David Leveaux
Encyclopedia
David Leveaux is a British theatre director who has been nominated for five Tony Awards as director of both plays and musicals. He directs both in the UK, working at the Royal Shakespeare Company
, the Almeida Theatre
, and the Donmar Warehouse
, and on Broadway
, and also in Tokyo.
in the Midlands
, the son of a cardiologist. He read English language and literature at Manchester University.
at Riverside Studios
. When the Studios became bankrupt he was one of a group who occupied the building illegally to keep it running until it was reestablished legitimately. While taking a break in New York City
, he discovered Eugene O'Neill
's play, A Moon for the Misbegotten
, and revived it at Riverside, starring Frances de la Tour
and Ian Bannen
. The production transferred to the West End and Broadway (1984).
Subsequently he directed Therese Raquin
at Chichester
, Anna Christie
in London and on Broadway, and Romeo and Juliet
for the Royal Shakespeare Company
. At the Almeida Theatre
he directed Harold Pinter
's No Man's Land
, Moonlight
, Betrayal
and Neil LaBute
's The Distance From Here (2002).
He was Artistic Director of Theatre Project Tokyo, directing productions in Tokyo, including Electra (1995), Lulu (1999), Modern Noh Plays, The Changeling, Hedda Gabler, and Two Headed Eagle.
He was associate director of the Donmar Warehouse
, under Sam Mendes
' artistic directorship. His revival of the musical Nine
at Donmar in 1996 transferred to Broadway in 2003 with Antonio Banderas
, where he received a nomination for the Tony Award, Best Direction of a Musical and the musical itself won the Tony Award as Best Revival of a Musical. He directed Electra
(1997), for which Zoë Wanamaker
received an Olivier Award. He received the Olivier Award nomination for Best Director for his 1999 revival of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing
.
In 2003 he revived Tom Stoppard
's Jumpers
for the Royal National Theatre
in London. This then toured the UK regions before eventually transferring to Broadway in 2004.
He recently directed Cyrano de Bergerac
(2007) on Broadway, starring Kevin Kline
, with Ben Brantley
writing in The New York Times
:
He is directing the first West End revival of Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia
, opening in May 2009.
Donmar Warehouse
Almeida Theatre
Duke of York's Theatre
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
, the Almeida Theatre
Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
, and the Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
, and on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, and also in Tokyo.
Early life
Leveaux was born in Leicester and raised in DerbyDerby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
in the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
, the son of a cardiologist. He read English language and literature at Manchester University.
Career
In his early 20s, Leveaux became assistant to Peter GillPeter Gill (playwright)
Peter Gill, theatre director, playwright and former actor, was born in Cardiff, Wales, on 7 September 1939, son of George John Gill and his wife Margaret Mary .He was educated at St Illtyd's College, Cardiff.-Career:...
at Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios is a production studio, theatre and independent cinema on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.-History:In 1933, the...
. When the Studios became bankrupt he was one of a group who occupied the building illegally to keep it running until it was reestablished legitimately. While taking a break in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he discovered Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
's play, A Moon for the Misbegotten
A Moon for the Misbegotten
A Moon for the Misbegotten is a play by Eugene O'Neill. The play can be thought of as a sequel to the autobiographical Long Day's Journey into Night...
, and revived it at Riverside, starring Frances de la Tour
Frances de la Tour
Frances de la Tour is an English actress perhaps best known for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the British sitcom Rising Damp, and as Madame Olympe Maxime in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.-Early life and family:De la...
and Ian Bannen
Ian Bannen
Ian Bannen was a Scottish character actor and occasional leading man.-Early life and career:Bannen was born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, the son of Clare and John James Bannen, a lawyer. Bannen served in the British Army after attending St Aloysius' College, Glasgow and Ratcliffe College,...
. The production transferred to the West End and Broadway (1984).
Subsequently he directed Therese Raquin
Thérèse Raquin
Thérèse Raquin is the title of a novel and a play by the French writer Émile Zola. The novel was originally published in serial format in the journal L'Artiste and in book format in December of the same year.-Plot introduction:Thérèse Raquin tells the story of a young woman, unhappily married to...
at Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
, Anna Christie
Anna Christie
Anna Christie is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his work.-Plot summary:...
in London and on Broadway, and Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
for the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
. At the Almeida Theatre
Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
he directed Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
's No Man's Land
No Man's Land (play)
No Man's Land is a play by Harold Pinter written in 1974 and first produced and published in 1975. Its original production was at the Old Vic Theatre in London by the National Theatre on 23 April 1975, and it later transferred to Wyndhams Theatre, July 1975 - January 1976, the Lyttelton Theatre...
