American director
Jack O'Brien (born June 18, 1939) is an American director, producer, writer and lyricist. He served as the Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California from 1981 through the end of 2007.
O'Brien has won three Tony Awards and been nominated for seven more, and won five Drama Desk Awards. He has directed and produced musicals, including "The Full Monty" and "Hairspray", contemporary dramas such as "The Piano Lesson", "The Invention of Love" and "The Coast of Utopia", Shakespeare classics, including "Hamlet" and "Henry IV" (a combination of "Part 1" and "Part 2"), and operas, including "Il trittico" at the Metropolitan Opera.
Biography.
O'Brien was born in Saginaw, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan (M.A. 1962) where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity. He began on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre as assistant director of revivals of "You Can't Take It with You" (1965–67) and "The Cherry Orchard" (1968), and in a number of other shows, also sometimes contributing additional lyrics to songs. He began directing at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California with Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors" in 1969.
Early career.
O'Brien first took the director's chair on Broadway for a revival of "Cock-A-Doodle Dandy" in 1969. O'Brien wrote the book and lyrics for the short-lived (five performances) "The Selling of the President" (1972). He returned to directing for a revival of "The Time of Your Life" in 1975 and a revival of "Porgy and Bess" in 1977, for which he received his first Tony nomination. In the meantime, he directed dozens of Shakespeare plays and other works at the Old Globe, the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, off-Broadway and elsewhere. In New York, he next directed revivals of "The Most Happy Fella" (1979) on Broadway and "Porgy and Bess" (Radio City Music Hall, 1983).
Old Globe Theatre.
After becoming Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre in 1981, O'Brien continued directing productions there, including a revival of Thornton Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth", which was televised live to open the 1983 season of PBS's "American Playhouse" series, and the world premieres of Stephen Metcalfe's "Emily" (1986) and A. R. Gurney's "The Cocktail Hour" (1988).
As Artistic Director of the Old Globe, O'Brien co-produced Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" (1987–89), "Rumors" (1988–90) and the drama "The Piano Lesson" (1990–91), for which he won his first Drama Desk Award. Returning to directing, O'Brien helmed "Two Shakespearean Actors" (1992). He co-produced "Two Trains Running" (1992) and "Redwood Curtain" (1993). He also directed and produced a revival of "Damn Yankees" (1994–95), "Hapgood" (1995, winning the Lucille Lortel Award for Direction), a flop called "Getting Away With Murder" (1996) and produced "Play On!" (1997). He next directed a revival of "The Little Foxes" (1997), a new comedy, "More to Love" (1998), which closed in three days, and produced "Getting and Spending" (1998). O'Brien also has occasionally directed for television over the years.
O'Brien had a hit with "The Full Monty", which he directed and produced (2000–2002), and critical success with the drama "The Invention of Love" (2001) for which he won the Drama Desk Award for direction. In 2002, he directed the world premiere of the Nora Ephron play "Imaginary Friends", which then transferred to Broadway. That same year he directed "Hairspray", which ran on Broadway until January 2009. This marked his first Tony Award win, and he also received another Drama Desk Award. In 2002, he was honored with the prestigious "Mr. Abbott" Award from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation. On Broadway, he next produced two more Old Globe productions, "Imaginary Friends" (2002–03), which he directed, and the one-performance flop, "Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All" (2003), which he did not. He returned to Shakespeare, directing "Henry IV" (2003–04), for which he won both the Tony and the Drama Desk Awards, and progressed from the sublime to the ridiculous, directing and producing "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (2005–06). He then produced other works including the Old Globe's annual musical adaptation of Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" (Christmas 2006–07 and 2007–08).
O'Brien next directed Tom Stoppard's trilogy of plays "The Coast of Utopia" (2006–07) at Lincoln Center in New York City, winning both the Tony and Drama Desk Awards. He then directed Giacomo Puccini's trilogy of operas "Il trittico" for the Metropolitan Opera. Other opera productions have included Peter Maxwell Davies' "The Lighthouse" for San Diego Opera, Mozart's "The Magic Flute" for the San Francisco Opera, Verdi's "Aida" for Houston Grand Opera, Kurt Weill's "Street Scene" for New York City Opera, which was televised on "Live from Lincoln Center", and Puccini's "Tosca" for Santa Fe Opera. On television, O'Brien has directed six movies for "American Playhouse", including "An Enemy of the People", "I Never Sang for my Father", "All My Sons", and "Painting Churches". His Broadway revival of "Most Happy Fella" and staging of "The Good Doctor" were produced for PBS.
O'Brien's latest directoral efforts at the Old Globe include Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", Chekhov's "The Seagull", in a new version by Stoppard, and Brendan Behan's "The Hostage". In stepping down as Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre at the end of 2007, O'Brien said, " 'I consider myself truly blessed to have been able to enjoy such a full and varied career at the Globe. I have had the enviable opportunity to direct everything from Shakespeare to new American works to Broadway-bound musicals, all under the supportive and watchful eye of an enthusiastic San Diego community.' "
Recent and planned projects.
He was expected to be the director of a new stage musical on Harry Houdini, produced by Scott Sanders and David Rockwell with the music being composed by Stephen Schwartz. Original star Hugh Jackman dropped out of the project in December 2013. Plans for a reading in December 2013 with out-of-town tryouts and then a Broadway premiere are presumably on hold; the musical had aimed for the 2015–16 Broadway season.
He directed several workshops of the musical adaptation of "Catch Me If You Can", working together with Jerry Mitchell, who has choreographed many of O'Brien's musicals. The Broadway production opened in April 2011.
He also directed Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to "The Phantom of the Opera", "Love Never Dies", which opened in London on March 9, 2010.
In 2009, he directed the premiere of the Michael Jacobs play "Impressionism" at the Schoenfeld Theatre, starring Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen. He served as the director for the 2015–16 North American tour of "The Sound of Music". O'Brien directed the Broadway production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", which opened on Broadway in 2017.
In 2021, he directed the West End revival of "Hairspray", staged at the London Coliseum for a limited 12-week run. It saw O'Brien reunited with fellow original production member Jerry Mitchell, who once again acted as choreographer. The new production also had Michael Ball reprise his Olivier Award winning role of Edna Turnblad.
In 2022, he published a handbook about directing based on his experiences, "Jack in the Box: or, How to Goddamn Direct".
In Fall 2024, O'Brien is set to direct "The Roommate" by Jen Silverman on Broadway, starring Patti Lupone and Mia Farrow at the Booth Theatre.
References.
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