- Dennis Grimaldi
-
Dennis Grimaldi is an American theatrical producer who has worked on Broadway, Off Broadway and on London's West End.[1] His work include Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes and Annie Warbucks.[2]
Grimaldi was born September 30 in Melrose Park, Illinois. He is a graduate of Proviso East High School, in Maywood, Illinois. He studied dance at the Stone-Camryn School, Gail Larry School and under the tutelage of the Russian actress Eugenia Leontovich, Dr. John Reich and Dr Charles McGaw. Grimaldi graduated from The Theatre School of DePaul University (then known as the Goodman School of Drama) in Chicago. He has appeared in "Man of La Mancha", "Hello, Dolly!", "Promises, Promises", "Sugar"; among other productions.
After several injuries as a dancer, he began a career as a choreographer and director; during that time, he formed Dennis Grimaldi Productions and pursued an active career as a Stage Producer as well as televison; He first worked as an "Associate to the Producers" on the Broadway production of R. T. "Pete" Gurney's Sweet Sue starring Mary Tyler Moore and Lynn Redgrave. As a producer, his productions on Broadway and Off Broadway include the 2011 Broadway revival of the Stephen Schwartz musical "Godspell", "Leslie Jordan My Trip Down The Pink Carpet"; Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes' '(Ron Liebman, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeffrey Wright); " Other People's Money" (Mercedes Ruehl); the Olivier Award winning "Rise and Fall of Little Voice" (Rondi Reed); "Girl's Room" (with Carol Lawrence and Donna McKecknie); "Sally Marr" ( with Joan Rivers); "Grace & Glorie" (with Lucie Arnaz and Estelle Parsons); Tom Stoppard's "Artist Descending a Staircase" (Harold Gould, John McMartin); "The Boys in the Band" revival ( with Michael Siebert); "Any Given Day" (with Sada Thompson) and "Party". The musicals "Richard Corey"; "Nunsense Jamboree", "Fanny Hill" and " Annie Warbucks" (Harve Presnell and Donna McKechnie)[2], "Burning Blue"(Chad Lowe), "Like Love by Lewis Flinn and Barry Kaplan; the musical adaptation of A.R. Gurney's Richard Cory; among others. He has also been associated with Emmanuel Azenberg on the Neil Simon productions of Lost in Yonkers (Kevin Spacey, Mercedes Reuhl) and "London Suite" (Carole Shelley, Jeffrey Jones) as well as "Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life" with The Producer Circle and David Mamet's "The Cryptogram" (Felicity Huffman, Ed Bagley, Jr). His many London productions on the West End and The Fringe include "The Boys in the Band","Stephen Sondheim's "Marry Me a Little", the comedic actor Jack Gilford in "Look To the Rainbow" and John Lahr's "Diary of a Somebody". The Boys in the Band He was also an Associate Producer for Candid Productions, a television production company, producing programing for ABC, NBC and HBO. He was awarded the Robert Whitehead Award for Excellence in Theatre Production, The NY Film and Television Gold Medal Awards, The Outer Critics Awards and The Carbonell Award. Productions have earned The Drama Desk, Tony Awards, as well as The Pulitzer Prize. He began his career as a dancer for Jack Cole, Gower Champion' and Michael Bennett'Bold text. On stage he has appeared with such theater luminaries as Dorothy Lamour, Howard Keel, Anna Marie Albergehtti, Christopher Walken, Van Johnson, John Raitt, James Earl Jones, Len Cariou, Betty Buckley, Donald O'Connor, Jean Pierre Aumont, Dorothy Collins, José Ferrer, Mimi Hines, Robert Alda, Murray Matheson, Hiram Sherman and Giorgio Tozzi among others. He was also a director and choreographer; his list of credits productions for stage includes: "Dance on a Country Grave" with Kevin Kline, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (Nathan Lane, John Goodman and Dann Florek),The Off Broadway revival of "Charley's Aunt" starring Marin Mazzie, Virginia Siedel and Charles Abbott, "Show me Where the Good Times Are' with Rosalind Kind, Clint Ballard's "The Red Bluegrass Western Flyer Show", "Wonderful Town"; National tours of "Gigi" (Jean Pierre Aumont), "The Robber Bridegroom" (John Goodman), "The Pajama Game", "Man of La Mancha" (Jack Cassidy; Howard Keel); the all star production of "Broadway" (Gilda Radner, Teri Garr, William Atherton, Chris Sarandon, Jill O'Hara), are among many other productions. On television, among his earlier musical staging assignments, he worked for NBC's Saturday Night Live.
References
- ^ "Robert Whitehead Award". Commercial Theater Institute. http://www.commercialtheaterinstitute.com/1994.html. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
- ^ "Broadway producer looking for miracle". Toronto Star: p. H6. December 11, 1993. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/519112191.html?dids=519112191:519112191&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+11%2C+1993&author=Reuter&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Broadway+producer+looking+for+miracle&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
This theatrical biography is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
