Inspiring Generations Through Theater Now and Forever

A legend. An inspirational theater pioneer and educator. A gift to all who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him.

Frank Galati was a renowned director, writer, and actor who, along with his husband and longtime love Peter Amster, transformed the lives of performers and audiences around the globe. After Galati’s passing in January 2023, Amster created the Galati Amster Theatre Fund at Gulf Coast Community Foundation to honor the life of writer, director, and actor Galati.

Galati’s accolades include two Tony Awards for his work on “The Grapes of Wrath” on Broadway and a Tony nomination for best direction of a musical for “Ragtime.” He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his adapted screenplay of “The Accidental Tourist.” In 2022, he was inducted in the Theatre Hall of Fame at Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre.

Even more incredible than all of his accolades and impressive career, Galati inspired and taught artists to connect to their inner selves. “The most important thing he did was immediately validate both students and colleagues as artists,” said Amster. Amster is an impressive theater artist himself (the couple have accolades and credits that span decades). Galati and Amster were together for 52 beautiful years. They married in 2017 in the historic Sarasota County courtroom. Sadly, Galati passed away on January 2, 2023 from complications of cancer.

One of the couple’s goals is to use the Galati Amster Theatre Fund to support regional American theaters by enabling them to hire assistant directors. Amster encourages anyone who wants to make a gift in Galati’s memory to make a gift to the Galati Amster Theatre Fund.

Amster shares, “I find that theater artists – actors, designers, stage managers, and the staff that supports them - are some of the most extraordinarily helpful people in the world. Their job is to get a sense of the other and embrace it, embody it, and have the courage to go into the dark recesses of some very complicated people. That I believe makes them more generous, more spirited than those who don’t do it. Frank and I have both been so fortunate to live most of our lives in the company of theater artists. We have been lifted up by them in our darkest moments, and I feel it’s only fitting and proper to have us return the favor.”

The Background

Galati went to college at Northwestern University and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1965, a master’s in 1967, and a doctorate in 1971. He was a full-time faculty member of the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University. He was also a founder of North Light Theatre, associate director at Goodman Theatre, and ensemble member at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company where he acted and directed. Galati performed in many other regional Chicago area theaters. Galati and Amster both spent time as associate artists at Asolo Rep. here in Sarasota, Florida.

Amster and Galati met during their stints at Northwestern in 1970. Galati asked the class to attend a performance of a piece he adapted for stage and Peter was there. “He was my teacher for a month before this performance. I certainly thought he was an extraordinary teacher and wonderful man and I loved going to class. When you find a teacher who is talking to you on your level, you don’t always get that, particularly in the arts. He needed a ride home that night so we drove home and talked nonstop. We talked about 'Candide,' an operetta by Leonard Bernstein, Voltaire, and the musical 'She Loves Me.' At the end, we knew without saying much that something extraordinary had happened. We knew we’d both be facing the world together for the rest of our lives."

“During the decade I served as production stage manager at Asolo Rep, I had the privilege to work on many productions with Frank and Peter. One of the highlights of my life was working on a production of "1776" that Frank directed and Peter choreographed. It was a joyous experience from beginning to end. A master class for all involved. It's no surprise they are carrying their love and joy into this philanthropic fund at Gulf Coast to support young artists," said Gulf Coast’s Strategic Engagement Manager Kelly Borgia.

We sat down with Peter Amster to learn more about the Galati Amster Theatre Fund.

Q: Gulf Coast inspired you to continue your desire to impact the theater world. How will your philanthropy be most impactful?

Amster: “I am hoping the Galati Amster Theatre Fund will enable regional American theaters to sponsor assistant directors. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and shifting culture, most regional theaters are hurting. Some are in deep debt, some are seeing up to a 20% reduction in audiences, some have disappeared. It is my hope that this fund will afford them the means to bring the next generation of directors through the ranks and give them the opportunity to learn from and be inspired by those of us who have been doing this for a long time. Surprising as it may be to young directors, we older folks have some useful tricks up our sleeves.”

Q: What brought you and Galati to Sarasota?

Amster: “Frank had a good career in Chicago and I worked at a lot of regional theaters elsewhere. When Frank retired from teaching at Northwestern, we first moved to Miami just in time for the Coconut Grove Playhouse, the only equity theater in the city, to go belly up. Then I heard from my friend Michael Donald Edwards. He asked if I wanted to come up to the Asolo and direct for him, so I did. I did a play, looked at the beautiful town of Sarasota, and loved it. Frank then came up and we started looking at real estate. We moved to Sarasota and never looked back.”

Q: How influential has Gulf Coast Community Foundation been in your philanthropy?

Amster: “When Frank passed, I went to my dear friends at Gulf Coast Community Foundation who said they would administer this for me and help me. The fund’s first project is going to be raising money to sponsor assistant directors. Of course, the Asolo will be one of our prime beneficiaries. Sarasota was the first place where the two of us had an actual home and an artistic home, working at the same time on the same level. That was all due to Michael and the Asolo.”

Q: Any special stories of your memories with Galati that you’d like to share?

Amster: “Once we arrived at the Asolo, we were both directing in the same season. There was a play from the 1930s called ‘Both Your Houses’ by Maxwell Anderson about approving a congressional budget. There was a huge table that had to be cleared off before it reappeared on stage. Frank sat for a while making everyone nervous. So other people figured out what to do, and Frank never had to move a muscle! I had just opened ‘The Matchmaker’ with almost the same set. I was a micro-manager and a craftsman, jumping on and off the stage to finesse the action. But Frank was a wizard! We had different ways of solving the same kind of problems and we probably both got the same results. But what I learned from Frank is that his way was better. He had a way of giving everyone agency.”

Q: Why do you think community foundations are important?

Amster: “Community foundations seem to be civic nurses. Their focus is on the needs of the community and how they can help. The impulse towards civic responsibility, bettering the lives of the citizens who need the most help, is what community foundations are about.”

Amster sums everything up with a funny, endearing quote: “To quote from the play ‘The Matchmaker’ (the basis for ‘Hello, Dolly!’), Dolly Levi tells the audience what she learned from her late husband Ephraim: ‘Money, if you’ll excuse the expression, is like manure. It doesn’t do a bit of good until it’s spread around helping young things to grow.’”

Thank you, Peter Amster and Frank Galati, for sharing your incredible impact and world with us.

Learn more about the Galati Amster Theatre Fund here.