[Music]
welcome back to fortitude JW Wilson here
and I got to tell you a little quick
story a few weeks ago I went to see uh
Off Broadway musical called spamilton at
uh the Reed Cabaret at Casa Manana with
a couple friends of mine and we watched
this incredible performance we loved it
but we were entranced by this pianist
that was playing the music for the show
and after the show I went by to I had to
meet him and I got to know him a little
bit there in the dark and I asked him
he’d come jump on a show so sitting
before me today Eugene Groats that’s me
welcome to the show Eugene thank you for
joining us thank you uh there’s a story
here that we’re going to unfold but
first off your music prowess is what
drew me in like you unbelievable Talent
talented pianists which I loved I mean
that was the BET one of the best the
show was insane awesome but the music
that went along that made that brought
the whole thing together for me so we’re
grateful for your time thank you you
call yourself a musical director for the
musical star for musical star generally
you’ve worked a lot of people who are
some people you work with in your time
well I’ll I’ve worked for a lot of
Broadway Legends and uh and yes I have
worked with lin-manuel everybody’s going
to ask way back when uh he created in
the Heights which I think is actually
even better than Hamilton okay because
it’s Latin music and it’s great the
movie was filmed right in the area where
I’m living there and uh I knew Lynn
um when we worked on in the Heights they
called me in to play the rehearsal
because the genius behind lin-manuel
Miranda is his music director Alex
lackamore may I say but Lynn’s great and
they work great together just exposed
his secret yeah but Alex asked me to
play they were having a hard time
finding I think pianists that could play
that Latin beat right and I’ll never
forget
um when Alex called me to play a dance
rehearsal this is for in the Heights way
before it was even Off-Broadway
and I I actually knew in the Heights
from when I helped uh Mandy Gonzalez who
was one of the original Nina’s in in the
Heights and I taught her her music for
the workshop
and I was in love with the music then
and Mandy told me all about it
and then all of a sudden months later I
get a call from Alex lackamore that they
need a Pianist to play the dance
rehearsals that they were preparing so I
got to meet Andy blanket blankenbueller
who was the great choreographer one of
Tony for that and um then I met
lin-manuel and uh and Alex got me to
play
and I played the opening number and
sight read it and it’s a light and beat
and everyone went nuts after we finished
I thought they were going nuts because I
thought wow what a great opening if you
ever see in the Heights sea opening is
amazing but no they were
smoking buying runs hugs me and
everyone’s like hugging me going oh my
God this is great and the percussionist
that was there was saying you’re the
eighth pianist that could and you
finally get it no one else they had a
hard time playing it and we finally
found the pianist that could play it
nice yeah who else have you have you
worked with wow well Lou Diamond
Phillips is coming to do miss saigonic
Casa but he and I went to UT Arlington
together
I met him in at UT Arlington when I was
involved in the music department he was
involved in theater nice he wrote plays
and needed music for his plays and so I
wrote a thing called The Unicorn Song
for his Unicorn song play right which is
great not many not many people realize
he’s an amazing talented writer and
director as well as actor and so
the Broadway Legends are amazing cheetah
Rivera who I’ve worked with and she’s
the greatest I had her come down here
for the uh
they had those awards for the community
theaters in the Dallas Fort Worth
theaters Not Just community
and it’s the column Awards and they have
the cheetah Rivera award and my niece
Gina
uh was actually nominated and won and so
they asked me to get cheetah to come
down and give my niece the cheetah
Rivera award oh great now they have
nationally and internationally they have
the cheetah Rivera dancing Awards in New
York and I’ve played for that and
cheetah’s a sweetheart I call her Sweda
I’ve also worked for Broadway Legends
like Donna mckechny and I’ve
dealt with Stephen Sondheim may he rest
in peace and Harold Prince
Billy Porter Billy Porter he actually
did uh Five Guys named Mo here and he’s
great and he’s
and he’s always has been an amazing
talent he directed that show
uh Betty Lynn Buckley’s from Fort Worth
you should have you had her yet no it
has amazing she’s hard to reach yeah but
she has a ranch somewhere near
Weatherford Betty if you’re out there
we’d love to see you Betty and well I
helped her actually learn she won a Tony
Award for cats where she’s saying memory
and we were working way back it was
actually 1982. we were working on Sound
of Music at Casa and she had to learn
this song for Andrew Lloyd Webber and it
happened to be Memory so she’ll go
around and say that Eugene helped me
