Everett Quinton (#307) - February, 2011

While playing both a farmer and his wife in Red Bull Theatre Company's "The Witch of Edmonton", Everett Quinton talks about appearing in Jacobean drama and getting to watch the rest of the company at work when he's not on stage. He also talks about studying theatre at Hunter College after a stint in Thailand during the Vietnam War; meeting Ridiculous Theatrical Company founder Charles Ludlam without really understanding who Ludlam was; becoming Ludlam's life partner and a member of the Ridiculous Company's "outer circle" of artists; becoming an actor under the tutelage of Ludlam; coming into his own as a performer in such pieces as "Galas" and "The Mystery of Irma Vep", confessing he only really came to understand "Vep" 14 years after its debut, when he directed it in revival, even though he'd performed in it 331 times; how Quinton came to be a leading actor and the costume designer for the Ridiculous; the challenge of sustaining the troupe after Ludlam's death from AIDS in 1987, when he assumed the mantle of artistic director; whether he was able to expand his own theatrical horizons after Ludlam's passing; what it meant to become a working actor when the Ridiculous closed in 1997; having the opportunity to do work in regional theatres such as McCarter and The Shakespeare Theatre; and the experience of auditioning to play the Wicked Stepmother in a tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" when all of the other finalists were women. Original air date - February 16, 2011.