Tasha Kohl and Stephani Rascoe
In honor of Pegasus Theatre’s 30th anniversary, we are counting down our 30 favorite productions in chronological order. The top 30 countdown continues with #24: Vampire Lesbians of Sodom by Charles Busch, a one-act play featuring a drag queen in one of the two starring roles!
Vampire Lesbians of Sodom was a one-act play so we paired it with Sleeping Beauty or Coma, also by Busch. But it was Vampire Lesbians that received top billing as our “Easter show”. And we were lucky enough to cast the talented Tasha Kohl in one of the starring roles! (Ms. Kohl had been Miss Gay America just three years earlier.)
The title might lead you to believe that the show was very provocative and sexual, but nothing could be further from the truth. It was a frothy, burlesque romp through the ages, as two fueding vampiresses battled for supremacy, first in ancient Sodom, then in 1920s Hollywood, and finally in 1980s Las Vegas. Still, it could be used as inspiration for some adult party ideas with that kind of theme!
New York reviews were mixed. After all, Busch himself recognized that the play was meant to entertain and nothing more! Horrors! We were devoting valuable stage time to “entertainment”, something many critics sneer at.
Audiences, however, laughed! A lot. And they told their friends. Who told their friends. It was soon an audience favorite. We were honored to have lifted people out of the stresses of everyday life, even if just for two hours, and to have given them an evening of belly laughs. Sometimes that is enough.