learn memory excellent that’s a good
Resume Builder right there that’s Grand
she’s great she’s a fierce horse rider
too that’s incredible she would do those
equestrian shows and I’ve seen her do
that and I go oh my God
she’s amazing that’s awesome well you’re
you’re a Fort Worth native but you’re
based in New York currently because
Broadway obviously lives there and a lot
of a lot of your people you work with
yeah
um but the story gets a little a little
more interesting you you I just we just
learned this before the show there’s a
there’s a person called The Viking man
who exists at a school called uh Nolan
High School yeah and this man turns out
you’re that you’re the original Viking
man where’s that thing used to do with
your hands this was originally was
called The Viking man blessing okay now
anyway
but what I would do
is we would do Viking man skits I had to
lure people to come to the pep rallies
so I created these this is at the time
when Saturday Night Live was doing those
funny skits
and I did some crazy skits because we
were not a good team at the time but man
I would get people to come and I treated
at like theater and had people come I
got the craziest fun kids to be in skits
you know the class clowns and all that
and I created these Viking man skits and
the pep rallies we would end it
and they were so silly absolutely silly
and I wish I could give you a picture of
whatever I uh and then after every skid
I would give the Viking man blessing and
I thought being Catholic I thought it’d
be funny that I know how the TCU has
this and the long runs like that yeah
and I thought at the time how funny it
would be to have to use two hands to
make a hand signal and that I have
everyone raised and I give this Viking
man blessing like so that we win that we
play great and everyone’s safe and and I
so that the Viking man I created this
blessing and this is based on the
benediction at church where the priests
would have the monstrance right like
that so I thought I’d do a v sign and
have everyone raise up their hands like
that and it’s now everyone does it it’s
like a signal well very cool very cool
and we just found out uh we’ve had a
guest on the show we actually did it on
location uh podcast man named Emmett
Smith long time organist in Fort Worth
he’s great turns out he’s your he’s your
teacher that’s pretty cool I was so glad
to hear that you mentioned that he’s
done thousands not hundreds thousands of
weddings and I assume funerals he said
as much uh but this man’s been around
and obviously his organ skills are I
would love to see him yeah he’s a
wonderful man oh my God I have to watch
that uh and you mentioned your parents
could we talk for a second about your
folks what did you tell me about your
mother
well my mother
uh Eugenia
and she was actually in concentration
camp and escaped from Auschwitz
but you know her husband my father it’s
Dr Felix quotes who was the first
Tarrant County Medical Examiner okay
Tarrant County and they have a street
named after him
that’s just Felix quote’s place which I
would love to get a speeding ticket on
that street just so the cop could go and
say wait a minute how did you how did
you become how did you get into music
with a father so a prominent figure my
father is an amazing he would do
autopsies and work on cases but in lunch
and at nights he would play piano for
the Rotary Club the Sertoma clubs right
the Women’s Club even it’s very funny
they called him the victor borga of Fort
Worth Victor borga at the time was a
famous
funny pianist and comedian and my father
was just as funny and just as talented
as he was so do you have a favorite
story about your dad or his dad your
dad’s career you could share a quick one
well they did they used to have a show
called uh
uh it was on channel eight anyway they
did a little 15 minute special on him he
was very funny
um we would do two pianos with he and my
elder brother and then my other brother
and I we had pianos we played and
entertain people he was also a choir
director at St Andrews and he played the
Oregon and
he would always pound his foot on the
podium and it would sound like a bass
drum it was really funny and he was very
funny he had to switch gears your mother
that the story about Auschwitz would you
please share you what could you tell us
about that escape because that obviously
grabs your attention instantly
they were in the ghetto apparently
there’s so much to say about this she
was with my father’s sister and his
mother they stood together
and it’s a long to make a long story
short they were able when they were
marching to another camp
um they um
they acted like they were going to use
the bathroom one of the German soldiers
that was marching with them happened to
be really close to my
um aunt my mother’s sister-in-law
and somehow they’ve planned on acting
like they were going to go out to do the
bathroom you know while they’re walking
but they didn’t come back they ran ran
they were shot at and apparently
um my mother who died in 2001 my father
died in 1979.
