Alexander Gelman

Alexander Gelman (born December 21 1960), born: Aleksandr Simonovich Gelman (Russian: Алекса́ндр Си́монович Ге́льман) is an American theater director and the current Producing Artistic Director of Organic Theater Company in Chicago, Illinois.

Early life

Alexander Gelman was born in Leningrad, USSR to Maria Gelman a musician and Simon Gelman a physician. Maternal grandparents both worked at the Mikhaylovsky Theatre and young Alexander (Sasha) literally took his first steps there. In 1973 the family emigrated to Israel and in 1976 to USA. In 1978 he graduated from Charles F. Brush High School in Lyndhurst, Ohio.

Training

Gelman received his BFA in theatre from Birmingham-Southern College (1982) and his MFA in Directing from Boston University (1985) He also spends a month at the University of Illinois at a Directing Colloquiuum conducted by Edwin Sherin, Arvin Brown, John Reich, Garland Wright, Clifford Williams, Vinnette Carroll, and Gerald Freedman.

Personal life

In 1989 he married Jennifer Gelman. Son Samuel Gelman was born on 23 December, 1990 and daughter Anna Gelman was born on 7 April 1993.

Career

After moving to New York City in 1985 Gelman begins to work as translator and director. One of his early directing engagements was Carmen at Chattanooga Symphony and Opera which was his first collaboration with Vakhtang Jordania. At this time he also began his work as assistant and interpreter to Russian directors working in the US. The first one was Yuri Lyubimov at Arena Stage, on a production of Crime and Punishment. The two later worked on Master and Margarita at American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge and Lulu at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He also directs a film Infinity, staring Megan Blake. After a number of years free-lancing as director and translator he accepted a position of Head of Directing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, (1991) where he stayed until 1994. At that time he moved to Salt Lake City where he took over the directing program at the University of Utah. This began a long a fruitful relationship with Utah Opera and Anne Ewers, its General Director. Among the productions there he directed Eugene Onegin, L'incoronazione di Poppea, Turn of the Screw and many others. During this time also directs in New Zealand at Canterbury Opera, where he collaborates with Dame Malvina Major. Additional engagements at Idaho Opera, Ashland-Highland Music Festival and others. In 2001 appointed Director of the School of Theatre and Dance at Northern Illinois University. In 2006 becomes Producing Artistic Director of the Organic Theater Company of Chicago. At the Organic he has directed his own adaptations of The $30,000 Bequest by Mark Twain, Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville, and Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent. He also directed Eugene Ionesco's Man with Bags, Friedrich Durrenmatt's Play Strindberg, and Shimizu Kunio's The Dressing Room.