Kaufman, David 1951-

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KAUFMAN, David 1951-

PERSONAL:

Born January 17, 1951, in Cleveland, OH; son of Eugene (a lawyer) and Elizabeth (a homemaker) Kaufman; partner of Ken Geist since 1990. Education: Boston University, M.B.A., 1973 (magna cum laude).

ADDRESSES:

Agent—Jed Mattes Agency, 2095 Broadway, #302, New York, NY 10023.

CAREER:

Little, Brown Publishing Co., Boston, MA, editorial assistant, marketing assistant, 1973-77; St. Martin's Press, New York, NY, College division sales representative, later sales manager, 1977-86; freelance writer, 1978—.

MEMBER:

League of American Theaters, Drama Desk Awards (member of nonimating committe and member of board), Outer Critics Circle.

AWARDS, HONORS:

George Freedley Memorial Award, Theatre Library Association, 2002, for Ridiculous!: The Theatrical Life and Times of Charles Ludlam; Lambda Literary Award for Biography; Ohioana Association citation, 2003, for ongoing contributions to the theater.

WRITINGS:

Ridiculous!: The Theatrical Life and Times of Charles Ludlam, Applause Theatre and Cinema Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor of articles, reviews, and features to periodicals, including the New York Times, Nation, Daily News, Village Voice, and Horizon. Theater columnist for Aquarian Arts Weekly (later named Downtown and the Soho Arts Weekly), 1983-1998.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Profile of actress Marian Seldes for Vanity Fair.

SIDELIGHTS:

David Kaufman is a theater critic who spent more than a decade researching the biography Ridiculous!: The Theatrical Life and Times of Charles Ludlam. Ludlam founded the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in New York City in 1967, and over the next twenty years he wrote and directed twenty-nine plays for the company, usually appearing in them as well. The Ridiculous specialized in parodies and frequently featured actors, including Ludlam, appearing in drag. The Mystery of Irma Vep, a send-up of melodramas, had Ludlam and his partner in life and theater, Everett Quinton, playing all the roles, regardless of gender. Ludlam also starred as the doomed courtesan Marguerite in his company's version of Camille. His work often is described as "camp" or as having a "gay sensibility," but Ludlam, Kaufman relates, thought those definitions too narrow. He writes that Ludlam refused to be "categorized or pinned down" and believed the "camp" label undermined gay theatrical artists. "If heterosexuals do the same thing, it's biting social satire," Kaufman quotes Ludlam as saying. "But if homosexuals do it, it's dismissed as 'camp.'" Ludlam's plays were popular, though, with both gay and straight audiences and with critics; he won six Obies, the awards given for off-Broadway work. Ludlam also directed operas, had a small role in the hit film The Big Easy, and was becoming more involved in filmmaking at the time of his death, in 1987. Having interviewed numerous friends and colleagues of Ludlam and gained access to his letters and other writings, Kaufman thoroughly chronicles his subject's career in addition to providing details about Ludlam's suburban upbringing on Long Island and his difficult relationship with his father, who never completely accepted him; his many love affairs; and his death from AIDS complications at the age of forty-four.

True to his title, throughout the book, Kaufman places Ludlam in the context of his time. The biography "is a cornucopia of information not only about Ludlam but about the downtown theatre scene … at a time of exceptional cultural ferment (the 1960s), when theatre was being influenced by underground movies and homosexuals were making a lot of art," observed Andrew Holleran in the Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide. Similarly, Bevya Rosten remarked in the New York Times Book Review that Ridiculous! is "a chronicle of a revolutionary era in American culture. Sexual permissiveness and experimentation with drugs were part and parcel of the scene." Mel Gussow, writing in the daily New York Times, thought that "as a record of Ludlam's life and the theatrical world in which he was both guru and grandmaster, this book is informed and passionate. Despite his admiration for Ludlam, the author is clear-minded about his complex nature, the self-confidence that edged into arrogance and his occasional acts of meanness to those who loved him most. Mr. Kaufman is also cognizant of the persistent loyalty of the actors who became paradigmatic practitioners of Ludlam's art."

Gussow added that Kaufman "makes a persuasive case … for Ludlam's being a genius," although the biographer sometimes tends to "fortify his praise with pronouncements." In Gussow's view, Kaufman also provides "a surfeit of detail." Rosten likewise found certain parts of the book "unwieldy and overly dense." Holleran, however, deemed "the odd and telling detail" the most memorable aspect of "this engrossing biography." Rosten, meanwhile, allowed that "there is much of value to glean from Kaufman's impressive research." A Publishers Weekly critic maintained that the biography "is at times heavy going, but will surely hold theatergoers' interest," while Library Journal contributor David M. Lisa thought Kaufman tells Ludlam's life story "in riveting fashion." Holleran summed up Ridiculous! as "a big book that reads very easily" and "a feast of revelations."