Don Stephenson

For the Canadian football player, see Don Stephenson (Canadian football).
Don Stephenson
Born Donald Ragan Stephenson IV
(1964-09-10) September 10, 1964
Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
Occupation Actor, Director
Spouse(s) Emily Loesser (1991-present) 4 children

Don Stephenson (born September 10, 1964) in Chattanooga, Tennessee is an American actor and stage director. He has numerous credits on both television and in the theatre.

Biography

Early and personal life

Stephenson graduated from Hixson High School in Chattanooga and the University of Tennessee.[1]

He is married to Emily Loesser,[1]daughter of composer Frank Loesser, [2][3] with whom he has four children.[4] They met while appearing together in The Secret Garden, [3] and have appeared in a number of productions together.[5]

Acting

On Broadway , Stephenson originated the roles of Charles Clarke in Titanic (1997) , Mr. Peavy in Parade (1998), [6] Bingo Little in By Jeeves (2001)[7] and Renfield in Dracula (2004). [8] Other Broadway credits include Private Lives (2002) and Rock of Ages (2009).[6][9] He was last seen on Broadway in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (2013) in the role of "The D'Ysquith Family".[10][11]

He starred as Leo Bloom in the Broadway production and first national tour of The Producers in 2003.[12][13]

He appeared in the Encores! staged concert of The Band Wagon in 2014 as "Hal".[14]

Off-Broadway, Stephenson originated the role of Fidele in Death Takes a Holiday in 2011,[15] and played Vissi D'Amore Boy/ Thurio in Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Delacorte Theater in 2005,[16] Sid Davis in Take Me Along at Irish Rep in 2008,[17] Anatoly in Chess, and Zach in The Tavern at Equity Library Theatre in 2007.[18]

He appeared in Tom Stoppard's Travesties at the Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut in 2005.[19]

He appeared as himself during his run on The Producers on Curb Your Enthusiasm episode Mel's Offer. [20] Other television roles include David Jordan on the soap Another World, and guest roles in The Good Wife, 30 Rock, Ugly Betty, the Law & Order franchise, and Glee. [20] In 2009 he shot the pilot for the Showtime series Possible Side Effects.[21] and in the summer of 2014 he filmed a role in the Woody Allen summer project.

Directing

In 2010, he directed a production of Titanic at The Muny (St. Louis, Missouri).[22] In 2012, Stephenson developed and directed a new chamber version of Titanic.[23] This scaled-down version of the show used 20 actors playing all of the roles, an abstract set design, projections, and new orchestrations.[24] Stephenson restored previously cut material from the original Broadway production and reassigned and reordered the existing material. This new intimate version opened in July 2012 at The Hangar Theatre (Ithica, New York) [25] and was nominated for eleven BroadwayWorld Awards including Best Director. This production was subsequently remounted at Westchester Broadway Theatre in January 2014. He also directed the staged concert of Titanic at Lincoln Center in 2014.[26][27][28]

He has also directed productions of The Other Place at the Alley Theatre, Houston in 2015,[29] The 39 Steps at the Flat Rock Playhouse, North Carolina in 2010[30] Noises Off at the Pittsburgh Public Theater in 2014,[31] Lend Me a Tenor (BroadwayWorld Nomination for Best Director) at the Papermill Playhouse, New Jersry in 2013,[32] Deathtrap in 2013 at the Flat Rock Playhouse, North Carolina, [33] Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Oleanna, The Cottage at Theatre Aspen, Colorado in 2014,[34] Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Papermill Playhouse in 2015,[35] Buyer & Cellar at TheaterWorks, Hartford, Connecticut in 2016,[36] I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers in 2015 at Theater Works, Hartford, Connecticut[37] and The Great Unknown in 2010 at the Theater at St. Clement's, as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival.[38] He directed a reading of a new play, What Women Do , by William Youmans in 2015 in New York City.[39]

In 2015 he directed a new production of Guys and Dolls for Goodspeed Musicals.[40]

