David Bar Katz
Encyclopedia
David Bar Katz is an American screenwriter
, playwright, author and director.
theater producer on the Lower East Side
of New York City. Katz attended Chestnut Hill Academy
and graduated from The Hun School of Princeton
, where in 1985 he founded their modern crew program. He attended Williams College
where he was a double-major, receiving a BA in Philosophy and Religion. Katz was a Varsity oarsmen at Williams and a member of the '88 Varsity crew which was the first undefeated heavyweight eight in Williams College history. He was also in the '89 Varsity eight that notably defeated Harvard's
Varsity at The Henley Royal Regatta
. At Williams Katz was a member of Cap and Bells, the oldest continuously running student-run college theater group in the country.
Before embarking on a writing career Katz was a New York City public school teacher and a theatrical publicist
working on Broadway
, in the New York cabaret
scene and with numerous Off-Broadway
theater companies including E.S.T., INTAR, Manhattan Class Company, AMAS, and The Negro Ensemble Company. Katz was the spokesman for Fiddler on the Roof
star Topol
when he made the controversial move of temporarily leaving the Broadway revival of the show during the first Gulf War
to return to Israel
as it was weathering scud missile attacks.
, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
and Spawn
. Katz co-created, wrote and was a supervising producer for the Emmy nominated FOX television show House of Buggin'
, the first all-Latino
comedy show in network history. Katz's script The Man Who Couldn't Forget has been in development with producers Sam Raimi
and Josh Donen at Columbia Pictures
. Katz is currently developing a film with SimCity
and Spore
creator Will Wright at a branch of Sony Pictures.
For Showtime Katz is co-writing and co-executive producing the half-hour comedy project "The Sober Coach" from Apostle and CBS Television Studios.
starring John Leguizamo at San Francisco's Theater on the Square, The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, The Williamstown Theatre Festival
, Off-Broadway's Atlantic Theater Company
and the Cort Theatre
on Broadway where it was nominated for two Tony Award
s including Best Play.
Katz is a 14 Street Y LABA Fellow. He has directed and developed shows with Julian Fleisher, John Leguizamo and Eliza Jane Schneider (South Park
) all at PS 122. He was a participating artist in HomeBase IV, a site-specific installation built around a dozen artists’ notions of home. Katz is a member of Israel Horovitz
's New York Playwright's Lab.
Katz is a company member of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company
. He has had five plays selected for their annual Barn Series Festival between 2006-2011.
Katz has directed 2 LAByrinth theatre company plays at the Barn Series and one at Live Nude Plays. At the Barn Series Katz directed "Utilities" by Jonathan Marc Sherman ("knickerbocker", "things we want"). At Live Nude Plays Katz directed "GUARANTEED SECOND BASE" by Michael Puzzo.
At Vineyard Theatre, Katz directed a reading of Kristina Poe's love sick. The cast included Elizabeth Canavan (Thinner Than Water), David Zayas ("Dexter"), Stephen Adly Guirgis (The Motherf*cker with the Hat), Danny Mastrogiogio (The Hallway Trilogy), Cara Akselrad, Maggie Burke and Scott Hudson (sweet storm).
LAByrinth Theater Company is kicking off its 20th Season with Katz's play "The Atmosphere of Memory" in Fall 2011 at The Bank Street Theater (formerly The Cherry Pit). Pam MacKinnon (Obie Award winner, lilly award winner, Clybourne Park) will direct the World Premiere production, with Scenic Design by David Gallo (Tony Award-winner, The Drowsy Chaperone), Costume Design by Emily Rebholz (Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson), Lighting Design by Dans Sheehan (AlIce The Magnet; Hedda Gabler), and Sound Design by Brendan Connelly (Co-Founder, Obie Award-winning Theater of the Two-headed Calf).
Katz is directing a play ("The Wood" written by Dan Klores) at the Obie award-winning Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre. The play is about Mike McAlary (Viscardi), the larger-than-life columnist for the Daily News and the New York Post and his missionary zeal to ferret out the truth. A Pulitzer Prize-winner for his exposé of the New York police torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in 1997, McAlary died of colon cancer on Christmas Day 1998 at the age of 41. The cast will feature John Visicardi, Gregory Bastien, Michael Carlsen, Melanie Charles, David Deblinger, Kim Director, Thomas Kopache, and Sidney Williams.
