Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
Encyclopedia
The Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut
is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. The O'Neill is the recipient of the 2010 Regional Theater Tony Award. The O'Neill is home to the National Theater Institute (est. 1970), and several major theater conferences including the National Critics Conference (est. 1975), the National Musical Theatre Conference (est. 1978), the Puppetry Conference (est. 1990), the Cabaret Conference (est. 2005) and the National Playwrights Conference (est. 1965). The Monte Cristo Cottage
, Eugene O'Neill's childhood home in New London, Connecticut
, was purchased and restored by the O'Neill in the 1970s and is maintained as a museum. The company also received a Special Tony Award
in 1979. The theater's campus, overlooking Long Island Sound in Waterford Beach Park, has four major performance spaces: two indoor and two outdoor. The O'Neill is run by Executive Director Preston Whiteway.
Also known as Walnut Grove and Hammond Estate, the seven buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places
on September 21, 2005.
, NTI offers classes in acting, directing, design, movement, playwriting and voice. International components include two-week seminars at Stratford-upon-Avon
or St. Petersburg, Russia; a semester at the Moscow Art Theater is also a possibility.
The motto of NTI is "risk, fail, risk again." http://nti.conncoll.edu
Well Known Faculty:
Brian Dennehy;
Donna DiNovelli;
G.W. Mercier;
David Chandler;
Adam Bock;
Michael Cadman
National Playwrights Conference
National Musical Theater Conference
Cabaret & Performance Conference
National Critics Conference
Conference Playwrights
Waterford, Connecticut
Waterford is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Waterford, Ireland. The population was 19,152 at the 2000 census. The town center is listed as a census-designated place .-Geography:...
is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. The O'Neill is the recipient of the 2010 Regional Theater Tony Award. The O'Neill is home to the National Theater Institute (est. 1970), and several major theater conferences including the National Critics Conference (est. 1975), the National Musical Theatre Conference (est. 1978), the Puppetry Conference (est. 1990), the Cabaret Conference (est. 2005) and the National Playwrights Conference (est. 1965). The Monte Cristo Cottage
Monte Cristo Cottage
Monte Cristo Cottage, also known as Eugene O'Neill Summer House, was the summer home of acclaimed American actor James O'Neill, and of his family, notably his son , Nobel prize-winning American playwright, Eugene O'Neill....
, Eugene O'Neill's childhood home in New London, Connecticut
New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....
, was purchased and restored by the O'Neill in the 1970s and is maintained as a museum. The company also received a Special Tony Award
Special Tony Award
The Special Tony Award category includes the Lifetime Achievement Award and Special Tony Award. These are non-competitive awards, and the titles have changed over the years...
in 1979. The theater's campus, overlooking Long Island Sound in Waterford Beach Park, has four major performance spaces: two indoor and two outdoor. The O'Neill is run by Executive Director Preston Whiteway.
Also known as Walnut Grove and Hammond Estate, the seven buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on September 21, 2005.
National Theater Institute
The National Theater Institute (NTI) is the O'Neill Center's accredited 14-week intensive theater program for college students. Accredited by Connecticut CollegeConnecticut College
Connecticut College is a private liberal arts college located in New London, Connecticut.The college was founded in 1911, as Connecticut College for Women, in response to Wesleyan University closing its doors to women...
, NTI offers classes in acting, directing, design, movement, playwriting and voice. International components include two-week seminars at Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
or St. Petersburg, Russia; a semester at the Moscow Art Theater is also a possibility.
The motto of NTI is "risk, fail, risk again." http://nti.conncoll.edu
Well Known Faculty:
Brian Dennehy;
Donna DiNovelli;
G.W. Mercier;
David Chandler;
Adam Bock;
Michael Cadman
Major works
The following is a list of plays, musicals, and performance pieces first developed at the O'Neill that have gone on to further success.National Playwrights Conference
- The Receptionist – Adam BockAdam BockAdam Bock is a Canadian playwright currently living in the United States. Adam was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an artistic associate of the Shotgun Players, an award-winning San Francisco theater group. His play Medea Eats was produced in 2000 by Clubbed Thumb, who subsequently...
