Edward Gallardo papers

1910-2020 [bulk 1970s-2000s]

Edward Gallardo (born 1949 and raised in the South Bronx, New York) was an American writer, lyricist, and actor of Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Venezuelan descent.

Gallardo performed in Off-Off-Broadway shows while obtaining an associate degree from Bronx Community College and a bachelor's of arts degree in Theatre Arts from the City College of New York in 1973. Gallardo's first play Bernie was produced at the New York Theatre Ensemble in 1969. Two years later, the play was selected by the Paris Theater Market in France to be performed in Europe in both Paris, France, and Amsterdam in 1971. During the 1970s, Gallardo's plays In Another Part of the City, Cordelia, and Everybody Knows My Business (co-written with his sister Yolanda Gallardo) were produced Off-off Broadway. In 1975, the opera Waltz on a Merry-Go-Round (composed by Bruce Taub, libretto by Gallardo) premiered at the Little Theater in New York City. In 1976, Taub became Gallardo's domestic partner.

In the mid-1970s, Gallardo moved to Los Angeles, California with his younger sister actress Silvana Gallardo, and landed a co-starring role on the television series Baretta. His work on the series led to work on other television shows and movies including Hawaii 5-O, Charlie's Angels, Lou Grant, Serpico, M*A*S*H, and Killer on Board. After being cast in roles that were racist caricatures of Hispanic men, Gallardo became frustrated with the Hollywood film industry.

Gallardo returned to New York City in 1979 after the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater asked to produce his play Simpson Street. The play was a success, enjoying two revivals in New York City; performances in cities throughout the United States; and touring in Spain (1981), Puerto Rico (1983), Colombia (1984), and Mexico (1984). The script was published in an anthology of Gallardo's plays in 1990.

From 1979 to 1981, Gallardo participated in the Playwright's Unit of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, was commissioned by the Center For Inter-American Relations to write the cabaret A Little Spice…And Things Not So Nice, and was the Playwright in Residence at the Westside Repertory Theater. Gallardo's play The Mugger was produced by West Side Repertory Theater in 1980. His children's play The World of Muddy Waters toured New York City Schools and Arts Centers through the Association of Hispanic Arts and CETA program in 1980; and was produced by Pregones in NYC and Festival de Pescadores, Vieques in Puerto Rico in 1982.

In 1985, Gallardo's play Women Without Men won Joseph Papp's Festival Latino's first national contest for Latino plays and a workshop production produced by Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival. The workshop was followed by productions (in English and Spanish) produced by the Bilingual Foundation in Puerto Rico and Mexico in 1988 and Los Angeles, California in 1991.

Beginning in the late 1980s, Gallardo's writing shifted to musicals. He wrote the book and lyrics for Fantasma: A Street Opera (music by Marc Allen Trujillo, premiered at the Public Theater, 1989), Carmen Libre (based on the opera Carmen by George Bizet, music by Bizet, premiered at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, 1992), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (music by Gary William Friedman, premiered at Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, Montreal, 1997), and Selena Forever (based on the life of Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, original music by Fernando Rivas, premiered at the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium, 2000). Gallardo wrote the book for The Petrified Prince (based on the unproduced screenplay by Ingmar Bergman, directed by Hal Prince, music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa, premiered at the Public Theater, 1994) and Casanova Returns (based on Dominick Argento's opera Casanova's Homecoming, music by Mike Reid and lyrics by Sarah Schlesinger, premiered at Cardiff International Festival of Musical Theatre, 2006). He also wrote the lyrics for Magpie (book by Steven M. Jacobson and music by Gary William Friedman, premiered at New York Musical Theatre Festival, 2006). Gallardo worked on several unproduced musicals, including Star Wars and The Little Match-Girl.

In addition to theatrical plays, Gallardo wrote teleplays, film treatments, and screenplay drafts. His produced teleplays include "Over a Barrel" (1993) for the Children's Theater Workshop series Ghostwriter, and "Sandy" (1980-1981) for the WGBH Boston's series The New Voice.

Gallardo died in New York City in 2019.