Albert Innaurato
Encyclopedia
Albert Innaurato is an American
playwright
, theatre director, and writer
.
Innaurato was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
in 1947. After graduating from California Institute of the Arts
, Innaurato attended the Yale School of Drama
. He was awarded the Guggenheim Grant, the Rockefeller Grant and two National Endowment for the Arts grants.
Innaurato collaborated with Christopher Durang
on The Idiots Karamazov, I Don't Normally Like Poetry but Have You Read Trees, and Gyp, the Real-Life Story of Mitzi Gaynor
while both were students at Yale University's School of Drama
. They performed in all three plays but especially in the last two named. Dressed as priests they played women in summer stock, they opened the Manhattan Theatre Club
, almost costing the founder Lynn Meadow her new board. At Yale they frequently appeared in plays with their Drama School classmates Meryl Streep
, Sigourney Weaver
and their friend, the late Wendy Wasserstein
.
In 1976, he drew critical attention for the Playwrights Horizons
staging of his play Gemini
. A year later, after some cast changes, the play was produced at PAF Playhouse on Long Island. That production subsequently was presented off-Broadway at the Circle Repertory Company
, opening March 8, 1977, where it was acclaimed by the major New York critics. The Circle Rep production transferred to Broadway
, where it ran for 1819 performances and earned him an Obie Award
and a Drama Desk Award
nomination for Outstanding New American Play. The screen adaptation, which Innaurato did not write, was released in 1980 under the title Happy Birthday, Gemini. Showtime filmed the play as written with members of the original cast
Gemini was controversial in its time for its frankness about and advocacy of tolerance for homosexuality
. It also addresses the difficulties of the acculturation process, and the tensions caused by the different perspectives and values of second and third generation Americans as the hero, a Harvard student, attempts to navigate between American and Italian-American culture.
In 2006, Innaurato's hit play was turned into a musical, Gemini: The Musical and presented at the Prince Music Theater in Phialdelphia, PA, starring Robert Picardo
, Linda Hart
, Anne DeSalvo, Barry James, Jillian Louis, Jeremiah Downes and Todd Buonopane. Innaurato has described this adventure as a 'bad mistake' (conversation with the author).
The Transfiguration of Benno Blimpie, which provided James Coco
with one of his best roles and earned Innaurato another Obie and a second Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding New American Play, has been produced twice Off Broadway, Innaurato's production at Playwrights' Horizons starring Peter Evans won a rave from critic Frank Rich
. It was performed in London
, where Innaurato directed, Italy
, Spain
, and Israel
.
Additional theatre credits include Passione
at both Playwrights Horizons (where Innaurato directed) and on Broadway (directed by Frank Langella), Magda and Callas, Coming of Age in Soho (directed by Innaurato twice at Joseph Papp
's Public Theater
), Gus and Al (given two runs at Playwrights' Horizons), and Dreading Thekla. Early plays, still considered obscene and difficult like 'Earthworms' 'Urlicht and Wisdom Amok' were collected along with Gemini and Benno Blimpie in an Avon book called 'Bizarre Behavior'. Coming of Age in Soho along with Gemini and Benno Blimpie were collected in a Gay Press edition called, The Best plays of Albert Innaurato.
Innaurato's television credits include The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
and Verna: U.S.O. Girl, which garnered him an Emmy Award
nomination. He was also a frequent contributor of short plays to PBS in the '80s, including the much noticed Death and Taxes, starring Sally Kellerman
. He also adapted the book and wrote new lyrics for a broadcast of the Kurt Weill
/Ira Gershwin
/Moss Hart
musical
Lady in the Dark
. He worked with Byron Janis
on a musical treatment of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, given in Cuba
as part of a cultural exchange.
Innaurato adapted Puccini's La Rondine
for Lincoln Center. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Vogue
, Vanity Fair
, New York Magazine, and Newsday
. He was a very frequent contributor to Opera News
in the 90's. For the Metropolitan Opera Guild, produced by Paul Gruber, he recorded 20 tapes/CDs of opera from Carmen to Death in Venice, some with him at the piano. He has lectured for the New York Philharmonic
, the Los Angeles Philharmonic
, and the The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
. He taught playwriting at Columbia University in the Graduate school for eight years, and has also taught at Princeton, The Yale School of Drama, Temple University and Rutgers.
