Norman René (1951 – May 24, 1996) was an American theater and film director and film producer who frequently collaborated with playwright

Craig Lucas Craig Lucas (born April 30, 1951) is an American playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, musical actor, and film director. Biography Born on April 30, 1951, he was found abandoned in a car in Atlanta, Georgia. Lucas was adopted when he was e ...

Biography

René was born in

Bristol, Rhode Island Bristol is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States, as well as the county seat. The population of Bristol was 22,493 at the 2020 census. It is a deep water seaport named after Bristol, England. Major industries include boat buil ...

. He studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

for a year at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

before transferring to

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

to pursue acting. While there, he realized he was better suited for directing, and during three summer breaks he ran the

repertory A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom ...

Red Barn Theater in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. After graduating in 1974, René moved to New York City. Three years later he teamed with three Carnegie Mellon alumni to found the

off-off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway theatre, Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commerc ...

Production Company, where he served as

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

and directed and/or supervised productions such as ''

The Guardsman ''The Guardsman'' is a 1931 American pre-Code film based on the play '' Testőr'' by Ferenc Molnár. It stars Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Roland Young and ZaSu Pitts. It opens with a stage re-enactment of the final scene of Maxwell Anderson's ...

'' and ''

Blues in the Night "Blues in the Night" is a popular blues song which has become a pop standard and is generally considered to be part of the Great American Songbook. The music was written by Harold Arlen, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, for a 1941 film begun wi ...

''. The company included

Julie Hagerty Julie Beth Hagerty (born June 15, 1955) is an American actress. She starred as Elaine Dickinson in the films ''Airplane!'' (1980) and '' Airplane II: The Sequel'' (1982). Her other film roles include ''A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy'' (1982), '' ...

Judith Ivey Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for '' Steaming'' (1981) and '' Hurlyburly'' (1984). She also received Best Actress In A P ...

Treat Williams Richard Treat Williams Jr. (December 1, 1951 – June 12, 2025) was an American actor, whose career on stage and in film and television spanned five decades. He received many accolades for his work, including nominations for three Golden Globe ...

Mark Linn-Baker Mark Linn-Baker (born Mark Linn Baker; June 17, 1954) is an American actor and Television director, director who played Benjy Stone in the film ''My Favorite Year'' and Larry Appleton in the television situation comedy, sitcom ''Perfect Strangers ...

, and John Glover. René met Craig Lucas in 1979. Their first collaboration was '' Marry Me a Little'' in 1981. The two wrote a script incorporating songs that had been written for but discarded from

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

musicals, and René also directed. They followed this with the plays ''Missing Persons'' (1981) and ''Blue Window'' (1984); ''Three Postcards'' (1987), an original music by Lucas and Craig Carnelia; and another play, ''Reckless'' (1988). In 1990, they joined forces for what would prove to be their biggest commercial and critical success, '' Prelude to a Kiss'', for which René won the

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

for Best Director. ''Prelude'' later transferred to Broadway, where he had directed ''Precious Sons'' by

George Furth George Furth (born George Schweinfurth; December 14, 1932 – August 11, 2008) was an American librettist, playwright, and actor. Life and career Furth was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of George and Evelyn (née Tuerk) Schweinfurth. He was ...

in 1986. René was nominated twice for the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

for Outstanding Director of a Play, for ''Reckless'' and ''Prelude''. René directed an episode of ''

American Playhouse ''American Playhouse'' is an American anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). It premiered on January 12, 1982, with ''The Shady Hill Kidnapping'', written and narrated by John Cheever and direc ...

'' in 1987, and made his feature film directorial debut with ''

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 AID ...

'', scripted by Lucas, in 1990. For his work on that film, he won the Audience Award and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

, and was nominated for the Critics Award at the

Deauville Film Festival The Deauville American Film Festival () is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Chouchan, André Halimi, and then Mayor of Deauville Michel d ...

. He co-produced and directed the 1992 screen adaptation of ''Prelude'' with

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...

and

Meg Ryan Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra (born November 19, 1961), known by her stage name Meg Ryan, is an American actress. Known for her leading roles as quirky, charismatic women since the late 1980s, Ryan is particularly recognized for her work in ...

and directed the 1995 film version of ''Reckless'' with

Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera ''Peyton Place (TV series), Peyton Place'' and gained further recogn ...

and

Mary-Louise Parker Mary-Louise Parker (born August 2, 1964) is an American actress. After making her Broadway debut as Rita in Craig Lucas' '' Prelude to a Kiss'' in 1990 (for which she received a Tony Award nomination), Parker came to prominence for film roles ...

. Kevin McKenna was René's long-term boyfriend. René died of complications from AIDS in New York City.

References

External links

Norman René at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rene, Norman 1951 births 1996 deaths American theatre directors American film producers Obie Award recipients Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni LGBTQ theatre directors LGBTQ people from Rhode Island AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) People from Bristol County, Rhode Island Film directors from Rhode Island American LGBTQ film directors