Mark Lamos
Encyclopedia
Mark Lamos is an American
theatre and opera director, producer and actor
. Under his direction, Hartford Stage won the 1989 Tony Award
for Outstanding Regional Theatre and he has been nominated for two other Tonys. He is now Artistic Director of the Westport Country Playhouse
.
, Lamos studied violin
and ballet
at an early age and attended Northwestern University
on a music scholarship
.
He began his theatrical career as an actor at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. His early Broadway
appearances all were in short-lived productions: The Love Suicide at Schofield Barracks and The Creation of the World and Other Business
in 1972, Cyrano
in 1973, and a revival of Man and Superman
in 1978. He also appeared in the 1990 film Longtime Companion
.
Lamos joined the Hartford Stage
as Artistic Director in 1980. During his tenure the company staged Einstein and the Polar Bear, Is There Life After High School?, Stand-Up Tragedy, and Our Country's Good
, all of which transferred to Broadway
. New York directing credits include The Deep Blue Sea
, The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm, The Rivals
, and Seascape
. Off-Broadway
, he directed, among others, Indian Blood at Primary Stages in 2006, receiving a nomination for the Callaway Award, Director. For the Public Theater
, he directed As You Like It
(2005) and Love's Fire (1998). ,At Lincoln Center, he directed Measure For Measure
(1989) and Big Bill (2004).
Lamos has directed Much Ado About Nothing
for the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.
, Giuseppe Verdi
's I Lombardi at the Metropolitan Opera
House, John Harbison
's opera
tic adaptations of Winter’s Tale and The Great Gatsby and Charles Wuorinen
's opera Haroun and Sea of Stories with libretto by British poet James Fenton
based on the novel of Salman Rushdie. His many guest directing credits for regional theatre companies include the Stratford Festival (Canada), La Jolla Playhouse
, American Conservatory Theater (San Francisco) - The Circle, the Guthrie Lab - Edgardo Mine, McCarter Theatre
, the Old Globe Theatre
(San Diego) - Resurrection Blues, 2004, Yale Repertory Theatre
- Lulu, and the Kennedy Center where he directed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
(2004).
He was appointed the artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse, effective in February 2009.
Lamos was awarded the 2007 Beinecke Fellow, Yale University
, the Stanford Chair at University of Miami
in Coral Cables, has lectured at Yale and was a visiting adjunct professor in the Department of Theater at the University of Michigan
.
Lamos is openly
gay
. His partner since 1979 is Jerry Jones.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatre and opera director, producer and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. Under his direction, Hartford Stage won the 1989 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Outstanding Regional Theatre and he has been nominated for two other Tonys. He is now Artistic Director of the Westport Country Playhouse
Westport Country Playhouse
Westport Country Playhouse, is a not-for-profit theater in Westport, Connecticut. Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos the Playhouse produces new and classic plays for the public....
.
Life and career
Born in Melrose Park, IllinoisMelrose Park, Illinois
Melrose Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a "near-in" suburb of Chicago. The population was 23,171 at the 2000 census. Melrose Park has long been home to a large Italian-American population, though now it is majority Mexican-American. It was the home of Kiddieland...
, Lamos studied violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
at an early age and attended Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
on a music scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
.
He began his theatrical career as an actor at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. His early 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...
appearances all were in short-lived productions: The Love Suicide at Schofield Barracks and The Creation of the World and Other Business
The Creation of the World and Other Business
The Creation of the World and Other Business is a play by Arthur Miller.A parable inspired by the Book of Genesis in the Bible, it explores the classic theme of good versus evil by way of a comedic retelling of the story of the creation of man . Miller's God is powerful but lacks wisdom...
in 1972, Cyrano
Cyrano (musical)
Cyrano is a musical with a book and lyrics by Anthony Burgess and music by Michael J. Lewis.Based on Edmond Rostand's classic 1897 play of the same name, it focuses on a love triangle involving the large-nosed poetic Cyrano de Bergerac, his beautiful cousin Roxana, and his classically handsome but...
in 1973, and a revival of Man and Superman
Man and Superman
Man and Superman is a four-act drama, written by George Bernard Shaw in 1903. The series was written in response to calls for Shaw to write a play based on the Don Juan theme. Man and Superman opened at The Royal Court Theatre in London on 23 May 1905, but with the omission of the 3rd Act...
in 1978. He also appeared in the 1990 film Longtime Companion
Longtime Companion
Longtime Companion is a 1989 film with Bruce Davison, Campbell Scott, Patrick Cassidy, and Mary-Louise Parker. The first wide-release theatrical film to deal with the subject of AIDS, the film takes its title from the words The New York Times used to describe the surviving same-sex partner of...
