10 Things I Learned From (and About) 'Die, Mommie, Die.' They May Change Your Life.

I MISSED CHARLES BUSCH’S “Die, Mommie, Die.” (We punctuate the title, even if he doesn’t.) I didn’t know about the West Coast production. I missed the 2003 movie version. for reasons that are lost to the ages. When the play finally came to the New York stage in 2007, I was living in Paris. But now, at last, thanks to playsinthehouse.com, I have gotten to know Angela Arden and those who fiercely despise her.

I learned a lot. So can you.

1. HOLLYWOOD’S GOLDEN AGE COULD HAVE BEEN EVEN MORE GOLDEN. Busch, who wrote “Die, Mommie, Die” and plays our washed-up songbird protagonist, Angela Arden, is better at being Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Fontaine and Susan Hayward than any of them were. Angela was a beloved Hollywood singing star until the tragic, odd death of her twin sister, Barbara.

2. THE TYPICAL BEVERLY HILLS FAMILY IN 1967 HAD SIX MEMBERS. To wit: the movie-star mom, the producer dad, the teenage daughter, the gay son.(not pictured), the maid (Bootsie Carp, played with religious fervor by Ruth Williamson, bottom row, right) and the tennis pro.

3. AGE DOESN’T MATTER. Edith Sussman (Jennifer Cody) is the spoiled, promiscuous teenage daughter. Cody will be 50 later this year. And B.D. Wong, who plays Tony the tennis pro, will soon turn 60. We won’t mention Busch’s age, but he’s still playing glamour-45 effortlessly.

4. THESE “READINGS” ARE GETTING A LOT LESS BARE-BONES. “Die, Mommie, Die” has titles, music and even set design. .If there are six or nine or however-many frames on a screen, why shouldn’t some of them feature a pair of elegant green chairs?

5. PEOPLE ARE NOT WHO THEY SEEM. In so many ways.

6. DEAD PEOPLE AREN’T ALWAYS DEAD. And living people aren’t always living. At least one of this father-and-son pair (Willie Garson as Sol Sussman and Brandon Contreras as his son, Lance) will be the honored guest at a funeral before the play ends.

7. LSD IS A TRUTH SERUM. Poor, grand but vulnerable Angela is tricked — by her homicidal children — into dropping acid, and she immediately spills the beans. About herself. About her sister’s death. About battered dreams.

8. NEVER TRUST A TENNIS PRO. We’re not saying that Tony Parker (Wong) is sleeping with three different Sussmans. But we’re not saying he isn’t.

9. DIRTY WORDS ARE FUNNY. (If Busch has written the script, that is.)

10. THE “PLAYS IN THE HOUSE” AFTER-PARTY IS MUCH MORE FUN THAN A DULL OLD CURTAIN CALL. Here, cast members break character (after taking their virtual bows) to chat with the show’s hosts, James Wesley and Seth Rudetsky, in upper left frame. Carl Andress (center, top row) directed the show and narrates it.