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Stephen Sachs | |
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| Born | August 14, 1959 San Francisco, US |
| Alma mater | Los Angeles City College |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse | Jacqueline Schultz |
| Children | 2 |
Stephen Sachs (born August 14, 1959) is an American stage director and playwright. He is the co-artistic director of the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, which he co-founded in 1990. [1]
Sachs was born in San Francisco and grew up in Los Angeles. He graduated from Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy in 1980 and worked as an actor in film, TV, and theater. He made his debut as a professional stage director in 1987 with an adaptation of The Baron in the Trees at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, to positive reviews. [2] Sachs co-founded the Fountain Theatre in 1990 with Deborah Lawlor. He has led the venue as artistic director since its founding and has directed and written numerous productions. He is married to actress Jacqueline Schultz; they have two children.[ citation needed ]
The Fountain Theatre has won hundreds of awards for all areas of production, performance, and design.[ citation needed ] In 2020, it was honored with the Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in theater, presented by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle.[ citation needed ] In a 2021 end-of-year retrospective, Los Angeles Times theater critic Charles McNulty called the Fountain "L.A.'s most enterprising intimate theater [that] continues to punch far above its weight… No L.A. theater has done a better job of asking us to reexamine our lives through the lens of acute contemporary drama this year than the Fountain." [3]
Sachs was chosen by South African playwright Athol Fugard as one of the few directors in the United States to premiere his new plays. The collaboration goes back to when Sachs directed the Los Angeles premiere of Fugard's The Road to Mecca, in 2000.[ citation needed ]
In 2004, Sachs was selected to direct the world premiere of a new Fugard play, [4] titled Exits and Entrances, which won a number of awards. [5] Sachs went on to direct regional productions of the play around the country and overseas. [6]
In 2008, Sachs directed the Fugard play Victory. [7] The production was named "Critic's Choice" and "Best of 2008" in the Los Angeles Times. [8]
Sachs was instrumental in launching and supporting the Deaf West Theatre Company at the Fountain Theatre in 1991.[ citation needed ] The company won a Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre award for its acclaimed ASL version of Big River on Broadway in 2003. [9] His play about deafness and cochlear implants, Sweet Nothing in My Ear , was made into a television movie starring Jeff Daniels and Marlee Matlin and presented on the Hallmark Hall of Fame on April 20, 2008.[ citation needed ] The teleplay was written by Sachs, and the film was directed by Joseph Sargent. [10]
Sachs' play about deafness and language, Open Window, had its world premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2005, winning the California Governor's Media Access Award for Theater Excellence. [11]
His deaf spin on Cyrano debuted at the Fountain Theatre in 2012, starring Troy Kotsur. [12] His 2018 deaf-themed play Arrival & Departure starred Kotsur and his wife, actress Deanne Bray. [13]
| This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(February 2023) |
As playwright and director, Sachs has won every theater award in Los Angeles. He has been nominated for the SDC Zelda Fichandler Award three times, recognizing an outstanding director who makes a unique and exceptional contribution to theater in their region. He was honored by the Los Angeles City Council for "his visionary contributions to the cultural life of Los Angeles".
Julie Taymor is an American director and writer of theater, opera, and film. Her stage adaptation of The Lion King debuted in 1997 and received eleven Tony Award nominations, with Taymor receiving Tony Awards for her direction and costume design. Her 2002 film Frida, about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, was nominated for five Academy Awards, including a Best Original Song nomination for Taymor's composition "Burn It Blue." She also directed the 2007 jukebox musical film Across the Universe, based on the music of the Beatles.
Amy Davis Irving is an American actress and singer, who worked in film, stage, and television. Her accolades include an Obie Award, and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award.
Athol Fugard OIS HonFRSL is a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright. He is best known for his political and penetrating plays opposing the system of apartheid. Some of these have also been adapted for film.
Craig Lucas is an American playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, musical actor, and film director.
Yvonne Bryceland was a South African stage actress. Some of her best-known work was in the plays of Athol Fugard.
Deaf West Theatre is a non-profit arts organization based in Los Angeles, California, US. It is most well known for its Tony Award-nominated productions of Big River and Spring Awakening.
John Rubinstein is an American actor, composer and director.
Tracy Lynn Middendorf is an American television, movie, and stage actress. Middendorf's most notable roles were in the horror film Wes Craven's New Nightmare, the MTV series Scream, and the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. She also appeared in the Broadway production of Ah, Wilderness!. She has won two Ovation Awards, one Drama-Logue Award, and one Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for her stage work, and also received an American Movie Award in 2015.
Delferd Lynn Shores is an American film director, television writer, producer, playwright, standup comedian, and actor. He has written, directed and produced across studio and independent film, network and cable television and Los Angeles, regional and national touring theatre. He is also known for his LGBTQ+ activism. Shores was born in Winters, TX, the son of a Southern Baptist pastor and a high school drama teacher.
Joseph Cotter Smith is an American stage, film, and television actor.
Mel Shapiro is an American theatre director and writer, college professor, and author.
Jeff Calhoun is an American director, choreographer, producer and dancer.
The Fountain Theatre is a theatre in Los Angeles. Along with its programming of live theatre, it's also the foremost producer of flamenco on the West Coast.
The Road to Mecca is a play by South African playwright Athol Fugard. It was inspired by the story of Helen Martins, who lived in Nieu-Bethesda, Eastern Cape, South Africa and created The Owl House, which is now a National heritage site.
Simon Levy is an American theater director and playwright who has been the producing director and dramaturge with the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles since 1993.
The Train Driver is a play by South African playwright Athol Fugard.
Sweet Nothing in My Ear is a two-act play written by American playwright Stephen Sachs in 1998. The play features both deaf and hearing characters, using a blend of spoken English and American Sign Language. The play's storyline revolves around six primary characters, each representing a distinct perspective and experience, and features four additional company members who alternate between voice-acting the signed lines and signing the spoken ones. This unique and inclusive technique ensures that the dialogue is accessible to both deaf and hearing audiences.
Karen Kondazian is an American actress and author. She is a recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award's Best Actress award and is a four-time Drama-Logue Awards winner. She had a regular starring role in Shannon, as well guest-starring roles on Wiseguy, Frasier, NYPD Blue, and others.
The Sacred Fools Theater Company is a Los Angeles–based theatre company and nonprofit organization. Founded in January 1997, it's a member organization of the LA Stage Alliance.
Deborah LaVine is an American theater and independent film director. She is also the dean of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking.
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