Read more: http://offbroadway.broadwayworld.com/article/Creative-Team-Announced-For-Labyrinths-THE-ATMOSPHERE-OF-MEMORY-20110831#ixzz1Wf6Zr1CT
Other select theater projects include "Burning, Burning, Burning, Burning" (Red Bull Theater’s Obie Award winning “Revelation Readings” series, 2010 at redbull theatre), and "What A Way To Go" (New York Playwrights Lab, 2009) at the cherry lane theatre.
Katz's play Philip Roth in Khartoum was produced by LAByrinth Theater Company and The Public Theater (off broadway) in 2008.
"David Bar Katz is an important, incisive, scary, funny playwright. Always full of surprises." -Eric Bogosian
His play The History of Invulnerability, about Jerry Siegel
, the Holocaust and the creation of Superman
was produced by Cincinnati's Tony Award winning Playhouse in the Park in the spring of 2010 and directed by Michael Haney. "More incredible than the Hulk, more amazing than Spiderman, that’s “The History of Invulnerability,” a consideration of The Man of Steel, his co-creator Jerry Siegel and Truth, Justice and the America Way. “Invulnerability” is going to be the spring season’ s buzz show." (Jackie Demaline, The Cincinnati Enquirer) "Katz has X-ray vision to see into the human soul, and his powerful play should be required viewing." (Rick Pender, Cincinnati CityBeat
) "A sensation... Katz creates a fantastic biography of Jerry Siegel, the co-creator of Superman, to explore the roots of art and its relationship to the world." (Demaline, Cincinnati.com)"The History of Invulnerability is set to run at Washington's Theater J in spring 2012.
The History of Invulnerability won the Acclaim Award for Outstanding Play of the Year and the Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Outstanding Premiere.
Katz received the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Citation recognizing The History of Invulnerability as one of the top three American plays of 2010.
Katz's 'tween' novel Chronicles of the Chosen: 7th Grade Gods will be published in Spring 2011.
Katz's adult novel is under development at random house value publishing.
David Bar Katz lives in New York City with his 4 sons.
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, playwright, author and director.
Early life
Katz was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His interest in theater was sparked by stories of his great-grandfather who was a YiddishYiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; naturalist drama; expressionist and...
theater producer on the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of New York City. Katz attended Chestnut Hill Academy
Chestnut Hill Academy
Chestnut Hill Academy, commonly referred to as CHA, is a Pre-K to 12 all-male independent college preparatory school located in northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
and graduated from The Hun School of Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, where in 1985 he founded their modern crew program. He attended Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
where he was a double-major, receiving a BA in Philosophy and Religion. Katz was a Varsity oarsmen at Williams and a member of the '88 Varsity crew which was the first undefeated heavyweight eight in Williams College history. He was also in the '89 Varsity eight that notably defeated Harvard's
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
Varsity at The Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...
. At Williams Katz was a member of Cap and Bells, the oldest continuously running student-run college theater group in the country.
Before embarking on a writing career Katz was a New York City public school teacher and a theatrical publicist
Publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...
working 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...
, in the New York cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
scene and with numerous 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...
theater companies including E.S.T., INTAR, Manhattan Class Company, AMAS, and The Negro Ensemble Company. Katz was the spokesman for Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
star Topol
Chaim Topol
Chaim Topol , often billed simply as Topol, is an Israeli theatrical and film performer, actor, writer and producer. He has been nominated for an Oscar and Tony Award, and has won two Golden Globes.-Early life:...
when he made the controversial move of temporarily leaving the Broadway revival of the show during the first Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
to return to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
as it was weathering scud missile attacks.
Film and TV
Mr. Bar Katz and John Leguizamo wrote the movie The Pest and did re-writes/dialogue polishes on Pyromaniacs; A Love Story, Executive DecisionExecutive Decision
Executive Decision is a 1996 action film, directed by Stuart Baird and starring Kurt Russell, Halle Berry and Steven Seagal. The original music was composed by Jerry Goldsmith...
, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar is a 1995 American comedy film, starring Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo as three New York drag queens who embark on a road trip...
and Spawn
Spawn (film)
Spawn is a 1997 American superhero film loosely based on the comic book of the same name, by Todd McFarlane and published by Image Comics. Directed and co-written by Mark A.Z. Dippé , the film stars Michael Jai White in the leading role...
. Katz co-created, wrote and was a supervising producer for the Emmy nominated FOX television show House of Buggin'
House of Buggin'
House of Buggin' is a short-lived Latino-themed sketch comedy television show, which aired in 1995, starring John Leguizamo and Luis Guzmán...
