Mary Testa and More Complete the Cast for GALAS at Little Island

Little Island has revealed the complete cast and creative team for Galas, the final production in their 2025 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.
 
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.
 
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.