Innaurato is currently Artistic Director of Creative Development Projects at Center City Opera Theater
in Philadelphia. He has contributed to the development as both 'dramaturg' and director of workshops of new operas such as Paul's Case by Gregory Spears, Love/Hate by Rob Bailis and Jack Perla, Slaying the Dragon by Michael Ching, The Great Blondin by Ronald Vigue to which he contributed the libretto, and other works.
He directed the American premiere of the Shops by Edward Rushton and Dagny Gioulami in December 2010, given a site specific production at the Comcast Center on Philadelphia (extensive article in the Philadelphia Inquirer by David Patrick Stearns http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20101216_A_shopping_opera_in_a_real-life_mall.html).
For the company he has also directed Don Pasquale, The Magic Flute, Eugene Onegin, Rigoletto and Suor Angelica, among other works.
David Patrick Stearns: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20101216_A_shopping_opera_in_a_real-life_mall.html).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, theatre director, and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Innaurato was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
in 1947. After graduating from California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
, Innaurato attended the Yale School of Drama
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
. He was awarded the Guggenheim Grant, the Rockefeller Grant and two National Endowment for the Arts grants.
Innaurato collaborated with Christopher Durang
Christopher Durang
Christopher Ferdinand Durang is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s.- Life :...
on The Idiots Karamazov, I Don't Normally Like Poetry but Have You Read Trees, and Gyp, the Real-Life Story of Mitzi Gaynor
Mitzi Gaynor
-Life and career:Gaynor was born as Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago, Illinois to Pauline Fisher, a dancer, and Henry von Gerber, a violinist, cellist, and music director. The family first moved to Detroit and when she was eleven to Hollywood, California.She trained as a ballerina...
while both were students at Yale University's School of Drama
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
. They performed in all three plays but especially in the last two named. Dressed as priests they played women in summer stock, they opened the Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...
, almost costing the founder Lynn Meadow her new board. At Yale they frequently appeared in plays with their Drama School classmates Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
, Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
and their friend, the late Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein was an American playwright and an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University...
.
In 1976, he drew critical attention for the Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
staging of his play Gemini
Gemini (play)
Gemini is a play by Albert Innaurato.-Plot:Set in the backyard of a blue collar South Philadelphia neighborhood early in the summer of 1973, the comedy-drama focuses on the 21st birthday celebration of Harvard student Francis Geminiani...
. A year later, after some cast changes, the play was produced at PAF Playhouse on Long Island. That production subsequently was presented off-Broadway at the Circle Repertory Company
Circle Repertory Company
The Circle Repertory Company, originally named the Circle Theater Company, was a theatre company in New York City that ran from 1969 to 1996. It was founded on July 14, 1969, in Manhattan, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by director Marshall W...
, opening March 8, 1977, where it was acclaimed by the major New York critics. The Circle Rep production 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...
, where it ran for 1819 performances and earned him an Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
and a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The 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 for Outstanding New American Play. The screen adaptation, which Innaurato did not write, was released in 1980 under the title Happy Birthday, Gemini. Showtime filmed the play as written with members of the original cast
Gemini was controversial in its time for its frankness about and advocacy of tolerance for homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
. It also addresses the difficulties of the acculturation process, and the tensions caused by the different perspectives and values of second and third generation Americans as the hero, a Harvard student, attempts to navigate between American and Italian-American culture.
In 2006, Innaurato's hit play was turned into a musical, Gemini: The Musical and presented at the Prince Music Theater in Phialdelphia, PA, starring Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Dr. Dick Richards on ABC's China Beach, the Emergency Medical Hologram , also known as The Doctor, on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager, The Cowboy in Innerspace, Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years , Ben Wheeler in Wagons East, and as...
, Linda Hart
Linda Hart
Linda Hart is an American singer, musician, and actress, mainly appearing in musical theatre.- Biography :As a child, Hart sang in her church choir; at age seven, she joined her father and the rest of the family in The Harts, a weekly gospel television series. Hart attended Los Angeles City...
, Anne DeSalvo, Barry James, Jillian Louis, Jeremiah Downes and Todd Buonopane. Innaurato has described this adventure as a 'bad mistake' (conversation with the author).
