Sheldon Epps (born November 15, 1952) is an American

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Career

Sheldon Epps was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

.Sheldon Epps Biography at FilmReference.com
/ref> He moved to

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...

, when he was 11 years old, where he attended the local public schools, and was first drawn to the stage while at

Teaneck High School Teaneck High School (known as The Castle on the Hill) is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Teaneck, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the ...

. Epps graduated from

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 ...

in 1973. He began his career as an actor studying at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...

, Indiana Repertory Company, the Alley Theatre, Civic Light Opera of Pittsburgh and The Production Company which he co-founded and for which he directed a number of plays. In 1980, Epps made his theater directorial debut with the

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 ...

musical ''

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 ...

''. It was revived in 1982, this time on Broadway. Since then he has directed a number of other stage productions on Broadway and in regional theaters namely ''Scenes and Revelations'', '' Play On!'', ''Blue'' and '' Purlie''. In 1994, Epps moved to television, directing an episode of ''

Evening Shade ''Evening Shade'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 21, 1990, to May 23, 1994. The series stars Burt Reynolds as Woodrow "Wood" Newton, an ex-professional football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who returns to rural ...

''. His other television credits include ''

Smart Guy ''Smart Guy'' is an American sitcom television series centering on the exploits of child prodigy T.J. Henderson ( Tahj Mowry), who moves from being an elementary school student in the fourth grade to a high school student in the tenth grade, at ...

'', '' Sister, Sister'', ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Casey, and David Lee (scr ...

'', ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American television sitcom created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and Wor ...

'', ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'', '' Girlfriends'' and '' George Lopez''. In 1997, Epps became

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 ...

of the

Pasadena Playhouse Pasadena Playhouse is a Tony Award-winning historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engag ...

. Despite the financial trouble the Playhouse has endured since the 1980s, Epps has continued his role in bringing back the popularity of theater to the venue. In 2020 Epps was appointed Senior Artistic Advisor at

Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in 1863. The theater is best known for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box where ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

His best selling memoir MY OWN DIRECTIONS was published in September 2022 by McFarland Books.

Directing work

Television * ''

'' (1 episode, 1994) * ''

'' (3 episodes, 1997–1998) * '' Sister, Sister'' (3 episodes, 1997–1998) * ''

Encore! Encore! ''Encore! Encore!'' is an American sitcom television series created by David Angell, Peter Casey, David Lee, Chuck Ranberg and Anne Flett-Giordano, starring Nathan Lane as an opera singer. On the verge of becoming " The Fourth Tenor", Lan ...

'' (1997) * ''

'' (22 episodes, 1998–2004) * '' Stark Raving Mad'' (2 episodes, 2000) * ''

Veronica's Closet ''Veronica's Closet'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman. It aired on NBC for three seasons, from September 25, 1997 to December 7, 2000. Kirstie Alley starred as Veronica "Ronnie" Chase, the owner an ...

'' (1 episode, 2000) * '' Girlfriends'' (59 episodes, 2000–2005, also producer) * ''

'' (3 episodes, 2001–2003) * '' My Wife and Kids'' (1 episode, 2002) * ''

'' (1 episode, 2002) * ''

In-Laws In law and in cultural anthropology, affinity is the kinship relationship created or that exists between two people as a result of someone's marriage. It is the relationship each party in the marriage has to the family of the other party in t ...

'' (4 episodes, 2002) * '' What I Like About You'' (2 episodes, 2003) * '' The Tracy Morgan Show'' (1 episode, 2003) * ''The Soluna Project'' (TV film, 2004) * ''

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

'' (3 episodes, 2004–2005) * '' Life on a Stick'' (1 episode, 2005) * ''Bow'' (TV film, 2005) * ''Talk Show Diaries'' (TV film, 2005) * '' Out of Practice'' (5 episodes, 2005) * '' Love, Inc.'' (3 episodes 2005–2006) * '' George Lopez'' (6 episodes, 2006–2007) * '' Stacked'' (1 episode, 2006) * '' The Game'' (2 episodes, 2006) * ''

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cy ...

'' (1 episode, 2007) * '' Sherri'' (2 episodes, 2009) * '' True Jackson, VP'' (2 episodes, 2010) * '' Reed Between the Lines'' (6 episodes, 2011) * '' How to Rock'' (3 episodes, 2012) * '' Instant Mom'' (4 episodes, 2015) * '' Raven's Home'' (2 episodes, 2019) * '' The Upshaws'' (4 episodes, 2021) "Frasier" (2 episodes, 2024) Theater * ''

'' (1980, 1982 revival) * ''Scenes and Revelations'' (1981) * '' Play On!'' (1997) * ''Blue'' (2000 and 2003) * '' Showtune'' (2003) * '' Purlie'' (2005) * ''Unchain My Heart'' (2011) * " My Lord What A Night" (2021) * " Miss Maude" (2022) * " Personality" (2023
Sheldon Epps at Broadway World
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Epps, Sheldon 1952 births African-American television directors African-American theater directors American television directors Television producers from California American theatre directors Carnegie Mellon University alumni Living people Mass media people from Los Angeles Teaneck High School alumni