Sharon Ott (director)
Encyclopedia
Sharon Ott is an award-winning director, producer and educator who has worked in regional theaters and opera throughout the United States
. Ott is currently the artistic director of the Performing Arts department at the Savannah College of Art and Design
, where she also teaches. Two plays she directed, A Fierce Longing and Amlin Gray's How I Got That Story, won Obies after their New York runs.
in 1972 with a triple major in theater, anthropology, and music. During her years there, she received a fellowship from the National Science Foundation
to work on an archaeological site in northern Arizona. She was accepted into the MFA acting program at Cal Arts under the direction of Dr. Herbert Blau
. When Blau left Cal Arts, his students followed him to Oberlin College
, forming the ensemble Kraken under his leadership. This group of young actors included Julie Taymor
(director of The Lion King, Titus Andronicus, and Frida,) and noted clown and actor, Bill Irwin
.
After two years with Kraken, Ott joined the ensemble Camera Obscura, a resident company at La Mama Experimental Theater Company in New York, and the Mickery Theater in Amsterdam, Holland. Their work was presented at La Mama, The Mickery, and in other theaters throughout Germany, Belgium, and Holland.
Ott left Europe to return to the United States where she formed her own theater company, Aleph. Aleph's work was presented in Los Angeles before they were hired as the company in residence at the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee.
While in Milwaukee, Ott developed an interest in the work of Theatre X, eventually joined the company, and directed several productions for the company including The Wreck: A Romance, based on the poems of Adrienne Rich
, and A Fierce Longing based on the life and work of Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima
. The Wreck was presented at theater festivals in the United States and Holland, and the company received an Obie award for A Fierce Longing after its run at New York City's Performing Garage
.
Ott became resident director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater
in 1980. During her association with the Milwaukee Rep, she was able to travel to Japan; once to work with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki
, and twice more with productions she directed. She also directed the world premiere of Amlin Gray's How I Got That Story at the Milwaukee Rep, which won an Obie award after its New York run.
for Excellence in 1997. She worked with author Philip Kan Gotanda
, directing world premieres of Yankee Dawg You Die, and The Ballad of Yachiyo, as well as a production of The Wash in New York and Los Angeles. Ott also directed an adaptation of Maxine Hong Kingston
's The Woman Warrior that premiered at Berkeley Rep before moving on to productions in Boston and Los Angeles. She directed the national tour of Anna Deveare Smith's Twilight: Los Angeles which started in San Francisco before touring to Boston, Houston, Seattle, New Haven, and Washington, DC where it was performed at the Ford's Theater with then President Bill Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore in attendance.
. Under her leadership, a successful $15 million endowment campaign was completed, and the Rep's annual budget grew from $6 million to $9 million. She maintained a subscription audience of 14,000 and grew the overall audience for the Rep from 140,400 in the year prior to her arrival to a high of 185,000. Ott re-introduced the classics to the Seattle Rep audiences, directing Shakespeare and Shaw herself, and producing the work of Stephen Wadsworth, Mary Zimmerman, and Tina Landau
. She maintained the Rep's long term association with August Wilson
, producing the world premiere of Wilson's King Hedley II and How I Learned What I Learned, Wilson's autobiographical solo performance work. Ott also produced the world premiere work of several major new artists to the Rep, such as Ping Chong
, Phillip Kan Gotanda, and Nilo Cruz
.
, the Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory
Theatre, the Huntington Theater, the Alliance Theater, Playwrights' Horizons and the Manhattan Theater Club. She has also directed several operas, including La Boheme
and The Conquistador at San Diego Opera, Vanessa
and Salome
at Seattle Opera, Don Giovanni
at Opera Colorado, and Bluebeard's Castle
at the Seattle Symphony with sets by Dale Chihuly
.
's You, Nero at South Coast Repertory
's 2008 Pacific Playwrights Festival
, and is scheduled to direct the play's world premiere at South Coast Repertory followed by a production at at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre
in 2009. She is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, currently serving on the Executive Board.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Ott is currently the artistic director of the Performing Arts department at the Savannah College of Art and Design
Savannah College of Art and Design
SCAD, the Savannah College of Art and Design, is a private, accredited and degree-granting university with locations in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia, Hong Kong, and Lacoste, France.-History:...
, where she also teaches. Two plays she directed, A Fierce Longing and Amlin Gray's How I Got That Story, won Obies after their New York runs.
