Scarlet Masque Theatre Journal New Beginnings and Fond Farewells Vol. 1 | Page 13

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length film The Boys in the Band was released nationwide, with two homosexual men on the
poster with these two sentences as captions under each image of the two men: Today is
Harold’s birthday. This is his present.
The Faggot (1973) 4
The Judson Poets’ Theater was founded in 1961 by resident director Larry Kornfeld,
originally located in the same space as the choir loft of the Judson Memorial Church in
Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Kornfeld was previously an intern at the influential experimental
theater Living Theater in the 1950s. Under Kornfeld’s direction, the theater gave rise to an
eclectic mix of performances and shows that often cross-contaminated theatrical styles, mixing
high-brow and low-brow, experimental theater with traditional storytelling, etc. This wide appeal
made the theater increasingly successful throughout the decade, with productions oftentimes
transferring from the Off-Off Broadway Judson Poets’ Theater to Off Broadway theaters for
regular and extended runs. The original choir loft location became too compact for the
increasingly popular theater, and soon the theater came to occupy the same space as the 400-
person seating main sanctuary of the church. Kornfeld gave rise to the theater, but it was Al
Carmines who made the theater his own.
In a turn of events not dissimilar to that of The Boys in the Band playwright Mart
Crowley, Alvin Carmines came to the Judson Memorial Church after he graduated from
seminary school in 1961 to serve as associate minister, and to help with the development of the
newly found Judson Poets’ Theater alongside Larry Kornfeld. Kornfeld quickly discovered
Carmines’ penchant for composition and writing, often asking him to play for, compose for, and
act in many productions during the 1960s. This push towards creativity sparked an artistic fervor
in Carmines, who wrote and developed many works for the theater. By 1970, Carmines had
Elizabeth L. Wollman. 2013. Hard Times: The Adult Musical in 1970s New York City. New York:
Oxford University Press. 52-59.
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