Sabra Jones

Last updated
Sabra Jones
Education New York University (BFA)
OccupationFounding & Producing Artistic Director
Organization The Mirror Theater Ltd
Spouse(s)John Strasberg (1976–1988) Thomas McAteer (1988–2010)
Children1

Sabra Jones is an American actress, director, writer, and producer known for her expansive collection of artistic work and for founding The Mirror Theater Ltd. She has produced over 172 theatrical productions in New York City, London, and around the country, including the 1982 Broadway production of Alice in Wonderland. [1] Jones has acted on Broadway, at the Metropolitan Opera, in numerous regional productions, and in select television and film roles. [2] She currently lives between Manhattan and Vermont, working as the Founding & Producing Artistic Director for The Mirror Theater Ltd and for The Mirror’s Vermont chapter, the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency. [3]

Contents

Biography

Sabra Jones grew up in a small town just outside of Los Angeles, separated from the metropolitan hubbub and yet close to the city's vibrant passage for the arts. At 18, she moved east to Manhattan and received a BFA from the Tisch School of the Arts. [4] Shortly after, she landed her first Broadway role, a lead in Butterflies Are Free . Following this, Jones met and married John Strasberg--son of Actors Studio Artistic Director Lee Strasberg--and founded The Mirror Theater Ltd “under the mentorship of Harold Clurman, Ellis Rabb, Eva Le Gallienne, Alan Schneider, and John Gielgud.” [5] Though Strasberg and Jones divorced, the company flourished, expanding into The Mirror Repertory Company (MRC) [6] and eventually developing the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency (GAAR). [7] Jones' son, Charlie McAteer, is currently co-Artistic Director for The Mirror. [8] Outside of performing, directing, and producing, Jones is known for her award-winning Arts in Education program. She taught for almost nine years at the Lee Strasberg Institute, was a Professor of Acting at Pace University, directed at the Manhattanville College, and taught years of Mirror Rep Ensemble Classes as a Master Teacher. [9]

Career

Acting

Jones made her Broadway debut in 1971, replacing Blythe Danner as Jill Tanner in Butterflies Are Free and continuing the role in the First National Tour. She also appeared in the original production of Six Degrees of Separation at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. In 1972, Jones made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the Duchess of Krackenthorp in La Fille du Régiment and later acted as Andromache in Les Troyens . Jones also performed in 13 plays with her own Mirror Repertory Company, [10] nominated by the Outer Critics Circle for Best Acting Ensemble and Best Sustained Excellence. Other New York and select regional credits include Sally and Marsha , Someone, Hot Buttered Bourbon, Jigsaw, Indiscretions, and Our Town . Jones starred as Marcella in the 1979 film Night-Flowers [11] and appears on episodes of Law & Order and Laverne & Shirley . [12]

Directing

Sabra Jones has directed nearly 80 productions, many with the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency. Her most recent directing credits include The Sound of Music (2012), The Music Man (2013), The Miracle Worker (2014), Hamlet (2015), and To Kill a Mockingbird (2016). Her shows with the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency have been called "absolutely delightful", "bold", and "high quality". [13] [14]

Her production of To Kill a Mockingbird (2016) starring Sean Haberle, Tony nominee Marla Schaffel, and Tony nominee Katheryn Meisle, was so high regarded that local papers termed it "a masterpiece" and the Rev. Richard Fenn of Princeton Theological Seminary called it "liturgy" because of its beauty.

Sabra directed The Children's Hour at Marymount College in Purchase New York. She is presently tagged to direct the world premier of Bernard Pomerance's only unpublished play Miranda, which concerns Prospero and an adult Miranda after their return to Italy from the Island in The Tempest by Shakespeare, as well as the founding of America and the fate of Powhatan tribes at the hands of British settlers.

Writing

Jones traveled to the Philippines as a journalist, “interview[ing] former Philippine presidents Garcia, Macapagal, and Marcos and [writing] features on Corregidor’s infamous Malinta Tunnel.” [15] She is also an award-winning poet—her poem “Christus Neger” won first prize at the University of California—and playwright, winning the Dramalogue Best New Play award for her play One Hundred Percent Alive. [16]

Producing

With over 170 producing credits and a Tony nomination, Jones’ producing experience spans from Broadway to London with much in between. Her show Alice in Wonderland, directed by Eva Le Gallienne, opened on Broadway in 1982 garnering a Tony nomination. [17] She produced the WNET13 Masterpiece Theatre Production for television. [18] With The Mirror Repertory Company, Jones produced three full repertory seasons, and she continues to work for The Mirror Theater Ltd and the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency today. Her latest production, Sinners (written by Joshua Sobol, dir. Brian Cox), debuted in Vermont in summer 2016 [19] and will be performed in Boston in March.

