INTERVIEW: Theater legend Everett Quinton revives opera comedy ‘Galas’
Photo: From left, Everett Quinton, Shane Baker and Christopher Johnson star in the first-ever revival of Galas, by Charles Ludlam. Photo courtesy of Theo Cote / Provided by Glenna Freedman with permission.
Everett Quinton needs no introduction for those familiar with off-Broadway theater, the West Village, the story of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company or LGBTQ+ history of the past 50 years.
But here goes…
The legendary actor and director has been performing on stages in New York City and around the world for decades. He collaborated with Charles Ludlam and made a name for himself with RTC, a group dedicated to gender-bending theater that was equal parts radical and classical.
Together with Ludlam, his partner in life and on stage, Quinton crafted many memorable characters, including Bruna in the operatic comedy Galas (meant to rhyme with Callas). Now Quinton has decided to revive Galas, this time with himself in the title role of Maria Magdalena Galas.
The production comes to New York courtesy of Theatre at St. John’s and Yorick Theater Company. Performances on Christopher Street run until June 28.
The timing of Galas couldn’t have been more appropriate. The production is meant to elicit laughter from the audience but also celebrate World Pride and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprisings, which occurred just a few doors down in the West Village.
“We hooked up with Theater at St. John’s on Christopher Street, and Pastor Mark Erson there is creating this theater,” Quinton said in a recent phone interview. “He’s like the new Joe Cino, and I also belong to this group called the Yorick Theater. And we’ve done about two plays there, and last autumn, it just got suggested that we do this play as the 50th anniversary of Stonewall and World Pride Day, too. So that’s how it got suggested, and right now I’m trying to learn the lines. I’m a little sorry about that.”
Quinton said he has wonderful memories of the original production in the 1980s when Ludlam portrayed the central character. Those memories are so fond that Quinton is trying not to focus on any comparisons.
“That’s the problem,” he said with a laugh. “I’m comparing it to that, and I think, oh God, I hope I’m doing a good job. This is a play that kind of put me personally on the map. I got really nice reviews in it, and this was one of those breakthrough things for me.”
The breakthrough back then was when Quinton played the role of Bruna, the maid. He also was in charge of the costumes for the original production, and he remembers finding a beautiful ballgown in a local thrift shop. That became the dress for Ludlam as Galas.
The finished product in the 1980s was beautiful, Quinton said, and they are trying to capture some of that beauty again.
“I’m having a ball, which is coming down to the wire now,” he said. “We’re going to have a beautiful set. We’re going to have beautiful costumes, and the acting is so wonderful. And I’m very grateful for the crowd I’m working with now, the wonderful actors and watching people have fun. I’m enjoying it. It reminds me of Camille, [another Ludlam play]. It has that sweep. She’s not as vulnerable as Marguerite Gautier, but watching her fall from the height is touching. [I’m] trying to get her, get who she is. … I’ve been a pain in the ass in my life as well, so I can identify with that. It’s hard not to judge her, you know, because she has done some nasty things, but then I realize I have too in my day. I can’t wait to start soaring in this.”
Quinton recognizes the landmark nature of his work with the RTC. The same goes for the legacy of Ludlam, who died in the late 1980s. Their work together was highly influential, ushering in drag performances, societal change and acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community.
“I remember Charles being very grand,” Quinton said. “He was a brilliant comedian. … The thing about Charles, he liked people to keep up with him. He was good that way on sharing the spotlight, so I think I could keep up with him.”
As far as the influential bit, Quinton said he has gotten used to the praise of his role as a theater legend; however, he was quick to share that praise with the entire downtown theater scene. The so-called “ridiculous” movement emphasized camp, gender-bending portrayals, acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, social commentary and experimentation.
“I’m not amazed,” Quinton said of the legacy. “I got used to that years ago. I realized the reach that Charles had, the reach the whole ridiculous [movement] had, but Charles in particular. … Without Charles, there would be no Tootsie, maybe even Kinky Boots. None of that would have happened, and we would still be stuck in some old world thinking no, no, no. I’m very aware of it and grateful to have been part of something so influential. I remember people started using Ludlam as an adjective even when he was alive. They referred to things as the Ludlamization.”
At the time, when he was working with Ludlam, Quinton was a frightened actor and a self-avowed “pain in the ass.” However, he was able to get over his fear and start producing art with Ludlam and the company.
“I remember in ’76, I think it was, I replaced one of our actors, George Osterman, in Camille and went to Canada,” he said. “We went on tour to Canada, and it was actually where I got my first good review. And in the rehearsal, I was new to the role, so I was rehearsing with Charles. And I realized as I was sitting there, I was a kid, and I didn’t know much. And I thought this guy can leave you in the dust if you’re not careful. [But] I came up with my own theory of acting: It’s like a horse race; it’s not a competition. The horses are not competing; they’re just running. Charles encouraged you to keep up with him, and he went far.”
Quinton believes the downtown theater scene, of which he continues to be a vital member, had a lot of influence 50 years ago at the time of the Stonewall uprisings and the birth of the modern LGBTQ+ social movement. That’s perhaps what makes the revival of Galas so special.
“There were a lot of brave people out there, but there were also brave people on the stage,” he said. “When I think of how Ellen Stewart, [founder of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club], had to keep checking for the cops because you couldn’t do drag in those days. It was against the law, and to see those cabaret laws overturned at some point, I think that’s because of us.”
The main artery of the West Village was, and remains, Christopher Street, where Galas will be performed for the next few weeks. Quinton has seen the street change throughout the decades, from being a place of refuge for the LGBTQ+ community to being a cultural nexus that welcomes everyone into its embrace.
“I love it,” he said of Christopher Street. “It has changed. Christopher Street is not what it was. Christopher Street was like the Mecca. I was so glad to have found Christopher Street when I was a kid, and that’s different. … On 14th Street, back in the old days, you could costume a whole show. You could walk from Seventh Avenue, and by the time you got to Second Avenue, you would have at least half a show costumed. And that’s gone. That’s the thing I don’t like, but you manage. You get by. The Village is the Village. It’s the same pretty streets.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Galas, directed by and starring Everett Quinton, is currently playing through June 28 at the Theatre at St. John’s in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
