Michael W. Halberstam
Encyclopedia
Michael Halberstam is an American stage actor and director. He co-founded and is Artistic Director of the Writers' Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois
.
. He went on to join The Stratford Festival's
Young Company in Ontario
and spent two years performing in a number of plays including Timon of Athens
, The Knight of the Burning Pestle
(title role), Much Ado About Nothing
, As You Like It
, and Macbeth
.
nurturing of artists were the foundation of all productions. Its first venue was discovered through a mutual friend who knew that the owners of a newly opened bookstore in Glencoe, Books on Vernon, were looking to develop play readings and workshops in their store. The limited space available in the bookstore became Writers’ Theatre and gave way to a new aesthetic that has been a company hallmark ever since—-intimacy.
Writers’ Theatre, now in its 20th Anniversary Season, has evolved into a sophisticated two-venue organization with award-winning productions, more than 5,700 subscribers and a $3.5 million operating budget.
In its history, Writers’ Theatre has offered more than 81 productions, including 14
world premieres. As a direct result of the consistent artistic quality of the work, the
company has been recognized with numerous awards and accolades: 55 Joseph Jefferson Award
nominations, including four nods for Best Production; nine Joseph Jefferson Awards
and 12 After Dark Awards, as well as numerous citations to Halberstam for excellence and contributions to the field.
At Writers' Theatre, Halberstam has directed Private Lives
, Look Back in Anger
, Candida
, Fallen Angels
, The Father
, Rough Crossing
, Crime and Punishment
, Benefactors
, The Doctor's Dilemma, The Seagull
, The Duchess of Malfi
, Othello
, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and She Loves Me
. He also appeared as an actor in the Writers' Theatre productions of Richard II
and Misalliance
.
Candida
he was directing at the time. Halberstam was inspired by Schmidt's compositions to commission a full musical adaptation of the play. The composer was soon joined by lyricist Jan Tranen and bookwriter Austin Pendleton
, who both subtly added to and reworked Shaw’s immaculately conceived text. A Minister's Wife was the result of all four individuals' dedicated collaboration and premiered at Writers' Theatre in May 2009 under Halberstam's direction.
Following its success at Writers' Theatre, the new musical was brought to New York City, where Halberstam once again directed the show as part of Lincoln Center Theater's 2010/11 Season.
), Francesca da Ramini featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Christoph Eschenbach
and Le Freyschutz, a Berlioz adaptation of the Weber opera conducted by Christoph Eschenbach in its North American Premiere (Ravinia Festival).
Glencoe, Illinois
Glencoe is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 8,723. Glencoe is located on suburban Chicago's North Shore. Glencoe is located within the New Trier High School District. Glencoe is regarded as one of the most affluent suburbs on...
.
Early career
Halberstam attended University of Illinois, where he had been granted admission to the actor training program. Shortly after graduation in 1986 he moved to Chicago where he was immediately drawn to classics, working almost exclusively on the works of William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. He went on to join The Stratford Festival's
Stratford Festival of Canada
The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is an internationally recognized annual celebration of theatre running from April to November in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario...
Young Company in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and spent two years performing in a number of plays including Timon of Athens
Timon of Athens
The Life of Timon of Athens is a play by William Shakespeare about the fortunes of an Athenian named Timon , generally regarded as one of his most obscure and difficult works...
, The Knight of the Burning Pestle
The Knight of the Burning Pestle
The Knight of the Burning Pestle is a play by Francis Beaumont, first performed in 1607 and first published in a quarto in 1613. It is notable as the first whole parody play in English...
(title role), 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....
, 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...
, and Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
.
Writers' Theatre
In 1992, Halberstam (Artistic Director) and Marilyn Campbell (Artistic Associate) founded Writers' Theatre to create an environment where the written word and thenurturing of artists were the foundation of all productions. Its first venue was discovered through a mutual friend who knew that the owners of a newly opened bookstore in Glencoe, Books on Vernon, were looking to develop play readings and workshops in their store. The limited space available in the bookstore became Writers’ Theatre and gave way to a new aesthetic that has been a company hallmark ever since—-intimacy.
Writers’ Theatre, now in its 20th Anniversary Season, has evolved into a sophisticated two-venue organization with award-winning productions, more than 5,700 subscribers and a $3.5 million operating budget.