In a review on Sinners, Boston's Arts Fuse said "This sort of bravery has become very rare in American theater. For far too long, artists and administrators have been arrogantly confident that words such as “truth” and “freedom” mean what they have always meant; confident that the only major political problem theater has left to tackle is that of the issue of equitable representation; confident that all we need to know about enlightenment could be found via staring at our own navels. Our theaters have blinded themselves to the world’s most lethal evils, and have looked for every excuse to ignore its victims. This is why the very fact that Sinners is playing anywhere in America matters." [20]

The Mirror

The Mirror Theater Ltd was founded by Sabra Jones in 1983. The company was created to be an alternating repertory company and included founding members Eva Le Gallienne, John Strasberg, and Geraldine Page. Laurance S. Rockefeller was the primary philanthropist behind the company's creation, but other actors and philanthropists like Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, and Paul Newman also offered support. The company began at a small, 70-seat theater at the Real Stage Acting School. [21] After receiving positive reviews in the New York Times , [22] the company was moved Off-Broadway to the Theatre at St. Peter's Church. The Mirror Repertory Company presented three repertory seasons. Through the 1990s, the Mirror produced shows in New York and London [23] and the company focused on Arts-in-Education. Today, The Mirror continues to produce in New York, Boston, and Vermont. [24]

Performance work

Stage performance

YearTitleTheatreRoleNotes
1990Six Degrees of Separation Vivian Beaumont Kitty; Ouisa, alt. Stockard Channing, Swoozie KurtzBroadway
1971Butterflies Are Free Booth Theatre Jill TannerBroadway and First National Tour
1972 La Fille du Régiment Metropolitan Opera Duchess of Krackenthorpw/Luciano Pavarotti and June Anderson
1993Les Troyens Metropolitan Opera Andromachew/Maria Ewing and Samuel Ramey
1979 Sally and Marsha Manhattan Theatre ClubSallyw/Bernadette Peters and Christine Baranski
1998Someone Ensemble Studio Theatre Janisw/Mark Forestine
2000Hot Buttered Bourbon Ensemble Studio Theatre Orchidw/Roberta Wallach
2000JigsawPeccadillo TheatreClair BurnellFirst NY production since 1934
1984Joan of LorraineTheatre at the Real StageJoanw/Will Patton
1984InheritorsTheatre at St. Peter's ChurchMadelinew/Geraldine Page
1984Paradise LostTheatre at St. Peter's ChurchLibbyw/Mason Adams, Maxwell Caulfield, and Juliet Mills
1984RainTheatre at St. Peter's ChurchSadie Thompsonw/David Cryer, Madeleine Sherwood and Jim Rebhorn
1984GhostsTheatre at St. Peter's ChurchReginaw/Geraldine Page and Victor Slezak
1985The Madwoman of ChaillotTheatre at St. Peter's ChurchIrmaw/Geraldine Page, Carrie Nye, Jane White, and F. Murray Abraham. On view at the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center.
1985ClarenceTheatre at St. Peter's ChurchViolet PinneyOn view at the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center.
1985Vivat! Vivat Regina!Theatre at St. Peter's ChurchMary of Scotlandw/Geraldine Page. On view at the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center.
1986Children of the SunTheatre at St. Peter's ChurchMelaniyaw/Michael Moriarty and Elizabeth France
1986The Time of Your LifeTheatre on Main StreetKitty DuvalThe Mirror Rep in Belfast, Maine.
1986Les Liaisons DangereuseTheatre on Main StreetMme. MereteuilU.S. Premiere. The Mirror Rep in Belfast, Maine.
1986The SeagullTheatre on Main StreetArcadinaThe Mirror Rep in Belfast, Maine. Dir. Robert Lewis.

