Galas

When playwright Charles Ludlam invented the iconic opera singer at the center of his ridiculous comedy Galas, he likely never imagined a real prima donna in the role. With Anthony Roth Costanzo taking the stage in Eric Ting’s new production, the dream Ludlam never dreamed comes true. As the titular Maria Magdalena Galas (rhymes with Callas), Costanzo embodies extravagance, camp, and diva, but—with his famous countertenor shimmering between the moments of absurdity—opens his heart and lays bare to us both the beauty and the pain pumping through the veins of any great artist.

Joining Costanzo are performance artist Carmelita Tropicana as Giovanni Baptista Mercanteggini, three-time Tony Award nominee Mary Testa as Bruna Lina Rasta, Caleb Eberhart as Aristotle Plato Socrates Odysseus and Statuesque Beauty, Erin Markey as Athina Odysseus, Patricia Black as Hüre von Hoyden, Samora la Perdida as Pope Sixtus VII, Fritalini, and Ilka Winterhalter, Austin Durant as Prelate and Ghingheri, and Jeremy Rafal as Franco Cogliones, Ticket Seller, and Waiter in Train Station.