QUEER THEATRE AND THE LEGACY OF CAL YEOMANS ALSO BY ROBERT A. SCHANKE Angels in the American Theatre: Patrons, Patronage, and Philanthropy The Gay and Lesbian Theatrical Legacy, coedited by Billy J. Harbin and Kim Marra That Furious Lesbian: The Story of Mercedes de Acosta Women in Turmoil: Six Plays by Mercedes de Acosta Staging Desire: Queer Readings of American Theater History, coedited by Kim Marra Passing Performances: Queer Readings of Leading Players in American Theater History, coedited by Kim Marra Shattered Applause: The Lives of Eva Le Gallienne Eva Le Gallienne: A Bio-Bibliography Ibsen in America: A Century of Change QUEER THEATRE AND THE LEGACY OF CAL YEOMANS Robert A. Schanke QUEER THEATRE AND THE LEGACY OF CAL YEOMANS Copyright © Robert A. Schanke, 2011. Softcover reprint of the original edition 2011 978-0-230-11575-0 All rights reserved. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-29678-1 ISBN 978-0-230-11988-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230119888 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schanke, Robert A., 1940– Queer theatre and the legacy of Cal Yeomans / Robert A. Schanke. p. cm. 1. Gay theater—United States. 2. Homosexuality and theater. 3. Sex in the theater. 4. Yeomans, Cal, 1938–2001 I. Title. PN2270.G39S33 2011 812Ј.54—dc22 2011002900 [B] A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: August 2011 In the fall of 2010, we learned of nine teenagers who ended their lives rather than face their bullies. And, of course, there were more. This book is dedicated to all LGBT students who are trying to survive. CONTENTS List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Preface xv 1. “Horrible Misfit” 1 2. “What a Wondrous Onslaught” 17 3. “Got the Dream, Yeah, But Not the Guts” 37 4. “Crazy as a Fucking Loon” 59 5. “I Am a Name” 81 6. “Pornography? Why Not?” 107 7. “Get Rid of That Gay Stuff” 129 8. “I Do Not Deathfuck” 159 9. “Living with a Death Sentence” 177 10. “The Rap of Ignorance” 197 Notes 213 Index 231 ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1 Bobby Wilder, Ralph Walker, and Cal Yeomans dressed for a variety show 15 2.1 Cal in a production meeting at Wingspread Summer Theatre 22 2.2 Cal’s headshot for theatre auditions 25 4.1 Tom Smith 77 5.1 Cal at his mobile home 83 5.2 Jon Porch 89 5.3 Flyer advertising Male Rites 91 5.4 Photograph of Jim (Randy Bennett) relaxing in the arms of Mike (Joe Cappetta), used in New York for flyers, program covers, and souvenir T-shirts 97 6.1 Program cover for the New York world premiere of Sunsets 111 6.2 Final scene of In the Shadow of a Rainbow 112 7.1 Cal with his mother in 1982 136 7.2 Grady McClendon 137 7.3 Vern Gransden 140 7.4 Michael Haykin 143 7.5 Robert Chelsea, photographed by Cal Yeomans 145 7.6 Ellen Stewart wearing the coral necklace Cal gave her 149 7.7 Flyer promoting Cal’s reading in Los Angeles 156 7.8 A photograph by Cal Yeomans that appeared on the front cover of Christopher Street, issue #114 157 8.1 Eric Garber at his home in Keystone Heights 172 10.1 Card made by Cal, featuring his email address and a poster in the background of porn star Scott O’Hara 199 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ince Cal Yeomans so methodically saved over forty years of his per- Ssonal journals, as well as thousands of letters he had received and cop- ies of letters he had written, he must have hoped that one day someone would use the gold mine of documents he donated to the University of Florida library and write his biography. I am sure that he would agree that I need to thank and acknowledge all of the people who helped to make this book possible. Jack Barnhart, for his love and his use of the red pen as he exam- ined every word of the manuscript. His constant encouragement that my manuscript would find a publisher kept me going. I am extremely grateful to the following, who helped bring this book to fruition: Samantha Hasey, Associate Editor at Palgrave Macmillan, who saw the potential in the original draft of the manuscript and shepherded it to publication. Kim Marra and Meredith Alexander, for suggesting I write the book. Patrick Phillips, for commenting on early drafts of each chapter. Rich Joens, for helping me understand Cal’s bipolar disorder. Scott Smith, Rob Dillard, Karen Wendt, Fred and Sandie Nelson, for reading and responding to the Preface. Florence Babb, the Vada Yeomans Professor at the University of Florida, and her partner, Vicki Rovine, who were the first ones to recognize the value of the Cal Yeomans Collection. Emily Armstrong, Tim and