Education and early career as an actor
Sharon Ott received her BA from Bennington CollegeBennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
in 1972 with a triple major in theater, anthropology, and music. During her years there, she received a fellowship from the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
to work on an archaeological site in northern Arizona. She was accepted into the MFA acting program at Cal Arts under the direction of Dr. Herbert Blau
Herbert Blau
A director and theoretician of performance, Herbert Blau is Byron W. and Alice L. Lockwood Professor in the Humanities at the University of Washington...
. When Blau left Cal Arts, his students followed him to Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, forming the ensemble Kraken under his leadership. This group of young actors included Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor is an American director of theater, opera and film. Taymor's work has received many accolades from critics, and she has earned two Tony Awards out of four nominations, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design, an Emmy Award and an Academy Award nomination for Original Song...
(director of The Lion King, Titus Andronicus, and Frida,) and noted clown and actor, Bill Irwin
Bill Irwin
William Mills "Bill" Irwin is an American actor and clown noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He is known for his vaudeville-style stage acts, but has made a number of appearances on film and television and won a Tony Award for a dramatic role on...
.
After two years with Kraken, Ott joined the ensemble Camera Obscura, a resident company at La Mama Experimental Theater Company in New York, and the Mickery Theater in Amsterdam, Holland. Their work was presented at La Mama, The Mickery, and in other theaters throughout Germany, Belgium, and Holland.
Ott left Europe to return to the United States where she formed her own theater company, Aleph. Aleph's work was presented in Los Angeles before they were hired as the company in residence at the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee.
While in Milwaukee, Ott developed an interest in the work of Theatre X, eventually joined the company, and directed several productions for the company including The Wreck: A Romance, based on the poems of Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Cecile Rich is an American poet, essayist and feminist. She has been called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century."-Early life:...
, and A Fierce Longing based on the life and work of Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima
Yukio Mishima
was the pen name of , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director, also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état...
. The Wreck was presented at theater festivals in the United States and Holland, and the company received an Obie award for A Fierce Longing after its run at New York City's Performing Garage
Performing Garage
The Performing Garage is an off-Broadway theater in SoHo, New York City. Established in 1968, it is the permanent home of the experimental theater company originally named The Performance Group that morphed in 1980 into The Wooster Group , and their primary performance venue.Since 1978, it also...
.
Ott became resident director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Milwaukee Repertory Theater, founded by Mary Widrig John in 1954, as the Fred Miller Theatre Company, is now located on the east bank of the Milwaukee River in the Patty and Jay Baker Theater Complex at 108 E Wells St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is home to an eleven member Resident Acting Company...
in 1980. During her association with the Milwaukee Rep, she was able to travel to Japan; once to work with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki
Tadashi Suzuki
Tadashi Suzuki is a theatre director, writer and philosopher working out of Toga, Toyama, Japan. Suzuki is the founder and director of the Suzuki Company of Toga , organizer of Japan’s first international theatre festival , co-founder of the Saratoga International Theatre Institute in Saratoga...
, and twice more with productions she directed. She also directed the world premiere of Amlin Gray's How I Got That Story at the Milwaukee Rep, which won an Obie award after its New York run.
Berkeley repertory theater
In 1984, Sharon Ott became artistic director of the Berkeley Repertory Theater, in Berkeley, California. During her 13 years in that position, she increased the company's budget from $1.5 million to over $5 million, built the audience to 15,000 subscribers, and improved the company's reputation to win the Regional Theatre Tony AwardRegional Theatre Tony Award
The Regional Theatre Tony Award is a special non-competitive Tony Award given annually to a regional theatre company in the United States. Initially presented in 1948 to Robert Porterfield of the Virginia Barter Theatre for their Contribution To Development Of Regional Theatre, the Regional Theatre...
for Excellence in 1997. She worked with author Philip Kan Gotanda
Philip Kan Gotanda
Philip Kan Gotanda is an American playwright and filmmaker. Much of his work deals with Asian American issues and experiences.- Biography :...
, directing world premieres of Yankee Dawg You Die, and The Ballad of Yachiyo, as well as a production of The Wash in New York and Los Angeles. Ott also directed an adaptation of Maxine Hong Kingston
Maxine Hong Kingston
Maxine Hong Kingston is a Chinese American author and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated with a BA in English in 1962. Kingston has written three novels and several works of non-fiction about the experiences of Chinese immigrants living in the United...
