Theater Stalwarts Robert Wilson and Charles Busch Named to ‘Out 100’ List

Avant-garde director Robert Wilson and playwright/actor Charles Busch have been named to Out Magazine’s 2011 “Out 100,” joining previously announced Broadway actors Rory O’Malley (The Book of Mormon), Matt Doyle (War Horse) and Colman Domingo (The Scottsboro Boys), along with Milk and 8 scribe Dustin Lance Black. The winners are featured in photos “inspired by iconic portraits of the 20th century.”

The “Out 100” honors the most inspiring gay artists of the year. Prolific director and theater-maker Wilson, 70, created the seminal 1970s opera Einstein on the Beach with Philip Glass, and has since collaborated with everyone from Lou Reed, David Byrne and Rufus Wainwright to Marina Abramovic and William S. Burroughs.

Busch first attracted attention in the early '80s by transforming himself as a campy female impersonator in his comic play Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and went on to earn Tony nominations for writing The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife in 2000. This year, Busch performed in a nun’s wimple in his play Divine Sister and saw his play Olive and the Bitter Herbs on the off-Broadway stage.

Other previously announced members of the 2011 “Out 100” are The Normal Heart playwright Larry Kramer and performers Justin Vivian Bond (Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway), Sandra Bernhard and Dancing With the Stars contestant Chaz Bono, as well as Tony winner Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q) and up-and-coming playwright Stephen Karam.