The Transfiguration of Benno Blimpie, which provided James Coco
James Coco
James Coco was an American character actor.- Early life and career :Born James Emil Coco in New York City, son of Feliche Coco, a shoemaker and Ida Detestes Coco, James began acting straight out of high school. As an overweight and prematurely balding adult, he found himself relegated to character...
with one of his best roles and earned Innaurato another Obie and a second Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding New American Play, has been produced twice Off Broadway, Innaurato's production at Playwrights' Horizons starring Peter Evans won a rave from critic Frank Rich
Frank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
. It was performed in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where Innaurato directed, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Additional theatre credits include Passione
Passione (play)
Passione was a play by American playwright Albert Innaurato. The action is set in South Philadelphia in the present.It ran on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre from September 23 to October 5, 1980. It was directed by Frank Langella and costume design was by William Ivey Long....
at both Playwrights Horizons (where Innaurato directed) and on Broadway (directed by Frank Langella), Magda and Callas, Coming of Age in Soho (directed by Innaurato twice at Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
's 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...
), Gus and Al (given two runs at Playwrights' Horizons), and Dreading Thekla. Early plays, still considered obscene and difficult like 'Earthworms' 'Urlicht and Wisdom Amok' were collected along with Gemini and Benno Blimpie in an Avon book called 'Bizarre Behavior'. Coming of Age in Soho along with Gemini and Benno Blimpie were collected in a Gay Press edition called, The Best plays of Albert Innaurato.
Innaurato's television credits include The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd is an NBC/Lifetime comedy-drama that aired from 1987 to 1991. It was created by Jay Tarses and starred Blair Brown in the title role.-Premise:...
and Verna: U.S.O. Girl, which garnered him an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nomination. He was also a frequent contributor of short plays to PBS in the '80s, including the much noticed Death and Taxes, starring Sally Kellerman
Sally Kellerman
Sally Clare Kellerman is an American actress and singer known for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film MASH , for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.-Early life:...
. He also adapted the book and wrote new lyrics for a broadcast of the Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
/Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
/Moss Hart
Moss Hart
Moss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Lady in the Dark
Lady in the Dark
Lady in the Dark is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fashion magazine, Allure, who is undergoing psychoanalysis...
. He worked with Byron Janis
Byron Janis
Byron Janis is an American classical pianist.-Life:He made several recordings for RCA Victor and Mercury Records, and occupies two volumes of the Philips Great Pianists series. His discography covers repertoire from Beethoven to David Guion and includes renditions of major piano concertos from...
on a musical treatment of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, given in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
as part of a cultural exchange.
Innaurato adapted Puccini's La Rondine
La rondine
La rondine is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert...
for Lincoln Center. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
, New York Magazine, and Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
. He was a very frequent contributor to Opera News
Opera News
Opera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
in the 90's. For the Metropolitan Opera Guild, produced by Paul Gruber, he recorded 20 tapes/CDs of opera from Carmen to Death in Venice, some with him at the piano. He has lectured for the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
, and the The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. Its website states that it is "the nation’s premier repertory company for chamber music."...
. He taught playwriting at Columbia University in the Graduate school for eight years, and has also taught at Princeton, The Yale School of Drama, Temple University and Rutgers.
Innaurato is currently Artistic Director of Creative Development Projects at Center City Opera Theater
Center City Opera Theater
Center City Opera Theater is an opera company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1999, CCOT is the only professional opera company in the United States whose mission is the creation of new opera works, guiding works from inception to stage through a series of workshops...
in Philadelphia. He has contributed to the development as both 'dramaturg' and director of workshops of new operas such as Paul's Case by Gregory Spears, Love/Hate by Rob Bailis and Jack Perla, Slaying the Dragon by Michael Ching, The Great Blondin by Ronald Vigue to which he contributed the libretto, and other works.
He directed the American premiere of the Shops by Edward Rushton and Dagny Gioulami in December 2010, given a site specific production at the Comcast Center on Philadelphia (extensive article in the Philadelphia Inquirer by David Patrick Stearns http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20101216_A_shopping_opera_in_a_real-life_mall.html).
For the company he has also directed Don Pasquale, The Magic Flute, Eugene Onegin, Rigoletto and Suor Angelica, among other works.
Sources
External links
David Patrick Stearns: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20101216_A_shopping_opera_in_a_real-life_mall.html).