Prince Poppycock | |
|---|---|
 Poppycock atAmerica's Got Talent tour stop inGreensboro, North Carolina, in November 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Andrew Quale |
| Also known as | Prince Poppycock |
| Origin | Great Falls, Virginia, U.S. |
| Genres | Musical theater,opera,pop,rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, performer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, piano |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
John Andrew Quale is an American singer, songwriter, and performer best known by the stage name and persona ofPrince Poppycock. Quale, who specializes inmusical theater andopera, describes Prince Poppycock on his website as a "roguish operaticdandy."[1][2][3][4]
Poppycock came to national attention in 2010 when he competed on thefifth season ofAmerica's Got Talent.[5] On September 15, 2010, he was voted fourth place in the final four.
As a child, Quale sang "incessantly" and was a member of several children's choirs. His first public performance was at age 11 atKennedy Center in the Children's Choir of theWashington National Opera.[6] In his teenage years, Quale developed a love for writing music and became "enamored" withDavid Bowie,Depeche Mode,opera,madrigals,Gregorian chant,the Smiths andGilbert and Sullivan. He also began recording his own music.[4] While in high school, he spent several summers at Interlochen Arts Camp, a competitive performing arts program of theInterlochen Center for the Arts.[4] Quale performed and toured with musicals and choirs throughout high school and college.[6] In December 2001, Quale joined Chicago synth-pop band Endora as lead singer and songwriter.[4][6][7] Quale moved to Los Angeles around 2005 and studiedmusical theatre at theBeverly Hills Playhouse.[6] Quale wrote and released a solo album,Worldview,[4] and was one of several young gay performing artists profiled in Brian Gleason's documentaryRise Up and Shout!.[3][8]
Quale played the role of Jesus in the musicalThe Beastly Bombing, which won the LA Weekly Theater Award for Best Musical and enjoyed two short runsoff-Broadway in New York City.[2][4] He also performed and entertained atLa Belle Epoque, withAnn Magnuson at Redcat,[9] and has opened forThe Dresden Dolls,[9] Club Dandy, Wig Out, Dirty Deeds[9] andJer Ber Jones.[6] Quale has studied voice for several years with Derek Graydon.[6] Additionally, Quale has been collaborating withKristian Hoffman, songwriter for The Mumps andKlaus Nomi, on a rock album entitledThe Solipsist's Soliloquy.[9]
Recently, John showed his support for theTrevor Project, a nationwide non-profit organization focused on suicide prevention efforts amonglesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender andquestioning (LGBTQ) youth, through his "It Gets Better" video.[10]
Quale developed the Prince Poppycock character, an opera singer who performs in the elaborate dress of abaroque dandy, in 2006 so he could perform in a Los Angeles nightclub show.[11] Quale was studying opera and had completed learning the Figarobaritonearia "Largo al factotum" fromThe Barber of Seville. A friend asked Quale to perform but stipulated he must wear awig; he decided to perform as a "powdered-wigged baroquedandy, and highlight how the song was about being a fabulous hairdresser".[4]
Poppycock "is my mask," says Quale inPeople Magazine. "Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth, in the style ofCommedia dell'arte."[12] TheNew York Post noted Poppycock embodies the sensibility of "humor,irony andsarcasm".[13] He wears elaborate costuming and "dresses as if he stepped out of aFrench Baroque painting (pantaloons, powdered wig and pasty makeup)."[5] His face is matted withwhiteface (or white clown) a symbol of the highest status in the clown hierarchy and the oldest of modern clown archetypes.
On Halloween, October 31, 2010, Prince Poppycock was crowned the honorary Mayor ofWest Hollywood for the Creative City's annual Halloween Carnaval.[14]
In summer 2010, Quale auditioned and became one of the top four finalists on NBC'sreality television talent show seriesAmerica's Got Talent that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of US$1 million, and a show as the headliner on theLas Vegas Strip.The Tampa Tribune called him "one of the most unusual contestants in the show's history".[5] They noted he has been called "a maleLady Gaga" and "theAdam Lambert ofAmerica's Got Talent", and that he "may be the most innovative act sincePee-wee Herman".[5]
For the New York City auditions (June 8) he performed a modified—to fit the 90 second timeframe—and slightly personalized version of the Figaro aria ("Largo al factotum").[15][16] Sung at the first entrance of the title character, the repeated "Figaro" notes before the finalpatter section are an icon in popular culture of operatic singing. Due to the fast tempo and tongue-twisting lines, the piece is often noted as one of the most difficult baritone arias to perform. In the pre-interview segment he noted the difficulty of the piece, as did the judges after the performance.