Martha Hoggard, for sharing their memories of living near Cal. Donald Arrington, Fred Chappell, Fergus Currie, Patrika Darbo, Richard Fallon, Grainger Hines, Ellen Stewart, and Jeff Weiss, for sharing memories of Cal and of working with him on theatre projects. Victor Bumbalo, for expressing his appreciation of Robert Chesley and Cal. xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Gary Bukovnik, Mary Will Burton nee Woodard, Mark I. Chester, Mark Cowan, Bruce Emerton, Michael Haykin, Joe Hendrix, Jonah Hendrix, Dana Ivey, Diamond Lil, Bruce McCoy, Martin Palmer, Michael Parker, Robert Patrick, Frank Regan, Zacq Reid, Troy Sanders, Chris Trohimchuk, David Williams, Chuck Woods, and Peter Zettler, for sharing their memories of Cal. Jacques-Pierre Caussin, Bruce Emerton, Vern Gransden, and Jon Wesley Porch, for sharing recollections of their relationship with Cal. The Robert Chesley Foundation, for granting permission to quote from Chesley’s letters and writings. Bud Coleman, Alan Sikes, and Lionel Walsh, for presenting a staged read- ing of Richmond Jim at the 2008 national convention of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education in Denver, and Bud Coleman for presenting a staged reading of The Line Forms to the Rear at the 2009 national convention in New York City. Billy Cunningham, John Glines, Larry Hough, John Karr, Evan Senreich, Tom Starace, Kenneth Talberth, and Doric Wilson, for sharing their memories of Richmond Jim and Sunsets: A Beach Trilogy. Dr. Phillip Cushman, for sharing his notes about his thirty years of coun- seling Cal. Ruth Drier, for sharing her memories of Cal when he lived in Amsterdam. Roger Carol Dumas and Byron Nichols, for sharing their memories of childhood friendships with Cal in Crystal River. Joan Engelhaupt and Thomas Kuhner, Robert Chesley’s sister and brother, for supplying information about her brother and his plays. Norma Ferdon Eder, for sharing her memories of her brother and Cal’s good friend, Johnny Ferdon. Cal’s cousins John Grannan, Sid Kennedy, and Bobby Wilder, for sharing their memories of Cal and of his family. Kelly Hill, for providing information about the plays of Robert Chesley. James F. Hudson, for sharing his memories of Cal in high school while he was the principal. Bill Kaiser, founder of The Purple Circuit, for providing information about Cal’s readings and exhibits in California. Michael Kearns, for sharing his memories of the impact of AIDS on gay theatre and his memories of Cal. Anne Levins, for sharing her memories of Cal’s mother, Vada Yeomans. John McGorty, Peter Ware, and Jeff Wentzel, for sharing their memories of Cal during his last few years in New York. Andy Mangels, Susie Shepherd, and Kaite Chase, for providing informa- tion about a production of Cal’s Sunsets in Portland, OR, in 1990. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii Marlene Oberst, for sharing her stories of Cal’s art collecting. Jerry Sitton, Karen Sitton, and Eglé Gatins Weiland, for sharing their memories of the tragic murder of Cal’s friend, Jim Sitton. Rev. L.B. Thomason, for sharing his memories of Cal and his mother, Miss Vada. Mark Thompson, former editor of The Advocate, for sharing his memories of Cal’s plays. John H. Williams, for sharing information about the family finances. Very special thanks to Eric Garber and Grady McClendon. This book could not have been written without their help. I also wish to acknowledge the assistance I received from many others: Kathy Turner Thompson, Museum Services Director, Citrus County (FL) Historical Society; James Cusick, Curator of the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History; Roger Goettleman, director of Crystal River Redevelopment Agency, and his wife Lois; Ozzie Rodriquez, archivist for Café La MaMa; Lucky Lewis, librarian of the Crystal River High School; Edith Meeks, Executive Director of the HB Studio; Joanna Norman, Archives Supervisor, State Library & Archives of Florida; Bonnie Bonsall, Crystal River librarian; Deborah Mekeel, State Library of Florida; Nick Conroy, Program and Residency Manager, Atlantic Center for the Arts; Rebekah Kim, director of the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco; Naomi Rose-Mock, Acting Executive Director of the Tallahassee Little Theatre; Rick Storer, Executive Director of Leather Archives & Museum; David Holbrook, Manager of the Seagle Building in Gainesville, Florida. Very special thanks to James Liversidge, Curator of the Popular Culture Collections, and Carl Van Ness, Curator of Manuscripts and Archives; Florence M.