George Ferencz
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
George Ferencz | |
|---|---|
Brooklyn, New York , U.S. | |
| Occupation | Stage director |
George Ferencz (February 3, 1947 – September 14, 2021) was an American theater director, producer, and teacher. A major name in American theater, he was renowned for his innovative stagings of plays and musicals by Sam Shepard, Eugene O'Neill, Amiri Baraka.
Early life
Born in
He moved to New York City in 1970 and began studying directing with Gene Frankel and then with Carl Weber. When Ferencz arrived in New York, he and his first wife, Pamela Mitchell, created the Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound Roadshow with Tim and Deirdre McDonald, in association with Scollon Productions. Ferencz wrote, directed, and produced the youth theater performances which ran tours of the eastern seaboard and Washington, D.C. area, culminating in a performance at The White House for Pat Nixon and the Children of The Foreign Diplomats. Ferencz garnered his first professional reviews when "The Huckleberry Hound All-Star Review" had a successful three week run at New York City's Beacon Theatre.
In the early 1970s, Ferencz directed productions of "
Career
He first rose to fame with his productions of
In the late 1970s, Ferencz worked as a performing artist as part of the Cultural Council Foundation CETA Artists Project in New York City.[1] Ferencz was known for his extensive work with La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club where he was a resident director from 1982 to 2008. He directed 19 Shepard productions, including Shep’N’Rep (1979), Cowboy Mouth (1981), The Tooth of Crime (1983), and Shepard Sets (1984); the latter began Ferencz's collaborative partnership with drummer and composer Max Roach. Ferencz's other Off and Off-Off-Broadway credits included Paris Lights (1980), Battery (1981), Money: A Jazz Opera (1982), Harm's Way (1985), Welcome Back to Salamaca (1988), Conjur Woman by Beatrice Manley, and Prague, 1912 (2017).
Regionally, he worked with the San Diego Rep, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Pittsburgh Public, The Cleveland Playhouse, Syracuse Stage, among others. A few of Ferencz's international credits included Percussion Summit (Verona, Italy, 1995) and The Lady Aoi (Munich, Germany, 2000).
Death
Ferencz died following a long illness in
Bibliography
- John J. Winters, Sam Shepard A Life, Counterpoint, Berkeley, 2017 ISBN 978-1-61902-708-4
- David J. DeRose, Sam Shepard, Twayne Publishers, New York, 1992 ISBN 0-8057-3964-5
- Matthew Roudane, The Cambridge Companion to Sam Shepard, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2002 ISBN 0-521-77158-7
- Mel Gussow, Theatre on the Edge: New Visions, New Voices, Applause, New York, 1998 ISBN 1-55783-311-7