Michael Kahn (theatre director)
| Michael Kahn | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1937 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Occupation | Director, Artistic Director, Teacher |
| Years active | ~1950 – present |
Michael Kahn is an American theatre director and drama educator. He has, since 1986, been the Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.. He held the position of Richard Rodgers Director of the Drama Division of the Juilliard School from 1992 to 2006.
After beginning his career Off-Off-Broadway in 1964, directing experimental theatre and other works, including Shakespeare, Kahn had both notable failures and successes with Broadway projects, winning acclaim especially for productions of The Royal Family (1975–76) and Show Boat (1983). He joined the Juilliard School's faculty in 1968, becoming the head of its drama school. During his long tenure as artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Kahn has overseen its growth, including initiating its Free For All productions. He has also acted as artistic director for several other companies, continued to direct regional theatre and opera, and received various awards and honors.
Kahn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended the High School for the Performing Arts and received a Bachelor of Arts from the Columbia College of Columbia University.
Kahn's career began Off-Off-Broadway by directing Jean-Claude van Itallie's War Sex and Dreams and America Hurrah at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in 1964–65. He directed the Wallace Grey play Helen which ran Off-Broadway at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre in December 1964 and the Thornton Wilder one-act plays The Long Christmas Dinner/Queens of France/The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden in September to November 1966 at the Off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre. He won critical praise for his direction of the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Measure for Measure in 1966 at the Delacorte Theatre. He next directed The Rimers of Eldritch at the Off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre in February and March 1967. After this, he directed his first project for Broadway, The Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake (1967), a troubled production that never opened. His second Broadway play, Here's Where I Belong, closed after one performance, in March 1968. Additional Broadway credits include several Shakespeare plays and revivals of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1974–75), The Royal Family (1975–76), Whodunnit (1982–83), and Show Boat (1983), among others. He was nominated for the Tony Award, Best Direction of a Musical, for Show Boat and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival as producing director of The Royal Family.
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