in the gender sense. He was wearing a wig, frilly lounge pants and a diaphanous shawl that he hoped came off as Diana Ross, not "Golden Girls" (more Stevie Nicks, if you ask me). But Busch is as far from the conventional image of a drag queen as his theater pieces are from throwaway drag routines.

Busch's shows normally defy easy categorization. That said, the Oct. 26 show adhered much more closely to a conventional evening of cabaret than his January outing. For the most part, he chose to perform the songs straight -- that is, no business. The repertoire was, for the most part, good ones, little-heard film theme songs or from Broadway shows.

It was when he ventured into well-trod territory, such as Irving Berlin's "They Say It's Wonderful" from "Annie Get Your Gun" that the evening wobbled a bit. It's not that Busch can't deliver a song; this guy could put over anything by Frank Wildhorn (no small feat, that). But he's a belter, with a voice more suited to brassy show tunes than ballads or a song as whimsical as "Those Were the Days."

Busch announced that this was a new show, but thankfully, he left in some bits like his Jewish housewife diva's patter during her triumphant Monday afternoon gig at Don't Tell Mama. And his ad libbing during accompanist Tom Judson's one solo was every bit as scene stealing.

Judson, who is not only a terrific piano player, but a total hottie (you may have enjoyed some of his roles in male adult art films), has an easygoing charm that came across much better this time around. His performance of the theme from the 1957 Civil War film "Raintree County" took an otherwise forgettable Hollywood song and made it poignant and riveting --�considerably leavened, thank God, by Busch's antics.

If there wasn't as much patter as I would have liked, there were hilarious anecdotes about Ginger Rogers, Maxine Andrews of the Andrews Sisters and songwriter Marilyn Bergman. If the show had a theme, it was how profoundly Broadway shows he saw as a youngster still influence and inform his artistry.

At this point in his career, I don't think Busch is capable of not being completely entertaining. And so he was here. If you only know Busch from the theater, it's well worth making the effort to catch Busch the cabaret singer. It gives him the opportunity to drop the great lady theatrical persona, and it gives us a window into the mind and talent of an inspired entertainer.

By dismissing Busch the cabaret performer, my friend is missing an integral part of the Busch onstage persona. Don't make the same mistake and try to catch him the next time he drops by 54 Below.