Michel Hausmann is a Venezuelan-born theater director, writer, and producer. He is the co-founder and artistic director of

Miami New Drama Miami New Drama is a nonprofit professional theater company located in Miami Beach, Florida, founded in 2014. Since October 2016 it has been the resident theater company and operator of the historic Colony Theatre on Miami Beach. Since its first pr ...

, the resident theater company and operator of the

Colony Theatre The Colony Theatre is a performing arts venue located on Lincoln Road in Miami, Florida. The theatre first opened as a Paramount Pictures movie house in 1935 with a capacity to sit 1,200 people. From the 1950s - 1990s, it functioned back and forth ...

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

. Under Hausmann's leadership, the company has produced over a dozen productions - nine of them world premieres. Michel Hausmann also started Miami New Drama's educational program, which serves more than 8,000 students annually and provides online programming for people across the United States and internationally - offering master classes on a variety of different theater topics such as acting, playwriting, directing, and theater management.

Biography

Hausmann is of Jewish descent, and was born and raised in

Caracas, Venezuela Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

. After graduating from

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...

in Boston, Massachusetts with a BA in film, Hausmann returned to Caracas. Once back, he founded his first theater company, Palo de Agua, in 2003 alongside executive producer, Yair Rosemberg. Under their leadership, Palo de Agua became an award-winning theater company. Its production of ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' was seen by over 170,000 people. Following an attack by the Venezuelan government during the production, Michel Hausmann left Venezuela and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to pursue an MFA in Directing at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. While at Columbia, Hausmann studied under renowned directors such as

Anne Bogart Anne Bogart (born September 25, 1951) is an American theatre and opera director. She is currently one of the Artistic Directors of SITI Company, which she founded with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki in 1992. She is a professor at Columbia Univ ...

and

Gregory Mosher Gregory Mosher (born 1949) is an American director and producer of stage productions at the Lincoln Center and Goodman Theatres, on and off-Broadway, at the Royal National Theatre, and in the West End. He is also a film director and television di ...

, among others. His thesis play, ''The Golem of Havana'', played at

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...

in 2013 and went on to have its world premiere at

Barrington Stage Company Barrington Stage Company (BSC) is a regional theatre company in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. It was co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, and former Managing Director Susan Sperber in Sheffield, Massachusetts. I ...

in 2014. In 2016, Hausmann relocated to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, Florida and produced ''The'' ''Golem of Havana'' at the

; it was

's debut production. Miami New Drama is the second theater company founded by Michel Hausmann. He co-founded it with playwright, director, and medal of the arts winner,

Moisés Kaufman Moisés Kaufman (born November 21, 1963) is a Venezuelan theater director, filmmaker, playwright, founder of Tectonic Theater Project, based in New York City, and co-founder of Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre. He was awarded the 2016 National ...

. In 2020, Miami New Drama produced ''Seven Deadly Sins: Temptation in the Magic City,'' a series of seven short plays around the theme of the

seven deadly sins The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...

, shown in vacant Miami storefronts along Lincoln Road while the limited audience,

socially distanced In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...

due to

Coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

restrictions, watches and listens via headphones. The production was directed by Hausmann and authored by playwrights

Hilary Bettis Hilary Bettis is a playwright, a producer, and a writer. Life and career She won the 2019 Writers Guild of America Award, and was nominated in 2018, for her work on the Emmy and Golden Globe winning series ''The Americans'' on FX, which she wro ...

Nilo Cruz Nilo Cruz is a Cuban-American playwright and pedagogue. With his award of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' Anna in the Tropics'', he became the second Latino so honored, after Nicholas Dante. Biography Early years Cruz was bor ...

, Moisés Kaufman, Rogelio Martinez,

Dael Orlandersmith Dael Orlandersmith (born Donna Brown, 1960–) is an American actress, poet and playwright. She is known for her Obie Award-winning ''Beauty's Daughter'' and the 2002 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama, ''Yellowman (play), Yellowman''. Early life Or ...

, Carmen Palaez, and

Aurin Squire Aurin Squire is an African-American playwright, screenwriter, and reporter. He has written numerous plays, while his reporting has appeared in The New Republic, Talking Points Memo, ''Chicago Tribune'', ''Miami Herald'', and ''ESPN'', among other ...

Stage Directing & Producing Credits

Credits with Miami New Drama

* ''The Golem of Havana'' (Book by Hausmann himself, music by Salomon Lerner, and lyrics by Len Schiff) - Director and Producer * ''A Special Day'' (in co-production with The Play Company) - Producer * ''Terror'' (Directed by

) - Producer * The first multilingual production of ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 throug ...

'' - Director and Producer * ''

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity ''The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity'' is a dramatic comedy play by Kristoffer Diaz about a professional wrestler, "driven by narratives of the American dream and neoliberal capitalism." Synopsis Act One Macedonio Guerra is a profession ...

'' (In co-production with Asolo Rep) - Producer * Hilary Bettis' ''Queen of Basel'' - Director and Producer *

Moises Kaufman Moises or Moisés is a male name common among people of Iberian origin. It is the Spanish, Portuguese and Tagalog equivalent of the name Moses. ;Places * Doctor Moisés Bertoni, a village in the Caazapá department of Paraguay * Moises Padilla, ...

's ''The Album'' (in co-production with

Tectonic Theater Project Tectonic Theater Project is a stage and theatre group whose plays have been performed around the world. The company is dedicated to developing works that explore theatrical language and form, fostering dialogue with audiences on the social, pol ...

