Last week I made a rare voyage out of my apartment to see the off-Broadway smash Die Mommie Die!, which features playwright Charles Busch in the lead role as washed-up chanteuse Angela Arden and none other than Van Hansis (who of course plays As the World Turns' lovable gay teen Luke Snyder) as Lance Sussman, Angela's horny, drug-addled gay son.

I had the chance to speak with both Hansis and Busch after the uproarious performance, and of course will share with you what I learned from both (check back for the Busch interview, especially if you're an OZ fan or caught Busch's short stint on One Life to Live!).

Van shared some scoop on what's up with our favorite Oakdale gay teen (hint: he's out of the chair!), and discussed stage vs. TV, the various industry strikes, and whether Lily or Angela is the better mother.

Enjoy!

AfterElton.com: I have some kind of fun news ... we're announcing the results of this big poll we did at AfterElton.com of the best gay TV characters of all time, voted on by our readers ... and Luke placed near the top.
Van Hansis: Are you serious?

AE: Yep.
VH: Of all time, are you kidding me?

AE: Well, you had a landmark moment this year.
VH: That's awesome.

AE: Luke and Noah both made it.
VH: Really! (whispers) Am I above Noah?

AE: You are.
VH: He's newer.

AE: Well, he went through that rough patch, drinking out of a paper bag and all that.
VH: Oh, I did that in 2004. I got drunk on eggnog!

AE: Maybe he needs to push someone down the stairs!
VH: Yeah, seriously!

• The New York Times' Ben Brantley has mostly glowing things to say about Charles Busch's Die Mommie Die! Alas, he doesn't say anything about Van Hansis!

• Out Aussie singer Darren Hayes causes a minor ruckus trying to update his blog. I can SO relate!

• Queerty interviews the always hilarious and insightful Dan Savage.
  

• Stephen Fry is filming a documentary about driving across America and wants you to snap pictures of his car if you see him. I guess this means he's too cheap to hire his own publicists.
  

• Lance Bass will be in New York, New Jersey, Chicago and elsewhere to promote his autobiography which is out tomorrow.

• If this trashy British magazine just LOVES Mark Indelicato then what's with the tacky pictures?

Here's a special Friday treat for all the Van Hansis fans out there: We just got the first pics of the blonder half of everyone's favorite gay-teen-playing As the World Turns acting duo in his Off-Broadway debut in Charles Busch's hilarious Die Mommie Die!

Currently in previews, the show opens Sunday October 21st and runs through February (which must be exhausting for Van -- probably not a bad thing that he's doing his scenes from in or beneath a hospital bed these days!), and you can get tickets and keep tabs on the show over here. For those who haven't seen the play or the 2003 film version, it's kind of a retro Hollywood version of The Oresteia, with two children seeking to avenge their father after their fame-hungry mother poisons him with a suppository. (Yes, you read that right.) Van plays Lance, the gay son who was kicked out of boarding school for ... well, you can probably imagine.

More great pics of Van, Charles, and the rest of the cast after the jump!

According to Playbill, the actor playing our favorite gay Oakdale resident, Van Hansis, is joining the cast of a revival of Charles Busch's Die Mommie, Die!, which begins previews at New World Stages October 10th and officially opens October 21. Hansis will play "Lance," disturbed son of "Angela Arden" (played in drag by Charles Busch).

If you haven't already seen the play (or the movie), here's the plot:

A comedy-thriller steeped in the glamour of 1960s Hollywood, Die Mommie Die! tells the story of Angela Arden's hateful marriage to film producer Sol Sussman . Desperate to find happiness with her younger lover, an out-of-work TV actor named Tony Parker, Angela gruesomely murders her husband with the aid of a poisoned suppository. In a plot that reflects Greek tragedy as well as Hollywood kitsch, Angela's manipulative daughter, Edith, convinces her "emotionally disturbed" brother, Lance (played by Hansis), that together they must avenge their father's death—by killing their mother.

With his storyline heating up on As The World Turns, we wonder that the actor had time in his busy schedule to play yet another conflicted gay youth. We're not complaining though!

Check out the trailer for the movie version (which featured Stark Sands in Hansis' role) after the jump.