, the first all-Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
comedy show in network history. Katz's script The Man Who Couldn't Forget has been in development with producers Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
and Josh Donen at Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. Katz is currently developing a film with SimCity
SimCity
SimCity is a critically acclaimed city-building simulation video game, first released in 1989, and designed by Will Wright. SimCity was Maxis' first product, which has since been ported into various personal computers and game consoles, and spawned several sequels including SimCity 2000 in 1994,...
and Spore
Spore (2008 video game)
Spore is a multi-genre single-player god game developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. The game was released for the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems in September 2008 as Spore...
creator Will Wright at a branch of Sony Pictures.
For Showtime Katz is co-writing and co-executive producing the half-hour comedy project "The Sober Coach" from Apostle and CBS Television Studios.
Theater
Katz co-wrote and directed the show FREAKFreak (play)
Freak was a one-man show, written and performed by actor/comedian John Leguizamo. The play debuted at Cort Theater on Broadway in 1998 and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show....
starring John Leguizamo at San Francisco's Theater on the Square, The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, The Williamstown Theatre Festival
Williamstown Theatre Festival
The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a regional summer stock theatre on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, founded in 1954 by Williams College news director, Ralph Renzi, and drama program chairman, David C. Bryant. The theatre was conceived as a way to use the Adams...
, Off-Broadway's Atlantic Theater Company
Atlantic Theater Company
Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their acting students from New York University, inspired by the...
and the Cort Theatre
Cort Theatre
The Cort Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 138 West 48th Street in the Theatre District of midtown Manhattan in New York City...
on Broadway where it was nominated for two 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...
s including Best Play.
Katz is a 14 Street Y LABA Fellow. He has directed and developed shows with Julian Fleisher, John Leguizamo and Eliza Jane Schneider (South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
) all at PS 122. He was a participating artist in HomeBase IV, a site-specific installation built around a dozen artists’ notions of home. Katz is a member of Israel Horovitz
Israel Horovitz
Israel Horovitz is an American playwright and screenwriter.-Theatre career:An American dramatist, Horovitz has written more than 70 produced plays, many of which have been translated and performed in more than 30 languages worldwide . The 70/70 Horovitz Project was created by NYC Barefoot Theatre...
's New York Playwright's Lab.
Katz is a company member of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company
LAByrinth Theater Company
LAByrinth Theater Company is a non-profit, Off-Broadway theater company based in New York City.An inclusive, multicultural ensemble of almost 100 established and emerging theater artists led by Artistic Directors Stephen Adly Guirgis, Mimi O'Donnell and Yul Vasquez, LAByrinth Theater Company...
. He has had five plays selected for their annual Barn Series Festival between 2006-2011.
- The History of Invulnerability, featuring David Deblinger and Chris MessinaChris MessinaChris Messina may refer to:*Chris Messina *Chris Messina...
, directed by John Gould Rubin at The Public Theater. - Philip Roth in Khartoum, featuring David Zayas and David Deblinger, directed by John Gould Rubin at The Public Theater.
- Burning Burning Burning Burning, featuring Eric BogosianEric BogosianEric Bogosian is an American actor, playwright, monologist, and novelist of Armenian descent.-Personal life:Bogosian, an Armenian-American, was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, the son of Edwina, a hairdresser and instructor, and Henry Bogosian, an accountant. After graduating from Oberlin College,...
and Michael StuhlbargMichael StuhlbargMichael S. Stuhlbarg is an American theatre, film and television actor.-Life and career:Stuhlbarg was born in Long Beach, California and raised in Reform Judaism. He trained at Juilliard School and also studied acting at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, University of London and UCLA...
, directed by John Gould Rubin at The Public Theater. - The Atmosphere of Memory, featuring Ellen BurstynEllen BurstynEllen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
and Sam RockwellSam RockwellSam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...
, directed by Peter Dubois at The Public Theater. - Oh, the Power, featuring Ed Vassalo and Yul VazquezYul VazquezYul Vázquez was born in Cuba. He is an actor and he is married to Linda Larkin.He has appeared as “Bob” in the Seinfeld episodes “The Soup Nazi”, “The Sponge” and “The Puerto Rican Day”....
, directed by Philip Seymour HoffmanPhilip Seymour HoffmanPhilip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor and director. Hoffman began acting in television in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films...
at The Cherry Pit theater.
