Sidney Berger, Director School of Theatre
at UH
 Dr.
Sidney Berger is the Director of the University of Houston School
of Theatre; founder and producing director of the Houston Shakespeare
Festival and co-founder and producer of the Children's Theatre Festival,
UH's professional summer projects. He has directed many productions
for both the Houston Shakespeare Festival and the UH School of Theatre.
As Associate Artist at the Alley Theatre, he directed
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, T Bone N Weasel, and, most
recently All in the Timing. Other professional directing credits
include Betrayal, Sight Unseen, The Substance of Fire, A Delicate
Balance, and All Over at Stages Repertory Theatre, where he also
served as Artistic Director. Among his published works for theatre
are The Playwright Versus the Director, edited with Jeane Luere
and published by Greenwood Press, and published adaptations of The
Little Match Girl, Rapunzel, as well as Bird Boy. He was writer
and collaborator with noted Broadway composer Jerry Bock on Brandon
Finds His Star (now represented by Music Theatre International)
He also adapted and directed The Fall and Rise of Bertolt Brecht,
wrote the book and lyrics for The Last Temptation of Christ and
the libretto for Where Is the Sun? (both with Theo Fanidi), and
Tickets, Please for Texas Opera Theatre with music by Robert Nelson.
For Houston Public Television he adapted and directed several pieces
for a continuing series entitled Centerstage, of which he was also
co-producer. One of his adaptations was awarded the Red Ribbon by
the American Film and Video Association in the category of Literary
Adaptations to the Screen. His production of Old Secrets (with Paul
Yeager) won a Silver Award in the Performance Program category by
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
He has also had a number of accomplishments in
musical theatre, directing productions both here and abroad including
USO-Defense Department tours of The Boy Friend, Brigadoon, The Boys
from Syracuse and Sweet Charity to Asia, Greenland, Iceland, Labrador
and Western Europe. Equally at home with opera as well as musical
comedy, he has directed Tableau Opera tours of Marriage of Figaro,
Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet for the Houston Grand Opera. For two
consecutive summers Dr. Berger was appointed American Theatre Specialist
by the U. S. State Department and toured throughout Western and
Eastern Europe giving concert performances of selections from American
Theatre including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, After the Fall
and Of Mice and Men. He recently was invited by the government of
the Federal Republic of Germany to meet with heads of German theatres
and served as a NASA consultant for the arts in the Space Program.
He is also known for appearing in the cult film classic Carnival
of Souls.
In 1990 he co-founded and was elected President
of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America, uniting all major
professional Shakespeare producers. Elected to membership in the
National Theatre Conference, he recently served as President; Dr.
Berger also serves on the board of Sam Wanamaker's International
Shakespeare Globe Centre project in London.
Holding a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas,
Dr. Berger was a member of the faculty and Director of Graduate
Studies at Michigan State University prior to his appointment at
UH in 1969. In recognition of the role he has played in the theatre
life of this city, Dr. Berger was chosen as a recipient of the Mayor's
Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Performing Artist. The City
Council and the Mayor again recognized his accomplishments by issuing
special proclamations in 1989 and 1993 for outstanding service to
the arts. In 1992 he received the Esther Farfel Award, the University
of Houston's highest academic award bestowed to the most outstanding
faculty member of the year. In 1996, he was named John and Rebecca
Moores Professor of Theatre. Dr. Berger was recently inducted into
the College of Fellows of the American Theatre.
For more information about UH visit the university’s
‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
|
