Elizabeth Williams (producer)

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This article is about the Broadway producer. For other people named Elizabeth Williams, see Betty Williams (disambiguation).
Elizabeth Williams
Born1949 or 1950 (age 73–74)[1]
Arkadelphia, Arkansas
EducationColumbia University
Occupation(s)Archaeologist, Art Historian, Broadway Producer
Years active1984–present
Awards

Elizabeth Peck Williams

Tony
-Award-winning theater producer.

Early life

Williams was born in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.[3][4]

Academic career

Williams completed her dissertation with honors for a Ph.D. in the History of Art with a specialization in the art of the Ancient Near East. She has taught art history of the ancient world at

UCLA.[1][3] Williams has conducted both archaeological and ethnographic research in Turkey, and has given papers at numerous symposia on ancient art. She has also published articles on the iconography of the ancient gods of Syria. She has taught seminars at Columbia University and City University of New York,[5]
dealing with creative producing and the financing of shows on the international market.

Theater career

Williams has produced a total of over 90 plays, including

Gospel at Colonus, though creatively innovative, was unsuccessful.[1]

In 1989, Williams left Mutual Life to become an independent producer of musicals and other plays.

Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical.[6][10] With co-producer Joan Stein, she put on 1993's Ruthless! in Los Angeles.[11] Also in 1993, through her production company Four Corners Productions, Williams continued to produce The Secret Garden; the following year, she produced a renewed run of Crazy for You, which ran until 1996.[2][7] Four Corners was also involved in a production of Into the Woods.[3][7]

In 1998, Williams began a partnership with fellow producer Anita Waxman;

New York magazine called "probably a record for female producers."[3] That year, their joint venture already employed a staff of six, all women,[3] even though they would not formally incorporate their partnership as Waxman Williams Entertainment until 2001.[12] The five plays — A Moon for the Misbegotten, The Music Man, The Real Thing, and The Wild Party on Broadway, The Waverly Gallery Off-Broadway — earned both critical acclaim and a total of 24 Tony Awards among them;[3] The Real Thing won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play that year.[13] Their collaboration finally ended in 2007, when Williams founded her own production company, Grain of Sand Productions.[citation needed
]

Further credits have included 2001's

Dirty Dancing, and Doctor Zhivago; and 2013's sister productions of No Man's Land and Waiting for Godot.[24] Williams executive produced the Chicago run of First Wives Club in 2015.[8][25]

Williams is represented off-Broadway with the hit improv/sketch/musical comedy #DateMe: an okcupid experiment.[citation needed]

Television

In 2005, Williams, along with Waxman and

reality TV program, The Scholar, for ABC.[7] Covering a competition among high school seniors for a prize that would pay for their college tuition and associated costs, the show aired in spring and summer of that year.[26]

Charitable involvement

Williams has been involved with charities supporting women in politics and social justice since her college days.[

52nd Street Project and Women's Commission For Refugees and chaired the boards of directors of The Broadway Fund and the New York Theatre Workshop.[7] She has been the special guest at a THEA Foundation event.[4] Williams has donated "most generously" toward the continuation of Columbia University's Department of Art History and Archaeology.[27]

TodayTix

In 2013, Williams consulted as a theatrical adviser to the then-startup company TodayTix, which provides an app for customers to purchase tickets to Broadway plays and other performances using mobile devices. "Any new ideas that come into the space that will provide shows a way to market their tickets is of interest to me, [...] We'll be able to reach audiences potentially who we haven't been able to reach before," she told the Associated Press, speaking about her work with TodayTix.[28]

Personal life

Williams is married to a fellow academic, who teaches at Sarah Lawrence College, whom she met while they were both graduate students in art history at Columbia University.[8] They have one son, Alexander, who holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Classics, Harvard University.[citation needed]

Awards

In 2005, Williams was inducted into the

Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame in her home state.[30]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Scardino, Albert (13 June 1988). "New Yorkers & Co.; 2 Angels Lead Broadway's Cast of Cash". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Elizabeth Williams". PlaybillVault.com. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  3. ^
    New York magazine
    . Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  4. ^ a b Brandon, Phyllis (25 March 2007). "THEA Foundation: Broadway producer has spotlight at THEA party". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  5. ^ Tolkoff, Esther (18 December 2002). "American Theatre Wing Seminars 'Working in the Theatre'". Backstage. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e Smith, Sid (17 October 1993). "A 'Crazy' Saga: How A Mail-order King And An Archeologist Turned A Gershwin Flop Into A Hit Musical". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-1-55783-652-6
    . Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. ^ a b c "Who's Behind a Hit Broadway Musical? An Interview with Award-Winning Broadway Producer Elizabeth Williams". First Wives Club: The Musical official website. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  9. ISBN 9781139825610
    . Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. ^
    Outer Critics Circle. Archived from the original
    on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. ^ Drake, Sylvie (19 November 1993). "Theater Review: In Grand Company With 'Ruthless!'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Doctor Zhivago". MySunshineCoast.com. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. ^ a b "2000 Tony Award Winner: Best Play Revival — The Real Thing". Playbill. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  14. ^ Kennedy, Mark (20 December 2013). "One-stop mobile app offers Broadway ticket ease". Phys.org. Associated Press. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  15. ^ Hajela, Deepti (22 April 2004). "Is the Great White Way ready for Bombay?". The Hour. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. ^ Jones, Kenneth (18 June 2001). "London Revival of Noises Off Gets Bway Staging in Fall 2001". Playbill. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. ^ Simonson, Robert (23 May 2002). "The Elephant Man to Close on Broadway June 9". Playbill. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. ^ Hofler, Robert (17 October 2002). "Lane named producer for Waxman, William". Variety. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  19. ^ Tallmer, Jerry (18 June 2002). "From the Public to a Pulitzer". Playbill. Retrieved 18 October 2015.[permanent dead link]
  20. ^ Wolf, Matt (27 March 2003). "Review: 'Ragtime'". Variety. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. ^ "We're Still Hot — the acclaimed new musical gets NYC premiere". Broadway World. 10 December 2004. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  22. ^ Hitchcock Blonde [program] (PDF), South Coast Repertory, 2006, retrieved 18 October 2015
  23. ^ Blake, Jason (21 February 2011). "Dr Zhivago". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  24. ^ [2][7][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]
  25. ^ Jones, Chris (12 February 2015). "Girlfriend power and 'First Wives Club': All about the pre-Broadway musical". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  26. ^ Lowry, Brian (2 June 2005). "Review: 'The Scholar'". Variety. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  27. ^ "With Thanks" (PDF). 826 Schermerhorn. Columbia University Department of Art History and Archaeology: 15. Fall 2005. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  28. ^ Kennedy, Mark (20 December 2013). "One-stop mobile app offers Broadway ticket ease". Yahoo! News. Associated Press. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  29. ^ London Theatre Guide (2008). "The Laurence Olivier Awards: Full List of Winners 1976–2008" (PDF). Society of London Theatre. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  30. ^ Purvis, Bob. "Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links


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