Israel Hicks

Israel Theo Hicks (August 23, 1943 – July 3, 2010) was an American theatre director who produced works at regional theaters around the country and Off Broadway, and was best known for his stagings of the entire series of plays by August Wilson about the African-American experience in the U.S. during and following the Great Migration.

Early life

Hicks was born on August 23, 1943 in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He moved to Brooklyn, New York City with his family as a child, and spent summers on his grandfather's farm in South Carolina. He developed a love of theatre while attending the Boston University College of Fine Arts and honed his skills while earning a Master of Fine Arts degree from New York University. Lloyd Richards, who directed several of Wilson's plays on Broadway, was a mentor to Hicks at NYU and introduced him to the works of August Wilson.Weber, Bruce
"Israel Hicks, Director of August Wilson’s Cycle, Dies at 66"
''The New York Times'', July 7, 2010. Accessed July 8, 2010.

Career

Hicks was an acting instructor at Carnegie Mellon University and headed theatre arts programs at the SUNY Purchase's Conservatroy of Theatre Arts and at the Mason Gross School of the Arts of Rutgers University. Hicks directed at the American Conservatory Theater, the Cleveland Play House, the Guthrie Theater, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Pittsburgh Public Theater and Primary Stages.

While at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Hicks was asked by artistic director Donovan Marley if he wanted to direct the full cycle of August Wilson's plays and responded immediately "Hell, yeah". He was described by ''The New York Times'' as being the first person known to direct the 10 plays Wilson wrote in ''The Pittsburgh Cycle'', starting with ''Fences'' in 1990, ''Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' in 1991, ''The Piano Lesson'' in 1993, ''Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'' in 1994, ''Two Trains Running'' in 1996, ''Seven Guitars'' in 1997, '' Jitney'' in 2002, ''King Hedley II'' in 2003, ''Gem of the Ocean'' in 2006 and ''Radio Golf'' in 2009. Hicks credited his time spent in the South as giving him a connection to Wilson's plays, saying his characters were "like members of my family, my uncles and aunts" and that to him "August's plays are familiar clothing". Wilson's play cycle documents African American life in the 20th century in Pittsburgh's Hill District and Hicks often wore a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap as his trademark while directing.Moore, John
"The death of Israel Hicks: 'We've lost a giant': History-making Denver Center Theatre Company director had prostate cancer"
''The Denver Post'', July 6, 2010. Accessed July 8, 2010. In his two decades with the Denver Center Theatre Company, Hicks directed nearly 20 plays, and was scheduled to direct ''Ruined'' in 2011 for the company. Kent Thompson called Hicks' commitment to directing the entire play cycle "extremely rare in the American theatre today".

Hicks also co-founded with Wren T. Brown the Ebony Repertory Theatre in Los Angeles and served as its artistic director.website=www.ebonyrep.org/aboutus.htm

He was described as a major influence on African-American actors, with Stephen Henderson describing Hicks "as a role model as well as a leading figure in the field" and that "so many actors, directors, and playwrights owe the start of their careers to him". Henderson said he was among many who felt "Hicks was one of the best directors eever worked with as an actor" as a result of his "remarkable ability with an ensemble, to bring it together, to elicit better performances from the actors than they often gave in other productions".

Later life

A resident of White Plains, New York, Hicks died of prostate cancer at age 66 on July 3, 2010, in Sleepy Hollow, New York.Simonson, Robert
"Israel Hicks, Who Made History Directing Wilson Cycle, Dies at 66"
, ''Playbill'', July 6, 2010. Accessed July 8, 2010. He was survived by his second wife, Renée Harriston-Hicks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hicks, Israel
1943 births
2010 deaths
People from Orangeburg, South Carolina
African-American academics
American theatre directors
Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
Carnegie Mellon University faculty
Deaths from prostate cancer
People from Brooklyn
People from White Plains, New York
Rutgers University faculty
State University of New York at Purchase faculty
Tisch School of the Arts alumni