For theLas Vegas Week, Classical Singers performance (July 6) Quale's voice was compromised by illness but his overall performance of an abridged version of "La donna è mobile" ("Woman is fickle"), the cynical Duke of Mantua'scanzone fromGiuseppe Verdi's operaRigoletto (1851), helped him advance to the quarterfinals. The canzone is famous as a showcase fortenors. Quale could be seen struggling to hit the highest notes and was visibly upset that he could not be in better health.
ForWeek 4 of the quarterfinals (August 3) he performed "Vesti la giubba" ("Put on the costume"), a famous tenor aria from the operaPagliacci byRuggero Leoncavallo, and first performed in 1892.[17][18] The aria exemplifies the entire notion of the 'tragic clown': smiling on the outside but crying on the inside. Quale was costumed by Steve LaNasa as a clown with a tear after he took off a large wrapped costuming, the costume was later lit up from inside with several hundred color-changing LEDs.
For round 1 of the semifinals (August 24) Quale performed a modified version "Bohemian Rhapsody", a song by the British rock bandQueen, written byFreddie Mercury for the albumA Night at the Opera (1975).[5]
For the Top 10 show (September 7) Quale did a medley of "The Star-Spangled Banner", "The Yankee Doodle Boy", and "The Stars and Stripes Forever". In the middle he quoted from the second sentence of the United States' "Declaration of Independence", a sweeping statement ofindividualhuman rights, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, thatall men are created equal ..." While he spoke, images of Americancivil rights iconsAbraham Lincoln,Susan B. Anthony,Harvey Milk, andRosa Parks were shown as well as an image of Poppycock on a $3 bill.
Quale stated he planned to have a more emotionally connected performance for the Final 4 show, "I feel it's a strength that I have as a performer that hasn't really been showcased as much because I've been focused so much on spectacle [forAmerica's Got Talent]. I'll still bring spectacle, but hopefully an emotionally resonant performance as well."[19] He performed "Nessun dorma" ("None shall sleep"), an aria fromGiacomo Puccini's operaTurandot (1926). During the performance he was buzzed by judgePiers Morgan who said, "I think you've blown it. ... You were guilty, I'm afraid, of that terrible crime that many contestants do at this stage, of taking yourself a little bit too seriously. And the whole point of Prince Poppycock is that you're great fun. You're a great showman. You make me smile. And you didn't make me smile tonight!"[20]
On the September 15, 2010, finale, Poppycock opened the show with a duet with one of his favorite celebrities, singer and disco superstarDonna Summer. That night, he finished in fourth place. A day after the finale ofAmerica's Got Talent Poppycock made an appearance onThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno in a segment called "The Ross Report" (withRoss Mathews) which he mentioned and posted pictures of on his Twitter page.[21] The top ten finalists performed in a 25-city tour of the US in October and November 2010.[22] He returned to AGT as a guest artist in August 2011.[23]
| Episode | Song(s) | Original artist/composer |
|---|---|---|
| New York City auditions (June 8) | "Largo al factotum" ("Make way for thefactotum"), anaria fromThe Barber of Seville (1816) | Gioachino Rossini |
| Las Vegas Week, Classical Singers (July 6) | "La donna è mobile" ("Woman is fickle"), acanzone fromRigoletto (1851) | Giuseppe Verdi |
| Week 4 (August 3) | "Vesti la giubba" ("Put on the costume"), an aria fromPagliacci (1892) | Ruggero Leoncavallo |
| Round 1 (August 24) | "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975), by British rock bandQueen | Freddie Mercury |
| Top 10 (September 7) | Medley of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (1814), "The Yankee Doodle Boy" (1904), and "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" (1843) with an excerpt of the U.S.Declaration of Independence (1776) | Francis Scott Key George M. Cohan Thomas á Becket Thomas Jefferson |
| Top 4 (September 14) | "Nessun dorma" ("None shall sleep"), an aria fromTurandot (1926) Buzzed by Piers Morgan | Giacomo Puccini |
| Finale (September 15) | Medley ofDonna Summer'sLast Dance (1978) and No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (1979) | Paul Jabara, Jabara andBruce Roberts |
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