Before Zachary Quinto went MIA from social media, one of his final posts read, “Lest anyone fear I’ve passed away …,” accompanying an image of himself chilling in a pool.
The Green Tree native and stage and screen actor had been such a prolific social media presence, there was a nearly audible sigh of relief among his followers.
Quinto didn’t disappear from the Twitterverse altogether — paparazzi caught him paddleboarding in Bali, which Jimmy Fallon made note of during a “Tonight Show” appearance on July 25. He also showed his passion for banjo playing that night while promoting his latest TV venture, the AMC series “NOS4A2” (pronounced Nosferatu; Quinto plays the title vampire).
Others posted magazine images from Esquire and GQ that showcased his casual chic style, and he has not shied away from interviews and appearances at places such as Comic-Con International in San Diego. Yet Quinto has maintained Twitter-Instagram silence since June.
“I made a decision to delete my social media,” Quinto said in a recent phone conversation. “I felt like I was in a place in my life where I wanted to focus on my own experience rather than share that experience with millions of strangers. I’ve been off of it for a couple of months now, and it’s been very liberating.”
On Saturday in Pittsburgh, you won’t need a social media account to see Quinto, but you will need a ticket. He will be at City Theatre for The Bash fundraiser and kickoff to the South Side company’s 45th season.
There will be a block party, season previews, mingling playwrights, local cabaret acts and a late-night dance party. And for the $250 VIP reception, Quinto serves as host.
Before the internet ruled all of our lives, Quinto was a student at Carnegie Mellon University and earned his prized Actors Equity card as an ensemble player in City’s production of “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde.”
Marc Masterson was the artistic director of City then and now.
“I have a lot of respect for Marc,” Quinto said. “He left Pittsburgh and City Theatre for a long time, and I think it’s really lovely that he’s back in a place that he helped build. And I’m at that place in my life where I have both the luxury and also the distinction of being able to look back on my journey and where things began, and that’s quite gratifying. I feel quite humbled and grateful for the opportunity to do that at City.”
Masterson has kept in touch with Quinto over the years — as Masterson moved from Pittsburgh to Louisville, then the West Coast, and back to City — and remembered the young actor as “earnest.”
“I’ve seen him a number of times over the years. I ran into him at a coffee shop in the Bowery,” Masterson said. “He’s just a really wonderful guy and I admire him, certainly as a performer, but I also respect that he puts himself out there for the things he believes in, and he’s very principled about it. He’s an advocate and he’s a talented person who uses his pulpit for the greater good, and I’m full of admiration for that.”
Where: A block party with performances and season previews, a glimpse at the new Philip Chosky Production Center, food and more at 1300 Bingham St., South Side.
When: 6:30-11:30 p.m. Saturday.
Event details: Backstage VIP ($250) — Champagne cocktail, hors d’oeuvres from The Duquesne Club. The reception will be hosted by the playwrights of this year’s season, including Theresa Rebeck, and film and TV star Zachary Quinto. Bash Patron ($100) — City Cabaret hosted by Shua Potter, includes performance previews and block party with desserts, coffees and cocktails. Performers include Jill Marie, Jason Shavers, slowdanger, Julianne Avolio, Treble NLS, The John Connor Chronicles (John Feightner and Connor McCanlus). Afterparty ($50) — a late-night dance party hosted by 1Hood Media.
Information and tickets: citytheatrecompany.org or 412-431-CITY.
He was speaking of Quinto’s work on behalf of the gay rights movement. The longtime activist came out publicly in 2011, spurred by the suicide of a bullied gay teenager. The actor who had already made a name as the evil Sylar on “Heroes” and as the young Spock in the “Star Trek” movie reboot, told The Washington Post that he realized, "living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality."
Before “Heroes” and “Star Trek,” Quinto, 42, paid his dues as a TV guest star and made a splash on the drama “24.” His small-screen career includes Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story,” the NBC miniseries “The Slap” and History channel’s reality series “In Search Of,” for which he is host and executive producer.
The latter is the second time he has followed in the footsteps of the late Leonard Nimoy — he has donned the pointy ears of a Vulcan to play the young Spock in three “Star Trek” films.
A rumored fourth, with Quentin Tarantino calling the shots, came up during a discussion of the recent big studio mergers that include Viacom and CBS, which owns the rights to “Star Trek.”
“It’s hard for me to tell what’s going to happen,” he said of a new “Trek.” “But I’d certainly be open to it.”
With all that’s happening on screens big and small, he continues to find time for the stage and is “actively looking” for his next theater project. His love for the stage can be traced to his days as a Pittsburgh CLO Mini Star who went on to be a Gene Kelly Award winner while at Central Catholic High School.
On and off Broadway, he has kept busy, teaming with fellow CMU grads Christian Borle and Billy Porter in “Angels in America” and, most recently, with Matt Bomer in the Tony-nominated revival of “The Boys in the Band.”
Quinto was on the phone a week after wrapping up filming “The Boys in the Band” for a Netflix release next year.
“It was a really amazing experience,” Quinto said. “I’ve never had the journey that we took with this project — to have the complete immersion to bring it to the stage, then a year off to do other things, and then to come back and revisit the same character in a completely different scenario and setting was really gratifying. And to return to the sense of camaraderie and connection that I share with my castmates was really unique and exciting as well.”
In 2014, Quinto was an executive producer with Chris Moore on “The Chair,” the one-season docuseries filmed at Point Park University and in and around the city. He is aware that Pittsburgh has continued to have series such as Netflix’s “Mindhunter” set up shop here, and if the opportunity should arise again …
“I always look for reasons to come home, and if I can bring work back to Pittsburgh or work in Pittsburgh, I will leap at that opportunity,” he said. “But as of now, I don’t have any plans to be back.”
He will be in Rhode Island for most of the fall and into the winter, filming the second season of Joe Hill’s “NOS4A2,” and then he’ll see what happens in 2020.
Until then, he will return to Pittsburgh to visit his family, including mom Margo, and stop in at CMU when he has the time — but probably not on this visit to City Theatre.
“It’s a quick couple of days,” he said, “but I’m just excited to come back and see faces from years gone by, see the theater and the people and support the vitality of theater in Pittsburgh, and the contribution City Theatre makes to that vitality. I think it’s a really exciting place. I’ve had the pleasure of working there on two separate occasions, and I have really fond memories of my time working with City Theatre and their staff, so I’m really happy to be back there.”
Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960. Twitter: @SEberson_pg. Sign up for the PG performing arts newsletter Behind the Curtain at Newsletter Preferences.
First Published: September 3, 2019, 4:10 p.m.