References

  1. 1 2 Rizzo, Frank. "Goodspeed Stays True To Beloved 'Guys And Dolls'" Hartford Courant, April 16, 2015
  2. ↑ "Emily Loesser, Actress, Marries" The New York Times, May 5, 1991
  3. 1 2 King, Susan. "Emily Loesser Carries On Family Tradition in 'Yiddle With Fiddle'" Los Angeles Times, January 19, 1991
  4. ↑ Peter Filichia. "Actor plucks a plum '1776' role", The Star-Ledger, April 16, 2009.
  5. ↑ Haun, Harry. "Most Happy Emily Loesser Pipes Aboard 'Titanic" Playbill, September 1, 1998
  6. 1 2 "Don Stephenson Broadway" Playbill (vault), accessed March 27, 2016
  7. ↑ Isherwod, Charles. "Review: ‘By Jeeves’" Variety, October 28, 2001
  8. ↑ "A bloodless 'Dracula' drains life out of the old vampire" chronicle.augusta.com (Associated Press), August 20, 2004
  9. ↑ "Stephenson Broadway" ibdb.com, accessed March 27, 2016
  10. ↑ Cohen, Stefanie. "A Sickening Season on Broadway" Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2014
  11. ↑ Gordon, David. "Lisa O'Hare, Eddie Korbich, and Don Stephenson Join Jefferson Mays in Broadway's 'A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder'" theatermania.com, September 3, 2013
  12. ↑ Elysa Gardner. "'The Producers' takes to the road", USA Today, September 17, 2002.
  13. ↑ Kenneth Jones. "Don Stephenson Joins Bway's The Producers May 20", Playbill, May 20, 2003
  14. ↑ Rooney, David. "'The Band Wagon': Theater Review" Hollywood Reporter, November 9, 2014
  15. ↑ Isherwood, Charles. "Set Aside That Scythe, and Let’s Put on a Show", The New York Times, July 21, 2011
  16. ↑ Two Gentlemen of Verona lortel.org, accessed March 27, 2016
  17. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. "Irish Rep's 'Take Me Along' Revival Extended to May 4" Playbill, March 17, 2008
  18. ↑ Goodman, Walter. "Theater: 'The Tavern'" The New York Times, October 5, 1987
  19. ↑ Hernandez, Ernio. "Hewitt, Stephenson, Keating, More Join Sam Waterston for Long Wharf's 'Travesties'" Playbill, April 14, 2005
  20. 1 2 "Stephenson filmography" The New York Times, accessed March 28, 2016
  21. ↑ Don Stephenson at the Internet Movie Database
  22. ↑ Brown, Dennis. "Don Stephenson, an original Broadway cast member, steers 'Titanic' to the Muny" River Front Times, June 30, 2010
  23. ↑ Chris Jones, "Review: 'Titanic' by Griffin Theatre", Chicago Tribune, October 27, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Ensemble Version of 'Titanic' Now Available" tamswitmark.com, accessed March 28, 2016
  25. ↑ Hoffman, Phillip. "Philip Hoffman's Hangar Theatre 'Titanic' Journal" Playbill, July 24, 2012
  26. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. "Original Broadway Cast Member Don Stephenson Will Stage Avery Fisher Hall Concert of 'Titanic'; Creative Team Announced" Playbill, October 25, 2013
  27. ↑ Michael Riedel, "Sinking money into raising the ‘Titanic’", New York Post, February 21, 2014.
  28. ↑ Dennis Brown. "Don Stephenson, an original Broadway cast member, steers Titanic to the Muny", The Riverfront Times, June 30, 2010.
  29. ↑ Downing, Margaret. "'The Other Place': A Mystery Inside Someone's Head" Houston Press, October 14, 2015
  30. ↑ Ward, Denise. "Hitchcock hilarity: Flat Rock Playhouse's ‘The 39 Steps'" blueridgenow.com, August 27, 2010
  31. ↑ Carter, Alice. "Pittsburgh Public Theater is taking on classic backstage farce 'Noises Off'" triblive.com, May 28, 2014
  32. ↑ "'Lend Me a Tenor' Press Release" papermill.org, February 12, 2013
  33. ↑ Winkler, Katie. "Review: Playhouse stages comedy to love ... or kill for? blueridgenow.com, August 24, 2013
  34. ↑ Conniff, Michae;. "‘Cottage’ The Place for Summer Theatre In Aspen" Huffington Post, August 7, 2014
  35. ↑ Sommers, Michael. "A Review of ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike' in Millburn" The New York Times, February 6, 2015
  36. ↑ Arnott, Christopher. "TheaterWorks Probes Celebrity Culture With 'Buyer & Cellar'" Hartford Courant, January 7, 2016
  37. ↑ Gold, Sylviane. "Review: ‘I’ll Eat You Last’ in Hartford Portrays Sue Mengers" The New York Times, July 31, 2015
  38. ↑ The Great Unknown jimwann.com, September 7, 2010
  39. ↑ Gans, Andrew. "Free Reading of 'What Women Do' Presented in NYC Today; Don Stephenson Directs" Playbill, July 7, 2015
  40. ↑ Kristina Dorsey, "Director Don Stephenson offers unique perspective to Goodspeed’s ‘Guys and Dolls’", The Day, April 21, 2015.

External links

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