Norman René

Norman René
Born	1951 Bristol, Rhode Island
Died	May 24, 1996 (aged 44–45) New York City, New York
Occupation	Film director, film producer, theatre director

Norman René (1951 – May 24, 1996) was an American theatre and film director and film producer who frequently collaborated with playwright Craig Lucas.

René was born in Bristol, Rhode Island. He studied psychology for a year at Johns Hopkins University before transferring to Carnegie Mellon University to pursue acting. While there, he realized he was better suited for directing, and during three summer breaks he ran the repertory Red Barn Theater in Pittsburgh.

After graduating in 1974, René moved to New York City. Three years later he teamed with three Carnegie Mellon alumni to found the off-off-Broadway Production Company, where he served as artistic director and directed and/or supervised productions such as The Guardsman and Blues in the Night. The company included Julie Hagerty, Judith Ivey, Treat Williams, Mark Linn-Baker, and John Glover.

René met Craig Lucas in 1979. Their first collaboration was Marry Me a Little in 1981. The two wrote a script incorporating songs that had been written for but discarded from Stephen Sondheim musicals, and René also directed. They followed this with the plays Missing Persons (1981) and Blue Window (1984); Three Postcards (1987), an original music by Lucas and Craig Carnelia; and another play, Reckless (1988). In 1990 they joined forces for what would prove to be their biggest commercial and critical success, Prelude to a Kiss, for which René won the Obie Award for Best Director. Prelude later transferred to Broadway, where he had directed Precious Sons by George Furth in 1986.

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