Katz has directed 2 LAByrinth theatre company plays at the Barn Series and one at Live Nude Plays. At the Barn Series Katz directed "Utilities" by Jonathan Marc Sherman ("knickerbocker", "things we want"). At Live Nude Plays Katz directed "GUARANTEED SECOND BASE" by Michael Puzzo.
At Vineyard Theatre, Katz directed a reading of Kristina Poe's love sick. The cast included Elizabeth Canavan (Thinner Than Water), David Zayas ("Dexter"), Stephen Adly Guirgis (The Motherf*cker with the Hat), Danny Mastrogiogio (The Hallway Trilogy), Cara Akselrad, Maggie Burke and Scott Hudson (sweet storm).
LAByrinth Theater Company is kicking off its 20th Season with Katz's play "The Atmosphere of Memory" in Fall 2011 at The Bank Street Theater (formerly The Cherry Pit). Pam MacKinnon (Obie Award winner, lilly award winner, Clybourne Park) will direct the World Premiere production, with Scenic Design by David Gallo (Tony Award-winner, The Drowsy Chaperone), Costume Design by Emily Rebholz (Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson), Lighting Design by Dans Sheehan (AlIce The Magnet; Hedda Gabler), and Sound Design by Brendan Connelly (Co-Founder, Obie Award-winning Theater of the Two-headed Calf).
Katz is directing a play ("The Wood" written by Dan Klores) at the Obie award-winning Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre. The play is about Mike McAlary (Viscardi), the larger-than-life columnist for the Daily News and the New York Post and his missionary zeal to ferret out the truth. A Pulitzer Prize-winner for his exposé of the New York police torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in 1997, McAlary died of colon cancer on Christmas Day 1998 at the age of 41. The cast will feature John Visicardi, Gregory Bastien, Michael Carlsen, Melanie Charles, David Deblinger, Kim Director, Thomas Kopache, and Sidney Williams.
Read more: http://offbroadway.broadwayworld.com/article/Creative-Team-Announced-For-Labyrinths-THE-ATMOSPHERE-OF-MEMORY-20110831#ixzz1Wf6Zr1CT
Other select theater projects include "Burning, Burning, Burning, Burning" (Red Bull Theater’s Obie Award winning “Revelation Readings” series, 2010 at redbull theatre), and "What A Way To Go" (New York Playwrights Lab, 2009) at the cherry lane theatre.
Katz's play Philip Roth in Khartoum was produced by LAByrinth Theater Company and The Public Theater (off broadway) in 2008.
"David Bar Katz is an important, incisive, scary, funny playwright. Always full of surprises." -Eric Bogosian
His play The History of Invulnerability, about Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
, the Holocaust and the creation of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
was produced by Cincinnati's Tony Award winning Playhouse in the Park in the spring of 2010 and directed by Michael Haney. "More incredible than the Hulk, more amazing than Spiderman, that’s “The History of Invulnerability,” a consideration of The Man of Steel, his co-creator Jerry Siegel and Truth, Justice and the America Way. “Invulnerability” is going to be the spring season’ s buzz show." (Jackie Demaline, The Cincinnati Enquirer) "Katz has X-ray vision to see into the human soul, and his powerful play should be required viewing." (Rick Pender, Cincinnati CityBeat
Cincinnati CityBeat
Cincinnati CityBeat is an independent local arts and issues publication covering the Cincinnati, Ohio area. It has the second largest readership in the Cincinnati area behind the daily Cincinnati Enquirer.-History:...
) "A sensation... Katz creates a fantastic biography of Jerry Siegel, the co-creator of Superman, to explore the roots of art and its relationship to the world." (Demaline, Cincinnati.com)"The History of Invulnerability is set to run at Washington's Theater J in spring 2012.
The History of Invulnerability won the Acclaim Award for Outstanding Play of the Year and the Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Outstanding Premiere.
Katz received the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Citation recognizing The History of Invulnerability as one of the top three American plays of 2010.
Katz's 'tween' novel Chronicles of the Chosen: 7th Grade Gods will be published in Spring 2011.
Katz's adult novel is under development at random house value publishing.
David Bar Katz lives in New York City with his 4 sons.
External links
- http://www.papermag.com/2008/12/stage_notes_philip_roth_in_kha.php
- http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-20359-the-history-of-invulnerability-(review).html
- http://198.234.121.108/aroundcincinnati/040410_PIP.mp3
- http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-20364-david-bar-katz-and-the-truth-of-invulnerability.html
- http://www.supermanhomepage.com/other/other.php?topic=interview-invulnerability