Interview with Ramona Ponce

Image: The Fool’s Lear

RAMONA PONCE - Manhattan Borough Coordinator for NYC Emergency Management’s Community Emergency Response Team Program & Resident Costume Designer at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center.

Ramona teaches seminars at LaGuardia Community College in the Theatre Program, and designs shows not just for LPAC and the Theatre Program but in the world at large.

We sat down to talk with Ramona about her career and the workshop series she'll be leading for the LPAC community beginning Wednesday May 6th.

• HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A COSTUME DESIGNER?

  The career chose me in some ways. I moved here from rural Maryland. I was a good country girl and knew how to sew clothes. I grew up in an era when all girls were taught how to sew and many of them refined their sewing skills in school classes - we were all taught home arts and sewing was part of that. When I got to NY I found that it was a much rarer skill. One of my neighbors found out I could sew and very tentatively and trepidatiously asked me if I would sew a skirt for him because he was a drag queen and wanted something a little special and not from Goodwill, and he didn’t want to have to go through the social issues that attended going to the regular women’s clothing stores. So I said sure and back in those days (the 1980’s) if you were willing to sew dresses for men, then your clientele was assured. So I started out in drag.

• HOW DID YOU BEGIN DESIGNING FOR THE THEATRE?

  I began my career sewing for drag queens, so there was a thriving drag show scene and a thriving off-off broadway experimental scene and these had connection points that were mutable but well-established - everybody knew everybody else. I started dating this guy who was a theatrical poster designer - he did theatrical art. He worked for a firm that did only theatrical artwork. They gave him his own set of companies to work with and one of those was the Ridiculous Theatrical Company. This was a company that was started by a guy named Charles Ludlam. Right before Charles should have broken out into international stardom - he was already incredibly well-respected, his work was one of the modern classic bodies of work - at the time, his partner Everett Quinton was the main costume designer for the company - Charles died from AIDS and the company went to Everett. Everett couldn’t do it all at once - write, direct, star and design the shows - so he was looking for designers to take over the design role. I didn't really know any of that at the time, but that company was one of my boyfriend’s group of companies so I would go to all the opening nights. Since I knew what the artwork for the show looked like, I would make my outfit match the theme. And I always had a giant hat. People who sat behind me would always complain, until the lights went down. As soon as the lights went down I took off my hat. But it got to be a thing, you know, what is she going to wear to this opening and is the hat going to come off the head in time? And it always did. One night I wore a really towering fruit arrangement on top of my head to a benefit and Everett was walking through with this insane pair of earrings and he stopped at the table, looked me up and down and then took off one of his earrings and threw it on top of the table. I was looking at him, trying to figure out what this was about. He looked at me, sniffed and said “If you want the other one, come to my dressing room.” So I said, “okay” and he sashayed out. After a few moments I said to my boyfriend, “What do you think?” And he said, “Well, I think you should find out what he wants!” So I picked up the earring, went into Everett’s dressing room, threw the earring down on the makeup table and said, “I’m here for the other earring. What do you want?” He said, “ I want you to design a show for me - you always look so good. I know you can do it.” He didn’t ask me anything else about my background, where I studied - what I did - he just asked me to design. So, I did. The first show was so much fun, I decided I really enjoyed it. So I stuck to it. I kept going. And here I am today.

Image: Men Go Down, Part I, Alas The Nymphs

• WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO LAGUARDIA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER?

  Well, it turns out I was a terrible businesswoman. I had no idea how to make a profit, or live off what I wanted to do so I got a series of jobs. Each one was better than the last, but none of them were very good. Eventually I ended up selling tchotchkes for this outfit that sold very beautiful carvings and paperweights, soft goods, things like that. And I met an ex-Broadway dancer there, whose name is Steven Hitt. He was such a nice guy, really funny and had the funniest friends, Broadway and ex-Broadway. I found them all incredibly charming. I eventually went and moved on to another job where I learned how to run a business, write an invoice, a contract, etc. And in the meantime Steven moved on as well and we lost touch for a few years. One day out of the clear blue sky I got a phone call saying that he’s at a new outfit in town, LPAC and he needed to know that the costumes were going to be on the backs of people when they were supposed to be. I said “Sure, I can help with that,” and we’ve been working together ever since. It’s been marvelous. I’ve gotten so many opportunities to work with the outside artists that come in and to work with these aspiring young folks in the theatre program. I was grateful for the opportunity and continuing opportunities at LPAC.

• DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE PROJECT YOU’VE DESIGNED FOR LPAC?

  It has to be Into the Woods. That was a really fun project. It was magical on any number of levels.

• HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH NEW YORK CITY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT?

  When we moved to Central Harlem, into this complex called The Dunbar Apartments, what we found was that there was a neglectful landlord so I became a tenant advocate and eventually president of the tenant association as well as a community activist. I went to all the community meetings and in one of them we got a presentation - this was just post Katrina, so we were seeing refugees from New Orleans settling into Harlem - New York City Emergency Management sent somebody to one of our community meetings to tell us about what happens in an emergency and asked the group I was with (among whom were about a half dozen leaders from this complex in Central Harlem) “Do you think your community is ready for an emergency?” And we just looked at each other and said, “No. We would be in at least as bad of shape as New Orleans.” So we said, “What should we do? We should use our existing organizations to do something. How do we start?” We got a call a week later saying they were starting this program through New York City Emergency Management called the “Community Emergency Response Team Program” which would be a group of citizens, all locally based in each community board, to receive training in emergency operations, hazard identification and mitigation, how to organize spontaneous volunteers, how to set up an emergency operation and also to teach about how the emergency responders of NY are organized so that in case something happened we could be a useful resource. We would be pre-registered, vetted by the city, so if the city needed help in an emergency we would already be approved to help and we could be set into action immediately. This was in 2006, and we trained, organized, recruited, built our operation and we have responded. We have responded to hurricanes by opening shelters and doing clean up afterwards, distributing food and water. We responded to the various gas explosions by staffing assistance centers for survivors to help to get resources for those who were displaced. Any variety of emergency responses we’ve been involved in. When there is no emergency that is big enough to require our services we also assist with planned events, providing situational awareness at events like the NYC Marathon and 5-Boro Bike Tour, providing crowd flow monitoring and assistance at things like the Pope Visits and at the points of vaccination for the H1N1 vaccinations that took place when that flu strain popped up a number of years ago. That has certain echoes for today. In our current emergency, my fellow members are at commodity distribution centers, passing out food, making sure people have water and in general, supporting the efforts of the city and making sure people are staying safe and isolated, especially the elderly, immuno-compromised and other vulnerable populations.

• TELL US ABOUT YOUR ROLE WITH NYC EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT'S CERT PROGRAM

  I began in the organization as a member and went into leadership in the organization very early on as secretary for the local chapter in Harlem. From there I became deputy chief and then chief and then Manhattan Borough Coordinator, which is where I am now.

  I am responsible for communication and advocacy for the members in Manhattan making sure we can run our divisions safely, make sure communication gets back and forth, make sure that everyone has what they need to do what we have to do, day to day. Especially in situations like we’re living in now. It’s important that our members understand where we can be of most use and it’s also important for us to educate the public. That’s one of the primary things we’re responsible for doing no matter what is going on in the city. Education and preparing our neighbors and communities is one of the things we’re most involved in.

  There’s a program that NYC Emergency Management runs called “Ready New York.” Ready New York is the educational part of NYC Emergency Management. They publish a great deal of educational material that outlines the ways people can prepare themselves and their community and also to make people aware of various hazards and ways they can mitigate those hazards in advance. Pretty much anything that contributes to preparing for emergencies, surviving emergencies and rebuilding after emergencies - that’s Ready New York. There are a number of professional speakers and a number of volunteer speakers, like myself. We have extra training and we go out and educate the community. We also have a program, a community planning program that is a little newer but definitely the city is already doing it - that helps to bring together existing community groups to form coalitions of organizations that are active in disasters. We have a number of those in the city now and we’re trying to make sure that communities themselves can be organized and have a smooth, efficient community response locally. Any kind of local organization that can be done ahead of time will help to speed up an emergency response.

• YOU'LL BE LEADING A SERIES OF WORKSHOP THROUGH LPAC. WHAT CAN PEOPLE EXPECT FROM "LPAC PREPARED"?

  These workshops are for everyone. Everybody needs to take care of their own emergency preparation. The city will help, but the great thing about taking control of one’s own emergency response is it can be tailored to each individual’s needs. There’s nothing that’s more personal than knowing what your own hazards are, what your own vulnerabilities are and thinking about them and addressing them in advance as much as possible. Additionally, making sure that those around you are aware of the hazards that should be concerning and be less afraid of the things that are less concerning.