, Moonlight
Moonlight (play)
Moonlight is a play written by Harold Pinter, which premiered at the Almeida Theatre, in London, in September 1993.-Setting:THREE MAIN PLAYING AREAS:rehashes his youth, loves, lusts, and betrayals with his wife, [Bel], while simultaneously his two sons [Fred and Jake] — clinical, conspiratorial,...
, Betrayal
Betrayal (play)
Betrayal is a play written by Harold Pinter in 1978. Critically regarded as one of the English playwright's major dramatic works, it features his characteristically economical dialogue, characters' hidden emotions and veiled motivations, and their self-absorbed competitive one-upmanship,...
and Neil LaBute
Neil LaBute
Neil N. LaBute is an American film director, screenwriter and playwright.-Early life:LaBute was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Marian, a hospital receptionist, and Richard LaBute, a long-haul truck driver. LaBute is of French Canadian, English and Irish ancestry, and was raised in Spokane,...
's The Distance From Here (2002).
He was Artistic Director of Theatre Project Tokyo, directing productions in Tokyo, including Electra (1995), Lulu (1999), Modern Noh Plays, The Changeling, Hedda Gabler, and Two Headed Eagle.
He was associate director of the Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
, under Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
' artistic directorship. His revival of the musical Nine
Nine (musical)
Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
at Donmar in 1996 transferred to Broadway in 2003 with Antonio Banderas
Antonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...
, where he received a nomination for the Tony Award, Best Direction of a Musical and the musical itself won the Tony Award as Best Revival of a Musical. He directed Electra
Electra
In Greek mythology, Electra was an Argive princess and daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. She and her brother Orestes plotted revenge against their mother Clytemnestra and stepfather Aegisthus for the murder of their father Agamemnon...
(1997), for which Zoë Wanamaker
Zoe Wanamaker
Zoë Wanamaker, CBE is an American-British actress. She has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company; in films, including the Harry Potter series; and in a number of television productions, including a long-time role as Susan Harper in the sitcom My Family.-Early life and family:Wanamaker was...
received an Olivier Award. He received the Olivier Award nomination for Best Director for his 1999 revival of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing
The Real Thing (play)
The Real Thing is a play by Tom Stoppard, first performed in 1982. It examines the nature of honesty, and its use of a play within a play is one of many levels on which the author teases the audience with the difference between semblance and reality....
.
In 2003 he revived Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
's Jumpers
Jumpers
Jumpers is a 1972 play by Tom Stoppard. It explores and satirises the field of academic philosophy, likening it to a less-than skilful competitive gymnastics display...
for the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
in London. This then toured the UK regions before eventually transferring to Broadway in 2004.
He recently directed Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac (play)
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....
(2007) on Broadway, starring Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline
Kevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
, with Ben Brantley
Ben Brantley
Benjamin D. "Ben" Brantley is an American journalist and the chief theater critic of The New York Times.-Life and career:...
writing in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
:
"Mr. Leveaux, the British director of the exquisite-looking Broadway productions of “Nine” and “Jumpers,” does pretty better than most of his peers, which is his blessing and his curse. (Even “Fiddler on the Roof,” in his hands, suggested a Vogue layout on Shtetl Chic.) He also has a strong sentimental streak, tempered by his aesthetic sense. He is the perfect man to bring “Cyrano” into the 21st century, presenting the play’s flowery sensibility without making audiences feel they’ve been doused in perfume."
He is directing the first West End revival of Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia
Arcadia (play)
Arcadia is a 1993 play by Tom Stoppard concerning the relationship between past and present and between order and disorder and the certainty of knowledge...
, opening in May 2009.
Work
Broadway- Cyrano de Bergerac (2007)
- The Glass Menagerie (2005)
- Jumpers (2004) – Tony Award nomination, Best Direction of a Play
- Fiddler on the Roof (2004)
- Nine (2003) – Tony Award nomination, Best Direction of a Musical and Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
nomination, Outstanding Director of a Musical - Betrayal (2000)
- The Real Thing (2000) – Tony Award nomination, Best Direction of a Play
- Electra (1998)
- Anna Christie (1993) – Tony Award nomination, Best Direction of a Play
- A Moon for the Misbegotten (1984) – Tony Award nomination, Best Direction of a Play
Donmar Warehouse
- The Real Thing – 1999 (transferred to the Albery Theatre, January 2000)
- Electra – (1997)
- Nine – (1996)
Almeida Theatre
- The Distance From Here – (2002)
- No Man's Land – 1992 (transferred to Comedy Theatre, 1993)
- Moonlight – (1993)
- Betrayal – (1991)
Duke of York's Theatre
Duke of York's Theatre
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre, until her death in 1935. It opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, with Wedding...
- BackbeatBackbeatBackbeat is a term applied to a rhythmic accentuation on even beats.Backbeat may also refer to:*Backbeat , of pioneer rock and roll drummer Earl Palmer...
(2011).