Archive

Gorilla Queen

James Hilbrandt (Clyde Batty) and Norman Thomas Marshall (Queen Kong) in GORILLA QUEEN

The Understudy

Ronald Tavel at 27 St. Mark's Place, 5th floor, during the writing of his first screenplay, eventually only presented on the stage, TARZAN OF THE FLICKS, circa 1962. Click here for a PDF of THE UNDERSTUDY in Mandarin.

The Life of Juanita Castro

Mario Montez and Bibbe Hansen in the theatrical version of THE LIFE OF JUANITA CASTRO at the "LIVE FILM! JACK SMITH! Five Flaming Days in a Rented World" Festival in Berlin (2009)

Shower

Norman Glick and Harvey Tavel in the 1968 revival of SHOWER.

Boy on the Straight-Back Chair

Ronald Tavel and two actresses from the American Place Theater's production of BOY ON THE STRAIGHT-BACK CHAIR (Katherine Squire is the actress on the right)

Line/Birth, Play/Birth

Ronald Tavel in his bedroom, St. Nicholas St. The French Quarter, New Orleans, 1992. Photo: Robert Girard

Bigfoot

Harvey Tavel in the Obie-Award-winning original production of BIGFOOT.

My Foetus Lived on Amboy Street

Ronald Tavel and actor Joel Markman in a famous Jack Smith study, circa 1963-64. Click here to hear the radio play starring Harvey Fierstein

Kitchenette

Mary Woronov as "Jo" and Tony Abatemarco "filmmaker" (originally played by Harvey Tavel on stage) in the film version of KITCHENETTE. "Mary Woronov made my play KITCHENETTE her own, and is the actress most associated with my name." -Ronald Tavel

Carmen Miranda: The Musical

Carmen Miranda, “the Brazilian Bombshell.” The foremost Brazilian folk singer of her day and later a 20th Century Fox film star (1909-1955).

How Jacqueline Kennedy Became Queen of Greece

Ronald Tavel on a Hudson pier during the mid 1980's.

The Life of Lady Godiva

Members of the cast of the original 1966 production of THE LIFE OF LADY GODIVA.

Success and Succession

The Tavel brothers, Harvey and Ronald, on the Circle Line, 1965.

Notorious Harik Will Kill the Pope

Ronald Tavel in Chicago, 1980

Gazelle Boy

Sketch of Ronald Tavel, age 18, by Joe Singer

The Pied Piper

Illustration of The Pied Piper by Kate Greenaway

Arenas of Lutetia

Frank Dudley, Mary Woronov, and Harvey Tavel in ARENAS OF LUTETIA

The Ovens of Anita Orangejuice

Anita Bryant peddling orange juice on television.

Vinyl Visits an FM Station

On the set of the film version of VINYL

The Nutcracker in the Land of Nuts

Actor Agosto Machado, photo by Vasseux, 2006

Harlot

Andy Warhol's first synch-sound feature (Introduction; transcript of the sound track)

Fifty Fantasticks

Famous double image of Tavel from FIFTY FANTASTICKS (Introduction; no script)

Screen Test I

Also known as PHILLIP'S SCREEN TEST (Introduction; script)

Screen Test II

(Introduction; script; and the stage play based on the Screen Test films)

Suicide

(Introduction; notes taken during an interview with the performer for the writing of the script; the script itself)

The Life of Juanita Castro

(Introduction; script)

Bitch

(Introduction; no script)

Horse

(Introduction; script)

Vinyl

(Introduction; script; printed version of the script; some notes; Tavel/Malanga poem; program for the stage version with cast credits; flyers for 1965 screenings of the film)

Kitchen

plus BUZZARDS OVER BAGDAD - Jack Smith film (Introduction; script; intertitles for the Smith Film)

Shower

(Introduction; script - printed as a stage play)

Space

(Introduction; script; additional script with pencil-lines through the dialogue later used in the stage play, THE LIFE OF LADY GODIVA)

Kahuna!

(Introduction; script for KAHUNA!; also outline for OUR LADY OF PARIS)

Hedy, or The Fourteen Year Old Girl

(Introduction; script; excerpts from the sound track of the trial scene in HEDY)

Withering Sights

(Introduction; script)

Hanoi Hanna, Radio Star

in THE CHELSEA GIRLS (Introduction; script)

Their Town

in THE CHELSEA GIRLS (Introduction; script)

Movie Talk for Mary Woronov

(Introduction; script)

Jane Eyre Bare

(Introduction; script)

Jail

(Introduction; no script)

Independent Film Screenplays

Right Clever

Poem, October 2003

Poetry

A collection of Tavel's poetry

Ronald's Essays and Articles

A collection of Tavel's essays

Street of Stairs

Tavel's novel, complete and unabridged