.
Lamos joined the Hartford Stage
Hartford Stage
Hartford Stage, located in Hartford, Connecticut, is one of the leading resident theatres in the United States, known internationally for entertaining and enlightening audiences with a wide range of the best of world drama, from classics to provocative new plays and musicals and neglected works...
as Artistic Director in 1980. During his tenure the company staged Einstein and the Polar Bear, Is There Life After High School?, Stand-Up Tragedy, and Our Country's Good
Our Country's Good
Our Country's Good is a 1988 play written by British playwright, Timberlake Wertenbaker, adapted from the Thomas Keneally novel The Playmaker. The story concerns a group of Royal Marines and convicts in a penal colony in New South Wales, in the 1780s, who put on a production of The Recruiting...
, all of which transferred to 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...
. New York directing credits include The Deep Blue Sea
The Deep Blue Sea
The Deep Blue Sea is a play by Terence Rattigan. Premiering in London on 6 March 1952, it was praised by critics and audiences who saw it as evidence that Rattigan's view of life was growing deeper and more complex. It also won praise for actress Peggy Ashcroft, who co-starred with Kenneth More...
, The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm, The Rivals
The Rivals
The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
, and Seascape
Seascape (play)
Seascape is a play by American playwright Edward Albee. Directed by Albee himself, the production opened on Broadway on January 26, 1975, at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre, starring Deborah Kerr, Barry Nelson, Maureen Anderman and Frank Langella, who won a Tony Award for his performance as Leslie...
. Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
, he directed, among others, Indian Blood at Primary Stages in 2006, receiving a nomination for the Callaway Award, Director. For the Public Theater
Public Theater
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as The Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers. It is headquartered at 425 Lafayette Street in the former Astor Library in the East Village...
, he directed As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
(2005) and Love's Fire (1998). ,At Lincoln Center, he directed Measure For Measure
Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was classified as comedy, but its mood defies those expectations. As a result and for a variety of reasons, some critics have labelled it as one of Shakespeare's problem plays...
(1989) and Big Bill (2004).
Lamos has directed Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
for the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's I Lombardi at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
House, John Harbison
John Harbison
John Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...
's opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic adaptations of Winter’s Tale and The Great Gatsby and Charles Wuorinen
Charles Wuorinen
Charles Peter Wuorinen is a prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. His catalog of more than 250 compositions includes works for orchestra, opera, chamber music, as well as solo instrumental and vocal works...
's opera Haroun and Sea of Stories with libretto by British poet James Fenton
James Fenton
James Martin Fenton is an English poet, journalist and literary critic. He is a former Oxford Professor of Poetry.-Life and career:...
based on the novel of Salman Rushdie. His many guest directing credits for regional theatre companies include the Stratford Festival (Canada), La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre-in-residence on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. -Background:...
, American Conservatory Theater (San Francisco) - The Circle, the Guthrie Lab - Edgardo Mine, McCarter Theatre
McCarter Theatre
McCarter Theatre is a not-for-profit, professional company on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. It is one of the most active cultural centers in the nation, offering over 200 performances of theater, dance, music and special events each year...
, the Old Globe Theatre
Old Globe Theatre
The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons...
(San Diego) - Resurrection Blues, 2004, Yale Repertory Theatre
Yale Repertory Theatre
The Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of the Yale School of Drama in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented students. In the process it has become one of the...
- Lulu, and the Kennedy Center where he directed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955...
(2004).
He was appointed the artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse, effective in February 2009.
Lamos was awarded the 2007 Beinecke Fellow, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, the Stanford Chair at University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
in Coral Cables, has lectured at Yale and was a visiting adjunct professor in the Department of Theater at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
Lamos is openly
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
. His partner since 1979 is Jerry Jones.
Awards and nominations
- 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