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Mark Lamos

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mark Lamos
Born(1946-03-10)March 10, 1946(age 78)
Melrose Park, Illinois,U.S.
Occupation(s)Director, producer, actor
PartnerJerry Jones

Mark Lamos(born March 10, 1946) is an Americantheatre and opera director,producerand actor. Under his direction, Hartford Stage won the 1989Tony Awardfor Outstanding Regional Theatre and he has been nominated for two other Tonys. For more than 15 seasons, he has been artistic director of theWestport Country Playhouse.In May 2023, he announced he will leave the post in January 2024.[1]

Life and career

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Born inMelrose Park, Illinois,[2]Lamos studiedviolinandballetat an early age, and participated in high school theater productions atProviso East High School,Maywood, IL, from which he graduated in 1964. He attendedNorthwestern Universityon a musicscholarship.[3]

He began his theatrical career as an actor at theGuthrie TheaterinMinneapolis.His earlyBroadwayappearances all were in short-lived productions:The Love Suicide at Schofield BarracksandThe Creation of the World and Other Businessin 1972,Cyranoin 1973, and a revival ofMan and Supermanin 1978. He also appeared in the 1990 filmLongtime Companion.[2][4]

He served as artistic director ofHartford Stagefrom 1981 to 1998. Hartford Stage gained national recognition under Lamos, who shook up the theatre's traditional repertoire with bolder contemporary dramas and spectacular productions of Shakespeare and classics such asPeer Gyntand The Greeks, a cycle of ancient Greek dramas. Productions that ended up on Broadway includedMarvin's Room,Our Country's Good,Tiny Alice,Tea at Five,The Carpetbagger's ChildrenandEnchanted April.[5]

He was appointed the artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse, effective in February 2009.[6][7]

Directing credits Westport Country Playhouse:Harbor;Into the Woods;Twelfth Night;Lips Together, Teeth Apart;Happy Days;She Loves Me;The Breath of Life;That Championship Season;Of Mice and Men.New York credits:The Rivals,Big Bill, Seascape, Cymbeline, Measure for Measure(Lortel Award), all forLincoln Center Theater;The Gershwins’ Fascinating Rhythm; The Deep Blue Sea; Our Country's Good(Tony Award nomination). Off-Broadway:The End of the Day(Playwrights Horizons);Thief River(Signature Theatre Company);Love's Fire(Public Theater, Acting Company);As You Like It(Public Theater, Central Park);Indian Blood,Buffalo Gal,Black Tie and Harbor(Primary Stages). Artistic Director, Hartford Stage (1989 Tony Award for theater's body of work). Other theater: The Kennedy Center; Washington's Ford's Theatre; Canada's Stratford Festival;Guthrie Theater;A.C.T.; Chicago Shakespeare Theater;Yale Repertory Theatre;D.C.'s Shakespeare Theatre; Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; San Diego's Old Globe; Moscow's Pushkin Theatre (first American to direct in former Soviet Union). Opera: I Lombardi, Wozzeck, (both televised for Great Performances); The Great Gatsby (world premiere) and Adriana Lecouvreur at the Metropolitan Opera; many productions for New York City Opera, including televised productions ofPaul Bunyan, Tosca, Central ParkandMadama Butterfly(Emmy Award). Glimmerglass Opera; Gothenburg's Stora Teatern; L'Opéra de Montréal; Chicago Lyric;San Francisco Opera;Norway's Bergen National Opera; and opera companies of Santa Fe, St. Louis, Washington, Dallas, Seattle.

Lamos began his career in the theater as an actor on and off-Broadway and in regional theater. He made his film debut inLongtime Companion.He was awarded the Connecticut Medal for the Arts as well as honorary doctorates fromConnecticut College,University of Hartford,andTrinity College (Connecticut).

Lamos was awarded the 2007 Beinecke Fellow,Yale University,the Stanford Chair atUniversity of Miamiin Coral Cables,[3]has lectured at Yale and was a visiting adjunct professor in the Department of Theater at theUniversity of Michigan.[8]

Lamos isopenlygay.His partner since 1979 is Jerry Jones.[9]

Awards and nominations

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[4]

  • 1991 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play -Our Country's Good,nominee
  • 1991 Tony Award for Best Play -Our Country's Good,nominee
  • 1989 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre - The Hartford Stage Company, winner
  • 1989 Connecticut Medal for the Arts

References

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  1. ^"Lamos leaving as Westport Country Playhouse artistic director".Westport Journal.11 May 2023.
  2. ^abMark Lamos biographyfilmreference, retrieved January 25, 2010
  3. ^abStanford Distinguished ProfessorsUniversity of Miami, retrieved January 25, 2010ArchivedJune 17, 2010, at theWayback Machine
  4. ^abMark Lamos Broadway creditsibdb, retrieved January 25, 2010
  5. ^"'Anastasia' Takes Home 7 Connecticut Critics Circle Awards ".AMERICAN THEATRE.2016-06-14.Retrieved2021-08-26.
  6. ^Gates, Anita.For a Veteran Thespian, a Welcome Return to Regional TheaterThe New York Times,April 2, 2009
  7. ^News Release[permanent dead link]westportplayhouse, January 5, 2009
  8. ^Mark Lamos biographywestportplayhouse.org, retrieved January 25, 2010
  9. ^Provenzano, Jim (June 6, 2000)."Regal eagles".The Advocate.p. 71.
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