's The Woman Warrior that premiered at Berkeley Rep before moving on to productions in Boston and Los Angeles. She directed the national tour of Anna Deveare Smith's Twilight: Los Angeles which started in San Francisco before touring to Boston, Houston, Seattle, New Haven, and Washington, DC where it was performed at the Ford's Theater with then President Bill Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore in attendance.
Seattle Repertory Theatre
Ott left Berkeley in 1997 to become the artistic director of the Seattle Repertory TheatreSeattle Repertory Theatre
Seattle Repertory Theatre is a major regional theatre located in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle Center. It is a member of Theatre Puget Sound and Theatre Communications Group. Founded in 1963, it is led by Artistic Director Jerry Manning and Managing Director Benjamin Moore...
. Under her leadership, a successful $15 million endowment campaign was completed, and the Rep's annual budget grew from $6 million to $9 million. She maintained a subscription audience of 14,000 and grew the overall audience for the Rep from 140,400 in the year prior to her arrival to a high of 185,000. Ott re-introduced the classics to the Seattle Rep audiences, directing Shakespeare and Shaw herself, and producing the work of Stephen Wadsworth, Mary Zimmerman, and Tina Landau
Tina Landau
Tina Landau is an American playwright and theatre director.Born in New York City to film and television producers Edie and Ely Landau, Landau moved with her family to Beverly Hills, California, where she graduated from Beverly Hills High School before attending Yale University, where she directed...
. She maintained the Rep's long term association with August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
, producing the world premiere of Wilson's King Hedley II and How I Learned What I Learned, Wilson's autobiographical solo performance work. Ott also produced the world premiere work of several major new artists to the Rep, such as Ping Chong
Ping Chong
Ping Chong is an American contemporary theater director, choreographer, video and installation artist. He was born in Toronto and raised in the Chinatown section of New York City...
, Phillip Kan Gotanda, and Nilo Cruz
Nilo Cruz
Nilo Cruz is an Cuban-American playwright and pedagogue. With his award of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play, Anna in the Tropics, he became the first Latino so honored.-Early years:...
.
Guest directing and opera
Sharon Ott has been a guest director at such theaters as the Arena Stage, the New York Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla PlayhouseLa 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:...
, the Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory
South Coast Repertory
South Coast Repertory is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California.Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, founded in 1964 by David Emmes and Martin Benson and now under the leadership of Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Paula Tomei, is widely...
Theatre, the Huntington Theater, the Alliance Theater, Playwrights' Horizons and the Manhattan Theater Club. She has also directed several operas, including La Boheme
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
and The Conquistador at San Diego Opera, Vanessa
Vanessa (opera)
Vanessa is an opera in three acts by Samuel Barber with an original English libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti. It was composed in 1956–1957 and was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on January 15, 1958 under the baton of Dimitri Mitropoulos in a production designed by...
and Salome
Salome (opera)
Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
at Seattle Opera, Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
at Opera Colorado, and Bluebeard's Castle
Bluebeard's Castle
Duke Bluebeard's Castle is a one-act opera by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. The libretto was written by Béla Balázs, a poet and friend of the composer. It is in Hungarian, based on the French fairy tale "Bluebeard" by Charles Perrault...
at the Seattle Symphony with sets by Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly is an American glass sculptor and entrepreneur.-Biography:Chihuly graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Tacoma, Washington. He enrolled at the College of the Puget Sound in 1959...
.
Current work
Most recently, she directed the stage reading of Amy FreedAmy Freed
Amy Freed is an American playwright. She was nominated as a finalist in the drama category of the 1998 Pulitzer Prizes for her play Freedomland. In addition to Freedomland, she is the author of The Beard of Avon , The Psychic Life of Savages, and other plays...
's You, Nero at South Coast Repertory
South Coast Repertory
South Coast Repertory is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California.Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, founded in 1964 by David Emmes and Martin Benson and now under the leadership of Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Paula Tomei, is widely...
's 2008 Pacific Playwrights Festival
Pacific Playwrights Festival
The Pacific Playwrights Festival , a national forum for playwrights and theatre leaders, is dedicated to developing and producing new American plays. It is held every summer at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California....
, and is scheduled to direct the play's world premiere at South Coast Repertory followed by a production at at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1968, as the East Bay’s first resident professional theatre. Michael Leibert was the founding artistic director, who was then succeeded by Sharon Ott in 1984. The company runs seven...
in 2009. She is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, currently serving on the Executive Board.