Theodore Mann
Encyclopedia
Theodore Mann, birth name Goldman, (born May 13, 1924) is an American
theatre producer and director and the Artistic Director of the Circle in the Square Theatre School.
Mann co-founded Circle in the Square Theatre, widely regarded as the birth of the off-Broadway
theatre movement, with Jose Quintero
in 1951. Ten years later, he established the Circle in the Square Theatre School to provide training for aspiring actors. It presently offers a two-year program including courses in scene study, text analysis, speech, dance, and singing technique.
Mann has produced and/or directed more than two hundred productions starring such luminaries as Al Pacino
, Dustin Hoffman
, Jason Robards
, Geraldine Page
, Colleen Dewhurst
, James Earl Jones
, Kevin Kline
, Maureen Stapleton
, Rip Torn
, George C. Scott
, and Jane Alexander
. In addition to his Broadway and off-Broadway credits, he has directed The Turn of the Screw
for the New York City Opera
, La Boheme
for the Juilliard School
, and The Night of the Iguana
for Moscow
's Maly Theater.
Mann has received two Tony Awards, one as producer of the 1956 revival of Long Day's Journey Into Night and a special award acknowledging twenty-five continuous years of quality productions at Circle in the Square. He has been nominated for twelve additional Tonys and seven Drama Desk Awards.
Mann received the 1999 Tao House Award from the Eugene O'Neill
Foundation for his distinguished career in theatre and for his dedication to the works of O'Neill.
In November 2007 Applause Books published Mann's Memoir, Journeys In The Night: Creating a New American Theatre with Circle In The Square, which tells the story of his remarkable partnership with Jose Quintero and the rise of the Circle in the Square Theatre
from Off-Broadway to Broadway.
In 1953 he married soprano Patricia Brooks
. They had a son Andrew in 1958 and another Jonathan in 1961. She died in 1993.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatre producer and director and the Artistic Director of the Circle in the Square Theatre School.
Mann co-founded Circle in the Square Theatre, widely regarded as the birth of the 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...
theatre movement, with Jose Quintero
José Quintero
José Benjamin Quintero was a Panamanian theatre director, producer and pedagogue best known for his interpretations of the works of Eugene O'Neill.-Early years:...
in 1951. Ten years later, he established the Circle in the Square Theatre School to provide training for aspiring actors. It presently offers a two-year program including courses in scene study, text analysis, speech, dance, and singing technique.
Mann has produced and/or directed more than two hundred productions starring such luminaries as Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
, Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
, Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
, Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Sue Page was an American actress. Although she starred in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater...
, Colleen Dewhurst
Colleen Dewhurst
Colleen Rose Dewhurst was a Canadian-American actress known for a while as "the Queen of Off-Broadway." In her autobiography, Dewhurst wrote: "I had moved so quickly from one Off-Broadway production to the next that I was known, at one point, as the 'Queen of Off-Broadway'...
, James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
, Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline
Kevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
, Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton was an American actress in film, theater and television.-Early life:Stapleton was born Lois Maureen Stapleton in Troy, New York, the daughter of Irene and John P. Stapleton, and grew up in a strict Irish American Catholic family...
, Rip Torn
Rip Torn
Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn, Jr. , is an American actor of stage, screen and television.Torn received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross Creek. His work includes the role of Artie, the producer, on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated...
, George C. Scott
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
, and Jane Alexander
Jane Alexander
Jane Alexander is an American actress, author, and former director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Although perhaps best known for playing the female lead in The Great White Hope on both stage and screen, Alexander has played a wide array of roles in both theater and film and has committed...
. In addition to his Broadway and off-Broadway credits, he has directed The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw (opera)
The Turn of the Screw is a 20th century English chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, "wife of the artist John Piper, who had been a friend of the composer since 1935 and had provided designs for several of the operas". The libretto is based on the novella...
for the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
, 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...
for the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
, and The Night of the Iguana
The Night of the Iguana
The Night of the Iguana is a stageplay written by American author Tennessee Williams, based on his 1948 short story. The play premiered on Broadway in 1961. Two film adaptations have been made, including the Academy Award-winning 1964 film of the same name....
for Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
's Maly Theater.
Mann has received two Tony Awards, one as producer of the 1956 revival of Long Day's Journey Into Night and a special award acknowledging twenty-five continuous years of quality productions at Circle in the Square. He has been nominated for twelve additional Tonys and seven Drama Desk Awards.
