Robert Falls

Infobox actor
name = Robert Falls

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birthname =
birthdate = birth date and age|1954|3|2|df=y
birthplace = Ashland, Illinois, USA
othername =
occupation = Theater director
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yearsactive =
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academyawards =
tonyawards = Best Direction of a Play
1999 "Death of a Salesman"
Regional Theatre Award
1992 Goodman Theatre

Robert Falls (born 2 March 1954) is an American theater director and the current Artistic Director of Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

Biography

Robert Falls was born in Ashland, Illinois, and received his BFA in Directing and Playwriting at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, after which he studied acting with Edward Kaye-Martin in New York. His career as a theater director was launched with his 1985 production of "Hamlet" at the Wisdom Bridge Theatre, where he served as Artistic Director from 1977 to 1985. From 1986 to the present, he has served as the Artistic Director of Chicago's Goodman Theatre, where he has directed more than 30 major productions and produced/co-produced more than 200 plays and 100 premieres.

Career

During Falls’ two decades at the Goodman, the largest not-for-profit producing theater in Chicago, Illinois, the theater was named in 2003 by "Time" magazine one of the “top ten best theater companies in the United States” and received a Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1992). Falls has directed more than 30 major productions and produced/co-produced more than 200 plays and 100 premieres on local, national and international stages. His Chicago credits include performances at Goodman Theatre, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Remains Theatre, Ivanhoe Theatre, Wisdom Bridge Theatre, St. Nicholas Theatre, Athaneum Theatre, Oak Park Shakespeare Festival, Northlight Theatre and Court Theatre. New York credits include productions at Roundabout Theatre, Longacre Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club/Biltmore, Plymouth Theatre, Joseph Papp Public Theater, Eugene O’Neill Theatre, Metropolitan Opera Company, Westside Theatre, Circle in the Square, Lincoln Center Theater, New York Shakespeare Festival, Belasco Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, The Acting Company and Direct Theatre. International credits include productions at Lyric Theatre in London, Abbey Theatre in Dublin; and productions in Scotland, Germany, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands, among other countries.

On Broadway

Falls most recently directed "Talk Radio" by Eric Bogosian at Longacre Theatre, for which he was nominated for a 2007 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.

He directed the American premiere of Conor McPherson's "Shining City" on Broadway, starring Oliver Platt; both the production and Platt's performance were nominated for 2006 Tony Awards.

His Broadway production of Eugene O’Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night", starring Brian Dennehy, Vanessa Redgrave, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robert Sean Leonard, received three 2003 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play, and three 2003 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Director of a Play.

Falls' 1998/1999 season production "Death of a Salesman" for the Goodman moved to Broadway, where it was subsequently honored with four 1999 Tony Awards, including Best Director of a Play and Best Revival of a Play. It was also named by "Time" magazine as one of the season's “10 best” American theater productions.

Falls was nominated for a 1997 Tony Award for Best Play for Horton Foote's "The Young Man from Atlanta".

In 1996, Falls directed a re-mounting of his nationally acclaimed 1994 Goodman production of "The Night of the Iguana" on Broadway.

His production of Elton John and Tim Rice's "Aida", which played on Broadway between 2000 and 2004, went on to tour Germany, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands.

World premieres

Falls is known for his bold, grand-scale world-premiere productions, which have included "Frank's Home" by Richard Nelson (2006), "Dollhouse" by Rebecca Gilman (2005), "Blue Surge" by Rebecca Gilman (2001), "Finishing the Picture" by Arthur Miller (2004), "Griller" by Eric Bogosian (1997), "Riverview: A Melodrama with Music" by John Logan (1992), "On the Open Road" by Steve Tesich (1989), "Book of the Night" by Louis Rosen and Thom Bishop (1991) and "The Speed of Darkness" by Steve Tesich (1989) at Goodman Theatre. At Westside Theatre in New York, Falls directed the world premiere of "The Food Chain" by Nicky Silver in 1995. At Lincoln Center Theater in New York, he directed the world premiere of "SubUrbia" by Eric Bogosian in 1994. At Wisdom Bridge Theatre, he directed the world premieres of "Life and Limb" by Keith Reddin (1984), "In the Belly of the Beast: Letters from Prison" by Jack Abbott (1983), "Standing on My Knees" by John Olive (1981) and "Bagtime" by Alan Rosen, Louis Rosen and Thom Bishop, based on the newspaper columns of Bob Greene and Paul Galloway (a co-production with Drury Lane Water Tower Theatre) in 1979. He also directed the world premiere of "Fits and Starts" by Grace McKeaney at Northlight Theatre in Evanston, Illinois, in 1978.

References

External links

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* [http://www.goodmantheatre.org Goodman Theatre official website]