The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is a regional theatre in the United States. It was founded in 1959 by college student Gerald Covell and was one of the first regional theatres in the United States. Located in Eden Park , the first play that premiered at the Playhouse on October 10, 1960, was Meyer Levin's Compulsion . The Playhouse has gained a regional and national reputation for bringing prominent plays to Cincinnati and for hosting national premieres such as Tennessee Williams ' The Notebook of Trigorin in 1996 and world premieres such as the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Coyote on a Fence in 1998 and Ace in 2006.
15-530: The Playhouse facility comprises two theatres, the larger Robert S. Marx Theatre and the smaller Shelterhouse. The Playhouse is among the members of the League of Resident Theatres. In addition to a full ten-month season of plays, the Playhouse also offers acting classes and programs for children. In 1973-1975, the Playhouse was the first professional regional theatre to be led by Harold Scott , an early leader of
30-464: A Musical. Harold Scott (director) Harold Russell Scott Jr. (6 September 1935–16 July 2006) was an American stage director , actor and educator, who broke racial barriers in American theatre. Scott first became known for his work as an electrifying stage actor with a piercing voice, and later as an innovative director of numerous productions throughout the country, from Broadway to
45-583: A stage director on Broadway and Off-Broadway, but began as an actor of note, performing in Jean Genet 's The Blacks and an acclaimed production of the premiere of The Death of Bessie Smith by Edward Albee. Winner of the Obie Award for acting in Jean Genet 's Deathwatch in 1959, Scott also played on Broadway in The Cool World. Scott was chosen by Elia Kazan to be an original member of
60-924: The Roundabout Theatre in New York; it then broke box-office records at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Scott's production received nine National Theater Awards from the NAACP, including best director, and was filmed for public television's Great Performances. Scott was head of the directing program at the Mason Gross School of the Arts , at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. He also taught classes in acting at
75-730: The Equity summer-stock theater, The Peterborough Players, in Peterborough, NH in 1980, where he starred as Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing , appeared in A Streetcar Named Desire , and once filled in with only hours notice for a sick actor in Garson Kanin's Born Yesterday . He was extremely well-respected and beloved by his acting students there, who remember his unique and impressive training well due to his intense, insightful, caring personality. He then continued at
90-825: The Park The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is a regional theatre in the United States. It was founded in 1959 by college student Gerald Covell and was one of the first regional theatres in the United States. Located in Eden Park , the first play that premiered at the Playhouse on October 10, 1960, was Meyer Levin's Compulsion . The Playhouse has gained a regional and national reputation for bringing prominent plays to Cincinnati and for hosting national premieres such as Tennessee Williams ' The Notebook of Trigorin in 1996 and world premieres such as
105-599: The Peterborough Players as Staff Director, 1981–85, associate director, 1985–88, and Acting Artistic Director, 1989–90. In February 2006, Scott directed his final play, Yellowman , an examination of black-on-black prejudice, at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park , where in 1973, he began a two-year appointment as artistic director. He was the first African-American to have earned such in a major regional theatre. Cincinnati Playhouse in
120-498: The Pulitzer Prize-nominated Coyote on a Fence in 1998 and Ace in 2006. The Playhouse facility comprises two theatres, the larger Robert S. Marx Theatre and the smaller Shelterhouse. The Playhouse is among the members of the League of Resident Theatres. In addition to a full ten-month season of plays, the Playhouse also offers acting classes and programs for children. In 1973-1975, the Playhouse
135-748: The Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center , where he performed in Arthur Miller 's After the Fall and Incident at Vichy, and was cast by José Quintero in Thomas Middleton's Changeling and Eugene O'Neill 's Marco Millions. In 1984, Scott returned to Off-Broadway to play Brutus in a modern dress production of Shakespeare's Caesar with the Riverside Shakespeare Company at The Shakespeare Center under
150-535: The Tony Award-winning regional theatre, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park , where he was the first African-American artistic director in the history of American regional theatre. Scott was born in Morristown, New Jersey . His mother was a housewife and his father, Harold Russell Scott Sr., was a general practitioner . Scott was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard. He had a career as
165-589: The Yale Repertory Theatre in the late 1980s. In 2012, Blake Robison became artistic director and Buzz Ward was promoted to managing director. In the summer of 2021, Ward retired. In 2004, the Playhouse received a Tony Award for Best Regional Theatre. In 2007, the Playhouse received a second Tony Award for their revival of Company , which won Best Revival of a Musical. The production was directed by John Doyle and also won Drama Desk, Outer Critic's Circle and Drama League Awards for Best Revival of
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#1732780701995180-585: The direction of W. Stuart McDowell. Scott staged numerous innovative productions in New York and at regional theatres, including Morgan Freeman in The Mighty Gents on Broadway in 1978, and Avery Brooks in Paul Robeson on Broadway twice: in 1988 and again in 1995. Scott also directed the twenty-fifth anniversary production of A Raisin in the Sun , with Esther Rolle . This production opened at
195-459: The regional theatre movement. Scott was followed by Michael Murray , who was artistic director at the Playhouse until 1985. The Cincinnati Playhouse was under the leadership of Edward Stern (Producing Artistic Director) and Buzz Ward (Executive Director) between 1992 and 2012. Ward had come to the Playhouse from Yale University, where he had led the Yale Repertory Theatre in the late 1980s. In 2012, Blake Robison became artistic director and Buzz Ward
210-403: Was promoted to managing director. In the summer of 2021, Ward retired. In 2004, the Playhouse received a Tony Award for Best Regional Theatre. In 2007, the Playhouse received a second Tony Award for their revival of Company , which won Best Revival of a Musical. The production was directed by John Doyle and also won Drama Desk, Outer Critic's Circle and Drama League Awards for Best Revival of
225-444: Was the first professional regional theatre to be led by Harold Scott , an early leader of the regional theatre movement. Scott was followed by Michael Murray , who was artistic director at the Playhouse until 1985. The Cincinnati Playhouse was under the leadership of Edward Stern (Producing Artistic Director) and Buzz Ward (Executive Director) between 1992 and 2012. Ward had come to the Playhouse from Yale University, where he had led
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