) - Producer * ''Puras Cosas Maravillosas'' (starring

Erika de la Vega Erika Patricia de la Vega Quesada (born March 13, 1975) is a Venezuelan television host, comedian, actress and announcer. She has a son named Matías Ignacio who was born as a result of her relationship with the musician, producer and businessman ...

) - Director and Producer *

Kemp Powers Kemp Powers is an American filmmaker and playwright. He is best known for his work on the play ''One Night in Miami'', the 2020 film adaptation of the same name, and ''Soul''. His screenplay for ''One Night in Miami...'' earned him a Best Ada ...

' ''One Night in Miami'' - Producer * The world premiere of Carmen Pelaez's ''Fake'' - Producer * The world premiere of

Billy Corben William Cohen (born 1978), better known by the stage name Billy Corben, is an American documentary film director. Along with producing partner Alfred Spellman, he is co-founder of the Miami-based studio Rakontur, which has created films such as '' ...

and

's ''Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy'' - Director and Producer * The world premiere of ''Viva la Parranda'' - Producer * The world premiere of Karin Valecillos' ''Gente Ociosa'' - Director and Producer * ''

The Bridge of San Luis Rey ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel. It was first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, and was the best-selling work of fiction that year. Premise ''The Bri ...

'' (Directed by and starring

David Greenspan David Greenspan (born 1956) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of six Obies, including an award in 2010 for Sustained Achievement. Life Greenspan was born in 1956 in Los Angeles, California. He holds a B.A. in Drama fro ...

) - Producer * The world premiere of Michael Leon's ''The Cubans'' - Producer * The world premiere of ''A Wonderful World'' (Book by Aurin Squire, with music made famous by

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

, directed by

Christopher Renshaw Christopher Renshaw (born 18 March 1952 in Reading) is a British opera and theatre director. He has directed in multiple countries, including musical theatre in London's West End. Biography In 2001, Renshaw directed ''Taboo'', a musical with th ...

) - Producer

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
Credits

* The 2013 production of ''The Golem Of Havana'' at

- Director * Nilo Cruz's''The Color Of Desire'' at Repertorio Español - Director * Vassily Sigarev's ''Black Milk'' at

Classic Stage Company Classic Stage Company, or CSC, is a classical Off-Broadway theater. Founded in 1967, Classic Stage Company is one of Off-Broadway's oldest theaters. Its 199-seat theatre is the former Abbey Theatre located at 136 East 13th Street between Third a ...

- Director

Notable Credits with Palo de Agua in Venezuela

* The world premiere of

Isaac Chocrón Isaac Chocrón Serfaty (Maracay, September 25, 1930 – Caracas, November 6, 2011) was a Venezuelan economist, playwright and translator. He was a graduate of Columbia University and Manchester University. He later directed the School of A ...

's ''Los Navegaos'' - Director * The Venezuelan premiere of '' Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde -'' Co-director * ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...

'' - Director and Translator * '' The Producers'' - Director and Translator * ''

'' - Director and Translator

Awards

* New York Theater Workshop 2050 Fellow * Shubert Presidential Fellow *

IRNE Award The IRNE Awards are presented annually by the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) to honor the best achievements in Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealt ...

(Nomination) * Richard Rodgers Award (Finalist) * Two-time

Knight Foundation The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also known as the Knight Foundation, is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism, communities, and the arts. The organization was founded as the Knight Memorial Education ...

Arts Challenge Award Recipient

Conflicts with the Venezuelan government

During Hausmann's 2009 production of ''Fiddler on the Roof'', the Grand Marshal of Ayacucho Symphony Orchestra, funded in its entirety by the Venezuelan government of President

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...

, abandoned the production two weeks before the opening, citing that its participation on a "Jewish play" would threaten the funding they receive from the Venezuelan government, a vocal foe of Israel. The move was condemned by the

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...

and the

Anti Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Se ...

. The production went forward, performed on a rooftop in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

with various musicians stepping up to play the score. When preparing for a 2010 production of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' in Caracas, Hausmann secured a sponsorship deal for

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

300,000 () with

Research in Motion BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it was originally known as Research In Motion (RIM). As RIM, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablets ...

(RIM), makers of

BlackBerry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...

smartphones, and its cellular phone network partner, government-owned

Movilnet CANTV () is the state-run telephone and internet service provider in Venezuela. It was one of the first telephone service enterprises in the country, founded in 1930. The largest telecommunications provider in Venezuela, it was privatized in 19 ...

. Official documents released by

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...

revealed that, less than a month before opening night, the sponsorship pair added a clause stating that the production could not place advertising spaceeven with other cashin a list of media outlets banned by RIM and Movilnet for being critical of the Chávez regime. Hausmann and producer Yair Rosemberg chose instead to cancel the RIM-Movilnet sponsorship deal, and went public with this information. When the production opened at the

Central University of Venezuela The Central University of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Universidad Central de Venezuela''; UCV) is a public university of Venezuela located in Caracas. It is widely held to be the highest ranking institution in the country, and it also ranks 18th in L ...

, it was attacked with tear gas by masked assailants. While the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the university stated that the attack was a continuation of incidents targeting the university, Hausmann called it an example of Chávez' intimidation against any theatre group branded enemies of the state "because they seek to maintain their autonomy".

References

External links

Producciones Palo de Agua
Sitio Oficial
Repertorio EspañolInterview with Michel Hausmann
November 21, 2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hausmann, Michel Living people Venezuelan Jews Venezuelan people of German-Jewish descent People of Belgian-Jewish descent Year of birth missing (living people) Venezuelan dramatists and playwrights Emerson College alumni Columbia University alumni