Jeffrey Richards (producer)

Last updated
Jeffrey Richards
BornMarch 16, 1947
New York City, U.S.
OccupationTheatrical producer
Known forBroadway plays and musicals
ParentHelen Stern Richards

Jeffrey Richards (born March 16, 1947) [1] is an American Broadway theatre producer who has presented both new and revived works for the Broadway stage. His most notable productions include Spring Awakening , August: Osage County , Will Ferrell's You're Welcome America , and Porgy and Bess , as well as numerous premieres by Tracy Letts and David Mamet. He is the recipient of eight Tony Awards.

Contents

Richards was nominated for a 2020 Primetime Emmy Award [2] as one of four executive producers of the dramatic film American Son , an adaptation of the 2018 Broadway play of the same title. The film premiered in 2019 at the Toronto International Film Festival, [3] debuted in November 2019 as a television drama, and was nominated for the 2020 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. [4]

Early life

Born and raised in New York City, [5] Richards' mother, Helen Stern Richards, worked as a press agent and manager of many Broadway shows, a long list of which included notable musicals such as West Side Story and Shenandoah . [6]

He attended Wesleyan University and Columbia Journalism School with the intention of becoming a journalist but changed direction, and chose instead to work a public relations job which led to his working on the revival of The Pajama Game (1973).

Career

Richards initially worked as a press agent on and off Broadway for nearly two decades, and in 1995, ventured into theatrical production with the initial Off-Broadway production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) . [6] [7]

In 2000, Richards presented his first production on Broadway with a revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man . He has since produced over 50 shows on Broadway (many in partnership with producer Jerry Frankel), receiving Tony Awards for his productions of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross (2005); The Pajama Game (2006), Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's Spring Awakening (2007), Tracy Letts's August: Osage County (2008), Hair (2009), Porgy and Bess (2012), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2013), and Robert Schenkkan's All The Way (2014). He has been nominated for an additional 14 Tony Awards. [8]

Richards was one of four executive producers who presented the 2019 American dramatic film, American Son, along with Rebecca Gold, and Kerry Washington and Pilar Savone under their Simpson Street banner. The film is an adaptation of the 2018 Broadway play of the same title, written by Christopher Demos-Brown. [9] [10] [11] The movie premiered in 2019 at the Toronto International Film Festival, and made its television debut on Netflix in November 2019 as a "Netflix Television Event". [3] Despite the film's critical reception, [12] [13] [14] it was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. [4]

Broadway stage

Broadway productions and awards
YearProductionAwardsNominations
2000 The Best Man Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play
2001 A Thousand Clowns
2003 Enchanted April
2005 Glengarry Glen Ross Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play
2006 Spring Awakening Tony Award for Best Musical , Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical
2006 The Caine Mutiny Court Martial Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play
2006 The Pajama Game Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical
2007 August: Osage County Tony Award for Best Play , Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play
2007 Radio Golf Tony Award for Best Play, Drama Desk Award for Best Play
2007 Talk Radio Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play
2007 The Homecoming Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
2008 November
2008 Speed-the-Plow
2009 Blithe Spirit Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play
2009 Desire Under the Elms
2009 Hair Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical , Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical
2009 Race
2009 Reasons To Be Pretty Tony Award for Best Play, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play
2009 Superior Donuts
2009 You're Welcome America Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event
2010 A Life in the Theatre
2010 All About Me
2010 Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
2010 Enron
2010 The Merchant of Venice Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play
2011 Bonnie and Clyde Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical
2011 Chinglish Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play
2012 Glengarry Glen Ross
2012 Porgy and Bess Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical
2012 The Anarchist
2012 The Best Man Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play
2012 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play , Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play
2013 The Glass Menagerie Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
2014 All The Way Tony Award for Best Play , Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play
2014 Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
2014 The Bridges of Madison County Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical
2014 The Realistic Joneses
2014 You Can't Take It with You Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
2015 China Doll
2015 Fiddler On The Roof Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical
2015 Sylvia
2015 The Heidi Chronicles
2016 American Psycho
2017 Significant Other
2017 Sunday In The Park With George
2018 American Son
2018 The Lifespan of a Fact
2019 Beetlejuice Tony Award for Best Musical
2019 The Great Society
2019 The Sound Inside
2022 American Buffalo Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
2022 The Minutes Tony Award for Best Play
2022 Ohio State Murders Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play
2023 Pictures from Home
2023 Purlie Victorious

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References

  1. ↑ "Jeffrey Richards – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  2. ↑ "Jeffrey Richards". Television Academy. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  3. 1 2 "Kerry Washington in 'American Son': Netflix Releases Trailer During Emmys". The Hollywood Reporter. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  4. 1 2 Keveney, Bill (2020-07-28). "Emmys 2020: The nominations list". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  5. ↑ Robertson, Campbell (16 January 2008). "A Broadway Producer is Bringing Back Drama". The New York Times.
  6. 1 2 Rothstein, Mervyn (2007-12-21). "A Life in the Theatre: Jeffrey Richards". Playbill. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  7. ↑ "Complete Works to Close Off-Broadway May 26".
  8. ↑ "Jeffrey Richards – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB".
  9. ↑ "Review: 'American Son' Puts Kerry Washington in a Maternal Nightmare". The New York Times. 2018-11-05. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  10. ↑ "'American Son' Review: Kerry Washington Stars on Broadway in New Play". Variety. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  11. ↑ Robinson, Jacob (2019-10-16). "American Son: Netflix Release Date, Plot, Cast & Trailer". What's on Netflix. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  12. ↑ "Netflix's 'American Son' Adaptation Exposes The Play's Flaws". NPR.org. 2019-10-31. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  13. ↑ Defoe, John (2019-09-05). "'American Son': Film Review - TIFF 2019". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  14. ↑ Wilkinson, Alissa (2019-11-01). "With American Son, Netflix brings Broadway to the screen in an intriguing new way". Vox. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
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