In its history, Writers’ Theatre has offered more than 81 productions, including 14
world premieres. As a direct result of the consistent artistic quality of the work, the
company has been recognized with numerous awards and accolades: 55 Joseph Jefferson Award
Joseph Jefferson Awards
The Joseph Jefferson Awards are given annually by a volunteer non-profit committee to acknowledge excellence in theatre in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are given in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson...
nominations, including four nods for Best Production; nine Joseph Jefferson Awards
Joseph Jefferson Awards
The Joseph Jefferson Awards are given annually by a volunteer non-profit committee to acknowledge excellence in theatre in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are given in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson...
and 12 After Dark Awards, as well as numerous citations to Halberstam for excellence and contributions to the field.
At Writers' Theatre, Halberstam has directed Private Lives
Private Lives
Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
, Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...
, Candida
Candida (play)
Candida, a comedy by playwright George Bernard Shaw, was first published in 1898, as part of his Plays Pleasant. The central characters are clergyman James Morell, his wife Candida and a youthful poet, Eugene Marchbanks, who tries to win Candida's affections. The play questions Victorian notions...
, Fallen Angels
Fallen Angels (play)
Fallen Angels is a play by British actor and playwright Noel Coward that opened at the Globe Theatre in 1925, starring Tallulah Bankhead.Cast of the original 1927 Broadway production included:...
, The Father
The Father (play)
The Father is a 1989 play by British playwright John Osborne....
, Rough Crossing
Rough Crossing
Rough Crossing is a 1984 comedic play by British playwright Tom Stoppard, "freely adapted from Ferenc Molnár's Play at the Castle." Set on board the S.S...
, Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment (play)
Crime and Punishment is a stage adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky′s classic novel Crime and Punishment. The authors, Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus, created a 90-minute, three-person play, with each character playing multiple roles....
, Benefactors
Benefactors (play)
Benefactors is a 1984 play by Michael Frayn. It is set in the 1960s and concerns an idealistic architect David and his wife Jane and their relationship with the cynical Colin and his wife Sheila. David is attempting to build some new homes to replace the slum housing of Basuto Road and is gradually...
, The Doctor's Dilemma, The Seagull
The Seagull
The Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
, The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi is a macabre, tragic play written by the English dramatist John Webster in 1612–13. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, then before a more general audience at The Globe, in 1613-14...
, Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and She Loves Me
She Loves Me
She Loves Me is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock.The musical is the fifth adaptation of the play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo, following the 1940 James Stewart-Margaret Sullavan film The Shop around the Corner and the...
. He also appeared as an actor in the Writers' Theatre productions of Richard II
Richard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
and Misalliance
Misalliance
Misalliance is a play written in 1909–1910 by George Bernard Shaw.Misalliance takes place entirely on a single Saturday afternoon in the conservatory of a large country house in Hindhead, Surrey in Edwardian era England. It is a continuation of some of the ideas on marriage that he expressed in...
.
A Minister's Wife
In 2005 Halberstam asked composer Joshua Schmidt to compose incidental music for a production of George Bernard Shaw’sGeorge Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
Candida
Candida (play)
Candida, a comedy by playwright George Bernard Shaw, was first published in 1898, as part of his Plays Pleasant. The central characters are clergyman James Morell, his wife Candida and a youthful poet, Eugene Marchbanks, who tries to win Candida's affections. The play questions Victorian notions...
he was directing at the time. Halberstam was inspired by Schmidt's compositions to commission a full musical adaptation of the play. The composer was soon joined by lyricist Jan Tranen and bookwriter Austin Pendleton
Austin Pendleton
Austin Pendleton is an American film, television, and stage actor, a playwright, and a theatre director and instructor.-Life and career:...
, who both subtly added to and reworked Shaw’s immaculately conceived text. A Minister's Wife was the result of all four individuals' dedicated collaboration and premiered at Writers' Theatre in May 2009 under Halberstam's direction.
Following its success at Writers' Theatre, the new musical was brought to New York City, where Halberstam once again directed the show as part of Lincoln Center Theater's 2010/11 Season.
Other Directing
His forays into opera have included The Rape of Lucretia (Chicago Opera TheaterChicago Opera Theater
The Chicago Opera Theater is an opera company that was founded as the Chicago Opera Studio in 1974 by Alan Stone to give vocal students performance experience, although it has grown into a professional opera company...
), Francesca da Ramini featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
conducted by Christoph Eschenbach
Christoph Eschenbach
Christoph Eschenbach , born February 20, 1940, Breslau, Germany is a German-born pianist and conductor. He currently holds positions in Washington, D.C. as music director of the National Symphony Orchestra and music director of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.-Early...
and Le Freyschutz, a Berlioz adaptation of the Weber opera conducted by Christoph Eschenbach in its North American Premiere (Ravinia Festival).