  The kind of things we’re going to go over is basic emergency preparation. The things that one should know about. For example, staying in communication during an emergency, how to evacuate, when to evacuate, what to take with you when you evacuate, what you should have in your home at all times in case of a shelter-in-place order, what you would want in case of a long term shelter in place order, and what kind of communication you should prepare for in advance. We’ll be answering questions like: How do you stay in touch with your family? If you are separated how can you easily reunify? How do you stay in touch with your service providers like doctors or veterinarians? Do you have to make certain preparations for your pets? Are pets allowed in the hurricane shelter system? These are questions many people have but they may not think to ask them in advance so these workshops are designed to answer these questions now and get people thinking. We are going to ask people to ask themselves the questions and then we’ll work together on the answers.

• WHY IS THIS AN IMPORTANT SERIES TO PARTICIPATE IN NOW?

  As everybody knows, we’re in the middle of a crisis. This is not the only crisis we’ve lived through and it won’t be the last. Everyone is thinking about certain kinds of questions, about how to get through this emergency. But basic preparation for all hazards is the approach we take towards emergency management - emergency preparation - and this is something anyone can do. This is something that everybody SHOULD do. It’s important for everyone to ask themselves the questions, get involved, and take control of their own emergency management. It gives one power over one’s own future. RIght now so many of us feel powerless, but we are never without power. It’s up to ourselves to take it, and use it, and ensure the safety of ourselves, our families and communities so we can build a resilient New York. Resilience is the goal. Whatever happens now or in the future, we can come back stronger and smarter. And that means that we prepare now.

• DO YOU EVER SEE ANY OVERLAPPING BETWEEN YOUR CAREER AS A COSTUME DESIGNER AND THIS ROLE IN CERT?

  In the past I’ve been able to make (before we had branded items) we used to make tablecloths for our outdoor events that were branded with the CERT logo and our division name and I would make those, that was fun. T-shirts, and that kind of thing. But now I find that I can make masks and gowns and it’s a surprising intersection of one world with the other.

• WHO CAN GET INVOLVED WITH CERT?

  NYC Emergency Management’s CERT program is constantly looking for folks who are concerned about emergency preparation in their own communities and want to get involved to make sure their community remains safe. We would love to have people join us. The requirements are that one is over 18, can pass a background check and is willing to put in a few hours a week, or month, over the course of a year, helping out, passing out literature, talking to neighbors, responding to emergencies and building networks for information and anything else needed within the community. We aim to prepare people for three things: to educate our neighbors, assist first responders and to be responders of last resort.

• WHEN YOU’RE NOT COSTUME DESIGNING OR WORKING WITH CERT, WHAT DO YOU DO?

  I read a lot of books. I’ve also written a book with a friend of mine called “Drinkology Eats.”

  It’s a little known fact that at one time I used to do catering. That was a long time ago, back in the 80’s when, lets just say, it was easier to do catering in those days. So, here I am a caterer and I did that for quite a while and this friend of mine remembered that and asked me to help him write a book. He said, “you know about the food, I know about the writing, let’s make this happen. So we did.”

Image: Men Go Down, Part I, Alas The Nymphs

• TELL US ABOUT THE ARTICLE IN THE NY TIMES STYLE SECTION FROM 1997.

  Well I married that guy who got me into theatre. The one I was dating back in 1992. I eventually married him and we had a giant blow-out of a wedding. It was on Halloween and it was a costume party because back in those days there was no gay marriage and it was a big problem. The lack of parity, equity was a real issue. So a lot of my friends would not go to a straight wedding. It would not happen because there was no equality so when we first announced it, I got all kinds of reactions and that was one of them. But I wanted my friends at this wedding so I said, “What if it’s a Halloween Party? What if you can wear whatever you want? What if the bar is open throughout the entire event?” And that was the kicker, we got all kinds of people there. It was fabulous. And the Times got interested and Lois Smith Brady wrote a very beautiful, very kind article - CLICK HERE TO READ - and a lot of my friends from the Ridiculous Theatre Company were quoted in the article. And you’ll see a picture of a witch in the article, and that’s Everett Quinton, the other guy who got me into theatre.