um
she had a bullet that grazed her ankle
that was actually stuck in her ankle now
I remember her saying that she pulled it
out but they said that when they did her
autopsy that the
bullet there was still a bullet in her
ankle
and she escaped
and somehow they were saved by a Russian
soldier in a farm and then they reunite
even the way she found my father after
that because they were separated is
amazing
and uh there has to be a movie I know
that there are people interested in
making a movie out of it
but uh we have to find a really good
rider that’s what the problem incredible
well you’re currently and you shared
this with me you’re currently on the
heart transplant list to boot I mean
you’re about to play the piano for us
we’re going to highlight some of the
things that I got to see but as we sit
today here you’re currently on the heart
transplant list yes yeah but what
happened was uh I was tired out of
breath and all that and to make a long
story short it turned out that my I have
a whole history in my family it’s
genetic yes sir my father died of heart
attack my uh mother died of heart attack
my two brothers have had heart attacks
but have survived they’re doing great
and uh I’ve didn’t even know that I had
several heart attacks apparently so the
doctor said there’s uh millions of
people that don’t realize they have
silent heart attack but apparently I had
so many that they said that my heart was
so bad that
um I can’t even do bypass surgery so I’m
on a list and I have a mill Renown
medicine that’s this little bag here I
have and it’s ivied into me otherwise I
would have to stay in the hospital
waiting for a heart and I said no I got
things to do I’m working on a new Dolly
Parton Musical that we did here it comes
in November and we’re playing it in May
next month in Tennessee so we’re hoping
that she sees it she’s given our
blessing and all that and
and uh I told the doctors I have to at
least do that show before I get my heart
so I like to tell people after May I’m
going to go to the Land of Oz and get a
heart and at the same time my wife would
love for me to get a brain too while I’m
at it but
um yeah I think you know well you’re
about to play the piano for us and we’re
grateful for that because that’s
obviously that’s a it’s an Allure for
you um your name is is wildly spelled uh
quotes I’m sure people over their whole
life have just butchered the hell out of
it but yeah what a cool last name but
now that I know your background it’s
impressive
um but it’s actually pronounced but my
family Americanized it to quotes which
rhymes with notes so I’ll give you notes
sure and then my father liked used to
say that
it’s the seventh line on the nine chart
if you see the way it’s spelled GW I
gotta tell you like life’s pretty pretty
interesting sometimes you’re sitting in
the read Cabaret listening to spamilton
and you take interest in a guy playing
the piano and now here you sit with all
these incredible uh backstories uh thank
you for joining us by the way anytime uh
before we go up from this portion of the
interview we always ask our guests
family aside no no wife kids any of that
stuff is there a Best Day of your entire
life you could share with us it’s an
intentionally difficult question but I
would like to see what people come up
with
you know what was fun was when I was
inducting to the Nolan High School Hall
of Fame and I got to do reenact a skit
actually recreated a skit for it where I
had
Viking man come back from 1979 into it
was 2019 so he comes back 40 years later
oh wow and it notices how things have
changed and for in for the better and I
loved it did skit was gray and the high
school kids are amazing and everyone
having them Viking man was sort of cool
and and then I told them I’m going to go
back to 1979 at the end of The Skit and
tell people how no one’s going to be in
great shape 40 years from now which is
but that was sort of cool but yeah I
mean other than the family stuff
um oh the Stars winning the Stanley Cup
in 1999. I’ve kind of gathered your
stars I don’t know where I got that bit
but yes is it my socks yeah you’re a
real fan big fan and this could be a
good year for us well those New Yorkers
I’m sure they love seeing that don’t
they we have to get done I like the New
York Ranger fans they’re very witty and
very great and I’ve gone to games there
and
they’re a lot better than the New York
the New Jersey Devil fans are really
nasty and bad and but the New York
Rangers and the New York Islander fans
are really nice nice well Eugene quotes
let’s go play some Piano thank you for
being here anytime hi I’m Eugene quotes
and I will now be doing the opening
number from spamilton which is a spoof
on Hamilton and this is actually the
opening number called lin-manuel as
Hamilton but I’m going to jump through
that’s the original music there and uh
so you might recognize it so
[Music]
foreign
[Music]
[Music]
so on
that was great