Mark Lamos (born March 10, 1946) is an American theatre and opera director, producer and actor. Under his direction, Hartford Stage won the 1989

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

for Outstanding Regional Theatre and he has been nominated for two other Tonys. He is now Artistic Director of the

Westport Country Playhouse Westport Country Playhouse, is a not-for-profit regional theater in Westport, Connecticut, Westport, Connecticut. It was founded in 1931 by Lawrence Langner, a New York theater producer. Langner remodeled an 1830s tannery with a Broadway-quality ...

Life and career

Born in

Melrose Park, Illinois Melrose Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 24,796. Melrose Park had long been home to a large Italian-American population. The suburb was the home of ...

,Mark Lamos biography
filmreference.com, retrieved January 25, 2010 Lamos studied

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

at an early age, and participated in high school theater productions at

Proviso East High School Proviso East High School is a public secondary school in Maywood, Illinois which serves the educational needs of Maywood and three other villages within Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois: Broadview, Forest Park and Melrose Park. It is ...

, Maywood, IL, from which he graduated in 1964. He attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

on a music

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

.Stanford Distinguished Professors
University of Miami, retrieved January 25, 2010 He began his theatrical career as an actor at the

Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gut ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. His early

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

appearances all were in short-lived productions: ''The Love Suicide at Schofield Barracks'' and ''

The Creation of the World and Other Business ''The Creation of the World and Other Business'' is a play by Arthur Miller first performed in 1972. Summary The play is a parable that explores the theme of good-versus-evil by way of a comedic retelling of events in the Book of Genesis in the B ...

'' in 1972, ''

Cyrano Cyrano may refer to: Astronomy * 3582 Cyrano, a small main belt asteroid * Cyrano (crater), a lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon Stage and film * ''Cyrano'' (Damrosch), a 1913 opera by Walter Damrosch * ''Cyrano'', a 195 ...

'' in 1973, and a revival of ''

Man and Superman ''Man and Superman'' is a four-act drama written by George Bernard Shaw in 1903. The series was written in response to a call for Shaw to write a play based on the Don Juan theme. ''Man and Superman'' opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London ...

'' in 1978. He also appeared in the 1990 film ''

Longtime Companion ''Longtime Companion'' is a 1989 American romantic drama film directed by Norman René and starring Bruce Davison, Campbell Scott, Patrick Cassidy, and Mary-Louise Parker. The first wide-release theatrical film to deal with the subject of AIDS, ...

''.Mark Lamos Broadway credits
ibdb.com, retrieved January 25, 2010 He was appointed the artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse, effective in February 2009.Gates, Anit

'The New York Times'', April 2, 2009 Directing credits Westport Country Playhouse: ''Harbor''; ''Into the Woods''; ''Twelfth Night''; ''Lips Together, Teeth Apart''; ''Happy Days''; ''She Loves Me''; ''The Breath of Life''; ''That Championship Season''; ''Of Mice and Men''. New York credits: ''The Rivals'', ''Big Bill, Seascape, Cymbeline, Measure for Measure'' (Lortel Award), all for Lincoln Center Theater; ''The Gershwins’ Fascinating Rhythm; The Deep Blue Sea; Our Country's Good'' (Tony Award nomination). Off-Broadway: ''The End of the Day'' (Playwrights Horizons); ''Thief River'' (Signature Theatre Company); ''Love's Fire'' (Public Theater, Acting Company); ''As You Like It'' (Public Theater, Central Park); ''Indian Blood,'' ''Buffalo Gal'', ''Black Tie and Harbor'' (

Primary Stages Primary Stages was founded in 1984 by Casey Childs as an Off-Broadway not-for-profit theater company. In 2004, Primary Stages moved from its 99-seat home of 17 years at 354 West 45th Street to the 199-seat theater at 59E59 Theaters. In 2014, the ...

). Artistic Director, Hartford Stage (1989 Tony Award for theater's body of work). Other theater: The Kennedy Center; Washington's Ford's Theatre; Canada's Stratford Festival; Guthrie Theater; A.C.T.; Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Yale Repertory Theatre; D.C.'s Shakespeare Theatre; Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; San Diego's Old Globe; Moscow's Pushkin Theatre (first American to direct in former Soviet Union). Opera: I Lombardi, Wozzeck, (both televised for Great Performances); The Great Gatsby (world premiere) and Adriana Lecouvreur at the Metropolitan Opera; many productions for New York City Opera, including televised productions of ''Paul Bunyan, Tosca, Central Park'' and ''Madama Butterfly'' (Emmy Award). Glimmerglass Opera; Gothenburg's Stora Teatern; L'Opéra de Montréal; Chicago Lyric; San Francisco Opera; Norway's Bergen National Opera; and opera companies of Santa Fe, St. Louis, Washington, Dallas, Seattle. Lamos began his career in the theater as an actor on and off-Broadway and in regional theater. He made his film debut in

. He was awarded the Connecticut Medal for the Arts as well as honorary doctorates from

Connecticut College Connecticut College (Conn College or Conn) is a private liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. It is a residential, four-year undergraduate institution with nearly all of its approximately 1,815 students living on campus. The college w ...

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and it ...

, and

Trinity College (Connecticut) Trinity College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded as Washington College in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut. Coed ...

. Lamos was awarded the 2007 Beinecke Fellow,

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, the Stanford Chair at

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

in Coral Cables, has lectured at Yale and was a visiting adjunct professor in the Department of Theater at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Mark Lamos biography
westportplayhouse.org, retrieved January 25, 2010 Lamos is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. His partner since 1979 is Jerry Jones.

Awards and nominations

* 1991 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play - ''Our Country's Good'', nominee * 1991 Tony Award for Best Play - ''Our Country's Good'', nominee * 1989 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre - The Hartford Stage Company, winner * 1989 Connecticut Medal for the Arts

References

External links

* * *
US Opera interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamos, Mark American theatre directors American opera directors American male stage actors American male film actors Male actors from Chicago Northwestern University School of Communication alumni 1946 births Living people LGBT theatre directors American gay actors University of Michigan faculty LGBT people from Illinois