Boyd Gaines to Direct Bucks County Playhouse's THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST'S WIFE, Summer 2013

Bucks County Playhouse has announced that Charles Busch's Tony Nominated play The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, directed by four-time Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines will be the final production of the 2013 Summer season. Performances run from Thursday, August 15th through Sunday, September 1st at the Bucks County Playhouse (70 South Main Street in New Hope, PA). The cast will be announced shortly.

Best known for his work as an actor, Director, Boyd Gaines is currently starring in Driving Miss Daisy alongside Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones in Australia. He has a total of five Tony Award nominations and has taken home the award four times. This is his directorial debut.

"One of my goals in reviving The Playhouse was to partner with extremely talented artists by giving them a chance to stretch their creative muscles. We are so excited to being doing exactly that with the magnificent Boyd Gaines," said Producing Director Jed Bernstein.

The Tale of the Allergist's Wife follows Marjorie Taub, a middle-aged Upper West Side Doctor's wife, who is devoted to mornings at the Whitney, afternoons at MOMA and evenings at BAM. Plunged into a mid-life crisis of Medea-like proportions, she's shaken out of her lethargy by the reappearance of a fascinating and somewhat mysterious childhood friend. "Tale of the Allergist's Wife, The" is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

Subscription packages including previously announced titles, Mame, starring Andrea McArdle and the Kander and Ebb revue, The World Goes Round are on sale now. For more information please visit bcptheater.org or call 215-862-2121.

Located 90 minutes from New York City, the Bucks County Playhouse opened in 1939 on the site of a grist mill dating from the late eighteenth century. Ironically, the structure was at that time in danger of demolition; however playwright Moss Hart and the local community rallied to save the building and re-opened it as a theatrical venue, which quickly became one of the country's most famous regional theaters, with a veritable who's who of American theatrical royalty including Kim Hunter, Helen Hayes, Kitty Carlisle, Colleen Dewhurst, Shirley Booth, Lillian Gish, June Lockhart, Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Bert Lahr, Leslie Nielsen and Walter Matthau and remained in continuous operation until December 2010.

Thanks to the Bridge Street Foundation, the non-profit family foundation of Kevin and Sherri Daugherty with Tanya Cooper as President, this beloved theatrical landmark was re-opened and celebrated on July 2, 2012, exactly 73 years and day from when it originally opened in 1939. The Bucks County Playhouse is located at 70 South Main Street in New Hope, PA.

Charles Busch (Playwright) is the author and star of such plays as The Divine Sister, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, which ran five years and is one of the longest running plays in Off-Broadway history. His play The Tale of the Allergist's Wife ran for 777 performances on Broadway and won Mr. Busch the Outer Circle Critics John Gassner Award and received a Tony nomination for Best Play. He wrote and starred in the film versions of his plays, Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommie Die, the latter of which won him the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2003, Mr. Busch received a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright. Mr. Busch made his directorial debut with the film A Very Serious Person, which premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won an honorable mention. He is also the subject of the documentary film The Lady in Question is Charles Busch.