Television and film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1998 Law & Order (NBC)Tracy TeasdaleEpisode: "Bait"
1979Night-FlowersMarcellaFilm
1978 Laverne & Shirley IrmaEpisode: "The Quiz Show"

Awards and nominations

YearAward CeremonyCategoryWorkRoleResult
1965 University of California Poetry Prize N/A"Christus Neger" (poem)PoetWon
1979Dramalogue AwardBest New PlayOne Hundred Percent Alive (play)PlaywrightWon
1983 Tony Award Best Costume Design (Patricia Zipprodt)Alice in Wonderland (play)ProducerNominated
1984 Outer Critics Circle Award Best Acting EnsembleMirror Repertory Company, First SeasonActress/ProducerNominated
1985 Outer Critics Circle Award Best Sustained ExcellenceMirror Repertory Company, Second SeasonActress/ProducerNominated
1998Brown and Williamson Achiever AwardN/AArts in Education ProgramEducatorWon
2017SDC fichandler awardBest Regional Directorial ExcellenceAll Productions Directed for GAARDirectorNominated

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The Mirror Theater Ltd

The Mirror Theater was founded by Sabra Jones in 1983, who was also the Founding Artistic Director. The first program of the theater was the Mirror Repertory Company (MRC). Founding members of the company included Eva Le Gallienne, John Strasberg, and Geraldine Page. Sabra Jones reached out to Ellis Rabb, Artistic Director of the APA Phoenix Repertory Company, John Houseman of the Mercury Theater, and Eva Le Gallienne of the Civic Repertory Theatre Company. The company was intended to be "an alternating repertory company in the classic sense" of actor-manager leadership, which Rabb, Houseman, and La Gallienne pioneered. Alternating repertory refers to when one company performs a variety of plays in the same season with the same actors, which was formerly a mainstay of theater tradition. This system has been attributed with helping actors grow in their craft through a wide variety of roles. MRC was funded in its inception primarily by philanthropist Laurance S. Rockefeller, with additional donations from philanthropists and actors such as Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, and others.

References

  1. ↑ Alice in Wonderland – Broadway Play – 1982 Revival" IBDB. The Broadway League, 1982.
  2. ↑ Jones, Sabra. Résumé. [2016].
  3. ↑ Hallenbeck, Brent. "Greensboro Group Plans Globe-esque Theater." Burlington Free Press, 10 Aug. 2014
  4. ↑ Galloway, Anne. "In Greensboro, Bard-Inspired Summer Theater - and a Stage?" Seven Days, 8 Feb. 2017.
  5. ↑ "Leadership & Staff." The Mirror Theater Ltd. N.p., n.d. .
  6. ↑ Bennetts, Leslie. "REPERTORY COMPANY BLOSSOMS." The New York Times, 26 June 1984
  7. ↑ Hallenbeck, Brent. "Greensboro Group Plans Globe-esque Theater." Burlington Free Press, 10 Aug. 2014. Web. Jump up ^
  8. ↑ "Leadership & Staff." The Mirror Theater Ltd. N.p., n.d.
  9. ↑ "Sabra Jones" LinkedIn. 2016
  10. ↑ Beaufort, John. "Freshness and Style at the Mirror Rep: 'Madwoman' and 'Clarence'." The Christian Science Monitor. 5 March 1985
  11. ↑ "Sabra Jones." BFI Film Forever. BFI, n.d.
  12. ↑ "Sabra Jones" IMDb. n.d.
  13. ↑ Ayers Cravedi, Stephanie. Interview. 2016.
  14. ↑ Lowe, Jim. "Review". The Times Argus. 2016.
  15. ↑ "Leadership & Staff" The Mirror Theater Ltd. N.p., n.d.
  16. ↑ "Sabra Jones" LinkedIn, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Alice in Wonderland – Broadway Play – 1982 Revival" IBDB. The Broadway League, 1982
  18. ↑ "Masterpiece PBS Online." THIRTEEN - New York Public Media. WNET13, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
  19. ↑ "Olivier Winner Brian Cox to Helm World Premiere of SINNERS at GAAR This Summer." BroadwayWorld, 14 June 2016.
  20. ↑ "Stage Review: "Sinners" — Theater that Matters".
  21. ↑ Nightingale, Benedict. "DRAMAS FROM THE PAST THAT SPEAK TO THE PRESENT." The New York Times, 7 Jan. 1984
  22. ↑ Nightingale, Benedict. "DRAMAS FROM THE PAST THAT SPEAK TO THE PRESENT." The New York Times, 7 Jan. 1984
  23. ↑ BWW News Desk. "Brian Cox & Brian Murphy to Talk Shakespeare at Mirror Repertory Company, 7/26." Broadway World, 24 July 2015.
  24. ↑ Editorial Staff. "Brian Cox Named Co-Artistic Director of Mirror Theater Ltd. and Greensboro Arts Alliance." TheaterMania, 29 July 2016.
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