Mann received the 1999 Tao House Award from the Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
Foundation for his distinguished career in theatre and for his dedication to the works of O'Neill.
In November 2007 Applause Books published Mann's Memoir, Journeys In The Night: Creating a New American Theatre with Circle In The Square, which tells the story of his remarkable partnership with Jose Quintero and the rise of the Circle in the Square Theatre
Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre in midtown Manhattan on 50th Street in the Paramount Plaza building.The original Circle in the Square was founded by Paul Libin, Theodore Mann and Jose Quintero in 1951 and was located at 5 Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village...
from Off-Broadway to Broadway.
In 1953 he married soprano Patricia Brooks
Patricia Brooks
Patricia Brooks , was a lyric soprano, actress, and opera singer, who performed primarily with the New York City Opera. She was known for her acting ability as much as for her voice.-Biography:...
. They had a son Andrew in 1958 and another Jonathan in 1961. She died in 1993.
Notable Broadway productions
- 1956: Long Day's Journey Into NightLong Day's Journey Into NightLong Day's Journey Into Night is a 1956 drama in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play is widely considered to be his masterwork...
(Producer) - 1965: The Royal Hunt of the SunThe Royal Hunt of the SunThe Royal Hunt of the Sun is a 1964 play by Peter Shaffer that portrays the destruction of the Inca empire by conquistador Francisco Pizarro.-Premiere:...
(Producer) - 1972: Mourning Becomes ElectraMourning Becomes ElectraMourning Becomes Electra is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932...
(Producer, Director) - 1973: Uncle VanyaUncle VanyaUncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
(Producer) - 1974: The National HealthThe National HealthThe National Health is a play by Peter Nichols. Reminiscent of the Carry On film series, this black comedy with tragic overtones focuses on the appalling conditions in an under-funded national health hospital, which are contrasted comically with a Dr...
(Producer) - 1975: The Glass MenagerieThe Glass MenagerieThe Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
(Producer, Director) - 1976: Pal Joey (Producer, Director)
- 1984: Awake and Sing!Awake and Sing!Awake and Sing! is a drama written by American playwright Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced by The Group Theatre in 1935.-Summary and characters:...
(Producer, Director) - 1988: The Night of the IguanaThe Night of the IguanaThe Night of the Iguana is a stageplay written by American author Tennessee Williams, based on his 1948 short story. The play premiered on Broadway in 1961. Two film adaptations have been made, including the Academy Award-winning 1964 film of the same name....
(Producer, Director) - 1992: Anna KareninaAnna Karenina (musical)Anna Karenina is a musical with a book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg and music by Daniel Levine. Based on the classic Leo Tolstoy novel of the same name, it focuses on the tragic title character, a fashionable but unhappily married woman, and her ill-fated liaison with Count Vronsky, which...
(Producer, Director) - 1989: Sweeney ToddSweeney Todd (musical)Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond....
(Producer) - 1995: The Rose TattooThe Rose Tattoo- External links :*...
(Producer) - 1996: TartuffeTartuffeTartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...
(Producer)
Notable off-Broadway productions
- 1952: Summer and SmokeSummer and SmokeSummer and Smoke is a two-part, thirteen-scene play by Tennessee Williams, originally titled Chart of Anatomy when Williams began work on it in 1945. In 1964, Williams revised the play as The Eccentricities of a Nightingale...
(Producer) - 1956: The Iceman ComethThe Iceman ComethThe Iceman Cometh is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1939. First published in 1940 the play premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on 9 October 1946, directed by Eddie Dowling where it ran for 136 performances to close on 15 March 1947.-Characters:* Night Hawk-...
(Producer) - 1962: Under Milk WoodUnder Milk WoodUnder Milk Wood is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, adapted later as a stage play. A movie version, Under Milk Wood directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released during 1972....
(Producer) - 1963: Desire Under the ElmsDesire Under the ElmsDesire Under the Elms is a play by Eugene O'Neill, published in 1924, and is now considered an American classic. Along with Mourning Becomes Electra, it represents one of O'Neill's attempts to place plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy in a rural New England setting. It is essentially a...
(Producer) - 1968: A Moon for the MisbegottenA Moon for the MisbegottenA Moon for the Misbegotten is a play by Eugene O'Neill. The play can be thought of as a sequel to the autobiographical Long Day's Journey into Night...
(Director)