COMPLETE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR “GALAS” AT LITTLE ISLAND
Press Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Lee Abrahamian / Ellie Detweiler / Abby Kelley
rick@omdkc.com / lee.abrahamian@icloud.com / ellie@omdkc.com / abby@omdkc.com
212 695 7400
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE
LITTLE ISLAND
ANNOUNCES COMPLETE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM
JOINING COUNTERTENOR ANTHONY ROTH COSTANZO IN
“GALAS”
THE FINAL PRODUCTION OF THE 2025 SUMMER SEASON
BEGINS PERFORMANCES ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
New York, NY (August 15, 2025) — Today, Little Island announced the complete cast and creative team for Galas, the final production in their 2025 sold-out summer season starring countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo as ‘Maria Magdalena Galas’ in the reinvented production of Charles Ludlam’s 1983 ridiculous take on of the life of opera star Maria Callas running in The Amph at Little Island from September 6-28, 2025 with an opening night on Friday, September 12.
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/Statuesque Beauty,’ Erin Markey as ‘Athina Odysseus,’ Patricia Black as ‘Hüre von Hoyden,’ Samora la Perdida as ‘Pope Sixtus VII/Fritalini/Ilka Winterhalter,’ Austin Durant as ‘Prelate/Ghingheri,’ and Jeremy Rafal as ‘Franco Cogliones/Ticket Seller/Waiter in Train Station.’
The creative team for Galas includes direction by Eric Ting, choreography by Raja Feather Kelly, additional music selections by Anthony Roth Costanzo, scenic design by Mimi Lien, costume design by Hahnji Jang, Anthony Roth Costanzo’s costumes by Jackson Wiederhoeft, lighting design by Jiyoun Chang, sound design by Tei Blow, hair and wig design by Amanda Miller, makeup design by James Kaliardos, dialect coaching by Deborah Hecht, with casting by Taylor Williams, CSA. Mario-Mars Wolfe will serve as production stage manager.
To download headshots, click here.
When playwright Charles Ludlam invented the iconic opera singer at the center of his ridiculous comedy Galas (rhymes with Callas), 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, 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.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit https://littleisland.org/event/galas/2025-09-06/.
Sitting directly in the Hudson River itself, Little Island opened in May 2021 and has since been enjoyed by more than 6 million visitors. In 2013, Barry Diller, in partnership with Hudson River Park Trust leadership, embarked on the unique opportunity to envision a solution for the repair and reactivation of Pier 54, which had been badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy. The park was designed as an entirely new type of public space for New York, one that would create an immersive experience of nature and art. Born from a collaboration of the UK-based Heatherwick Studio and the New York-based landscape architecture firm MNLA, led by Signe Nielsen, the park’s imaginative design offers all New Yorkers and visitors a new public space that is dynamic, captivating, and restorative.
Zack Winokur is Producing Artistic Director of the 2025 summer season at Little Island, which is made possible by a gift from The Diller – von Furstenberg Family Foundation.
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