Anne Hamburger (born ) is an American theatre manager, producer and playwright. She founded

En Garde Arts En Garde Arts is a New York City-based theatre company, and a pioneer in the field of site-specific theatre. Founded in 1985 by Artistic Director Anne Hamburger, the company was New York’s first exclusively site-specific theatre, leading audien ...

, was artistic director of

La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...

and was also an executive at

Walt Disney Creative Entertainment Disney Live Entertainment is the theatrical live entertainment production division of Walt Disney Imagineering, the design and development arm of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a segment and direct subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. H ...

, producing musicals.

Life and career

Hamburger was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland. She began her career as a sculptor, photographer, and performance artist, and started acting with

Saratoga International Theater Institute The Saratoga International Theater Institute (also known as SITI) was an ensemble-based theater company based in New York City and Saratoga Springs, New York. SITI was founded in 1992 by American director Anne Bogart and Japanese director T ...

(SITI). She then studied at

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...

, where she started a site-specific theatre company as part of her Master's studies.Plass, Sally
"Anne Hamburger"
Primary Stages Off-Broadway Oral History Project, June 21, 2018, accessed January 22, 2022 Hamburger founded and led

from 1986 until 1999. The company put on large site-specific performances across New York City at venues including

Bow Bridge (Central Park) The Bow Bridge is a cast iron bridge located in Central Park, New York City, crossing over the Lake and used as a pedestrian walkway. It is decorated with an interlocking circles banister, with eight planting urns on top of decorative bas-relie ...

and

Hotel Chelsea The Hotel Chelsea (also the Chelsea Hotel or the Chelsea) is a hotel in Manhattan, New York City, built between 1883 and 1885. The 250-unit hotel is located at 222 West 23rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, in the neighborhood of ...

. Hamburger and the company won six

Obie Awards The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

. She has also won two

Drama Desk Awards The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

. In a 1994 article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', Hamburger described the extensive process needed to obtain permission from property owners and the city to present performances at locations throughout the city. She was then named artistic director of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, California, and after one year moved on to become executive vice president for

. She produced spectacles and stage shows for the Disney parks and cruise ships, including '' Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular'' and ''

Finding Nemo – The Musical ''Finding Nemo – The Musical'' is a live puppet and musical stage show based on Disney/Pixar's 2003 film ''Finding Nemo'', located at the Theater in the Wild in DinoLand U.S.A at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Flori ...

''. After eight years at Disney, Hamburger restarted En Garde Arts and returned to producing off-Broadway theatre. In 2015, she presented a theater festival in

Hudson River Park Hudson River Park is a waterfront park on the North River (Hudson River) that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park, a component of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, stretches and ...

with nine separate pieces, including one by the Obie-winner Lee Sunday Evans. In 2017, she produced and co-wrote the play ''Wilderness'' which explored the issues created by sending children on

wilderness therapy Wilderness therapy, also known as outdoor behavioral healthcare, is a treatment option for behavioral disorders, substance abuse, and mental health issues in adolescents. Patients spend time living outdoors with peers. Reports of abuse, death ...

camps. While developing ''Wilderness'', Hamburger spent time with youths in Utah at a wilderness therapy camp and conducted interviews with parents who had to sent their children to such camps. Hamburger curated a free performing arts festival in New York City in May 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamburger, Anne American theatre managers and producers Disney executives Living people Yale School of Drama alumni Year of birth missing (living people)