An old-fashioned farce. A military mystery. A story of love for family. And an account of scandal and slander.

All of these will be brought to life in the second annual American Voices: Drama, Dialogue, Downtown play reading series presented by The Wang Center for the Performing Arts and the Poduska Family Foundation.

The four-play readings series at The Shubert Theatre will be held on select Monday nights at 7:00 p.m.: Thornton Wilder’s “The Matchmaker,” November 22; Charles Fuller’s “A Soldier’s Play,” March 7; Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons,” May 16; and Lillian Hellman’s “The Children’s Hour,” on a date yet to be announced in June. Performances will take place in the Shubert's intimate-seating configuration, which debuted last year. A short question and answer session will follow each reading.

First up, on Monday, November 22 at 7:00 p.m. is “The Matchmaker,” featuring female impersonator Charles Busch in the role of Dolly Levi. In Thornton Wilder’s old-fashioned farce, Dolly is a Yonkers, New York, matchmaker who arranges the marriages of three young couples while tricking her way into the heart of the wealthy curmudgeon Horace Vandergelder.  This is the play upon which the Broadway musical “Hello Dolly!” is based.

Charles Busch is the author and star of such plays as “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, won Mr. Busch the Outer Circle Critics John Gassner Award and received a Tony nomination for Best Play.  He also 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.

Director Steven Maler is the founding Artistic Director of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and VP of Artistic Programming at The Wang Center for the Performing Arts. He most recently directed “Much Ado About Nothing” on Boston Common, preceded by “Macbeth” and the critically acclaimed opera “Powder Her Face.”

In last winter’s inaugural season of American Voices, four plays were read, including Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” which featured Tony Award winner Denis O’Hare, Karen MacDonald, Marguerite Stimpson and Trey Burvant; August Wilson’s Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winner “Fences,” read by Tony Award-winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Jacqui Parker and Baron Kelly; David Mamet’s “American Buffalo,” which featured Frederick Weller, Ted Reinstein and Pedro Pascal; and Sam Shepard’s classic comedy, “True West,” read by noted stage, TV and film actor Paul Rudd, Jonno Roberts, Will LeBow and Bobbie Steinbach.

Audience members who attend "The Matchmaker" are invited to register for a free acting master class on Tuesday, November 23, presented by Suskind Young At Arts, The Wang Center’s education department. The master class will be led by professional actors and directors and is open to participants of all acting abilities 14 years and older. Participants will experience intensive acting exercises while doing scene work from the play. Registration is first-come, first-served and will be held during intermission at the reading. Participants must attend the play reading to register; advance registration is not available.

All American Voices performances are at 7:00 p.m. at The Shubert Theatre. Tickets priced at $10.00 for general admission, $5.00 for college students and seniors, and free to Wang Center members, are on sale at The Shubert Theatre Box Office, 265 Tremont Street, Boston, online at www.wangcenter.org, or by calling Telecharge at 1-800-447-7400.

-- OnStage Boston

11/05/04