Michael Mayer (director)
Michael Mayer | |
---|---|
Born | [1] Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. | June 27, 1960
Education | New York University (MFA) |
Occupation(s) | Theater director, filmmaker, playwright |
Years active | 1976-present |
Spouse | Roger Waltzman |
Michael Mayer (born June 27, 1960) is an American
Early life and education
Mayer was born in Bethesda, Maryland, to Jewish parents Jerry and Louise Mayer (born 1936).[2][3] For his bar mitzvah, he asked his parents for a movie camera and received a Super 8 single lens with a zoom.[4] His first film was a dramatization of "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia".[5]
After graduating from
Career
Mayer began performing onstage in New York City, performing in plays such as Tony Kushner's
Theatre
In 2007, Mayer won his first Tony Award for his direction of the musical adaptation of Spring Awakening (2006), which also won the award for Best Musical. He was nominated for the 2002 Tony for his direction of Thoroughly Modern Millie, which he then directed on London's West End. Mayer also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical for both Spring Awakening and Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Other Broadway credits include The Lion in Winter (1999), the 1999 revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Side Man (1998; Drama Desk Award). He directed the 1998 Tony Award-winning revival of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge starring Anthony LaPaglia and Brittany Murphy, for which he was nominated for a Tony and won a Drama Desk Award. He directed Triumph of Love in 1997, starring Betty Buckley, Susan Egan, and F. Murray Abraham, with music by Jeffrey Stock and lyrics by Susan Bikenhead.
Mayer directed and co-wrote the book for the
Mayer's
Film and television
After directing on- and off-Broadway for more than 15 years, Mayer made his feature-film directorial debut with A Home at the End of the World, starring Colin Farrell and Robin Wright Penn, in 2004. He went on to make the family film Flicka (2006), an adaptation of the story My Friend Flicka, which became a hit in DVD market. In 2013 and 2014 he directed select episodes of Amazon's Alpha House starring John Goodman. In 2015, he directed a new film adaptation of The Seagull, starring Annette Bening, Corey Stoll, and Saoirse Ronan.
He directed the pilot and three subsequent episodes of
He should not be confused with the identically spelled Michael Mayer, who directed a film titled Graduation (2007).[10]
Opera
Mayer made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2012 with Rigoletto; he reset the scene from 16th-century Mantua to 1960s Las Vegas. He was the director of the premiere of Nico Muhly's Marnie for the English National Opera in 2017, which was later performed at the Metropolitan Opera in 2018. He also directed a new production of Verdi's La traviata for the Metropolitan Opera in December 2018.
Personal life
Mayer is openly gay. He lives with his partner, oncologist Roger Waltzmann, in Chelsea, Manhattan.[11] He is close friends with playwright Tony Kushner, whom he met while studying at NYU.[12]
Stage productions
Broadway
- Funny Girl (2022)
- Burn This (2019)
- Head Over Heels (2018)
- The Terms of My Surrender(2017)
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2014)
- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (2011)
- Everyday Rapture (2010)
- American Idiot (2010)
- Spring Awakening (2006)
- Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002)
- 'night, Mother (2004)
- After the Fall (2004)
- An Almost Holy Picture(2002)
- Uncle Vanya (2000)
- The Lion in Winter (1999)
- You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1999)
- Side Man (1998)
- A View from the Bridge (1997)
- Triumph of Love (1997)
Off-Broadway
- Little Shop of Horrors (2019)
- WarholCapote (2017)
- Love, Love, Love (2016)
- God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (2016)
- Whorl Inside a Loop (2015, with Dick Scanlan)
- Brooklynite (2015)
- Everyday Rapture (2009)
- Our House
- 10 Million Miles
- Spring Awakening (2006)
- Missing Persons
- America Dreaming
- Hundreds of Hats
West End
- Funny Girl (2016)
National tour
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2016–17)
- American Idiot (2011–13)
- Spring Awakening (2008–10)
- Thoroughly Modern Millie (2003–04)
- Angels in America (1994–95)
Opera
- Rigoletto (Metropolitan Opera, 2012)
- Marnie (English National Opera, 2017; Metropolitan Opera, 2018)
- La traviata (Metropolitan Opera, 2018)
Film
- Single All the Way (2021)
- The Seagull (2018)
- Flicka (2006)
- A Home at the End of the World (2004)
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | Tony Award
|
Best Direction of a Musical | You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown | Nominated | |
2002 | Thoroughly Modern Millie | Nominated | |||
2007 | Spring Awakening | Won | |||
2014 | Hedwig and the Angry Inch | Nominated | |||
2021 | Grammy Awards | Best Musical Theater Album | Little Shop of Horrors | Nominated | [13] |
2022 | Drama League Award | Best Direction of a Musical | Funny Girl | Nominated |
References
- ^ https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/catching-michael-mayer-41619/[bare URL]
- ISSN 0362-4331.
- ^ "Names & Faces" (column), The Washington Post, May 9, 1998, "Style" section, page D3.
- ^ Winters, Pamela Murray (August 6, 2004). "A New Direction". Washington City Paper.
- ^ "Michael Mayer biography and filmography | Michael Mayer movies". Tribute.ca. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
- ^ "NYU Graduate Acting Alumni". nyu.tisch.edu. 2011. Archived from the original on November 27, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
- ^ Weinraub, Judith (May 7, 1995). "Angels' Around America: Elaborate staging and mature themes make the Broadway hit a risk on the road". The Washington Post. p. G7.
- ^ Alexis Greene (June 14, 1998). "Hot director takes the stage(s)". The Star-Ledger, "Spotlight". p. 2.
- ^ Jones, Kenneth (January 23, 2012). "The 'Smash' Report: Pilot — No People Like Show People, or Heaven on Earth". Playbill.
- IMDb
- ^ Rousuck, J. Wynn (October 31, 2004). "Director finds a home in theater and film". The Baltimore Sun.
- ^ Simonson, Robert (August 24, 2010). "SECOND FLOOR OF SARDI'S: A Drink With Michael Mayer". Playbill.
- ^ "2021 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Winners & Nominees List". www.grammy.com. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
External links
- Michael Mayer at the Internet Broadway Database
- Michael Mayer at IMDb
- Steven Drukman. "A Two-Career Man: Theater Director And Jewish Mother", The New York Times, January 3, 1999. Retrieved July 2, 2007.
- Mayer milestones