(2006) - Fuddy MeersFuddy MeersFuddy Meers is an American play by David Lindsay-Abaire. It tells the story of an amnesiac, Claire, who awakens each morning as a blank slate on which her husband and teenage son must imprint the facts of her life. One morning Claire is abducted by a limping, lisping man who claims her husband...
- David Lindsay-AbaireDavid Lindsay-AbaireDavid Lindsay-Abaire is an American playwright and lyricist. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2007 for his play Rabbit Hole, which also earned several Tony Award nominations.-Early life and education:...
(1998) - Trueblinka – Adam RappAdam RappAdam Rapp is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, musician and film director. His play Red Light Winter was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2006.-Early life:...
(1997) - Seven GuitarsSeven GuitarsSeven Guitars is a 1995 play by American playwright, August Wilson. It focuses on seven African American characters in the year 1948. The play begins and ends after the funeral of one of the main characters, showing events leading to the funeral in flashbacks...
– August WilsonAugust WilsonAugust Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
(1994) - The Piano LessonThe Piano LessonThe Piano Lesson is a 1990 play by American playwright August Wilson. The Piano Lesson is the fifth play in Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of "acquir[ing] a sense of self-worth by denying ones past"...
– August WilsonAugust WilsonAugust Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
(1986) - Joe Turner's Come and GoneJoe Turner's Come and GoneJoe Turner's Come and Gone is a play by American playwright, August Wilson, the second installment of his decade-by-decade chronicle of the African-American experience, The Pittsburgh Cycle...
– August WilsonAugust WilsonAugust Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
(1984) - Fences – August WilsonAugust WilsonAugust Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
(1983) - FencesFencesFences is a 1983 play by American playwright August Wilson. Set in the 1950s, it is the sixth in Wilson's ten-part Pittsburgh Cycle. Like all of the Pittsburgh plays, Fences explores the evolving African-American experience and examines race relations, among other themes...
- August WilsonAugust WilsonAugust Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
(1982) - Danny and the Deep Blue Sea - John Patrick ShanleyJohn Patrick ShanleyJohn Patrick Shanley is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He also contributed articles on the performing arts to The New York Times among other publications.-Life and career:...
(1982) - Ma Rainey's Black BottomMa Rainey's Black BottomMa Rainey's Black Bottom is a 1982 play - one of the ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle by August Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright - that chronicles the twentieth century African American experience...
– August WilsonAugust WilsonAugust Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
(1982) - Agnes of GodAgnes of GodAgnes of God is a play by John Pielmeier which tells the story of a novice nun who gives birth and insists that the dead child was the result of a virgin conception. A psychiatrist and the mother superior of the convent clash during the resulting investigation...
– John PielmeierJohn PielmeierJohn Pielmeier is an American playwright and screenwriter.Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Pielmeier earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Catholic University of America in 1970 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1978...
(1979) - FOBFOB (play)FOB is a 1980 Obie Award-winning play by American playwright David Henry Hwang. Hwang's first play, it depicts the contrasts and conflicts between established Asian Americans and "fresh off the boat" newcomer immigrants...
– David Henry HwangDavid Henry HwangDavid Henry Hwang is an American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S.He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University...
(1979) - BentBent (play)Bent is a 1979 play by Martin Sherman. It revolves around the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany, and takes place during and after the Night of the Long Knives....
– Martin ShermanMartin ShermanMartin Sherman is an American dramatist and screenwriter, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Bent , which explores the persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust...
(1978) - Uncommon Women and OthersUncommon Women and OthersUncommon Women and Others , is the first play by noted 20th century American playwright Wendy Wasserstein.-1977 Off-Broadway debut:...
– Wendy WassersteinWendy WassersteinWendy Wasserstein was an American playwright and an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University...
(1977) - A History of the American Film – Christopher DurangChristopher DurangChristopher Ferdinand Durang is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s.- Life :...
(1976) - Madmen and SpecialistsMadmen and SpecialistsMadmen and Specialists is a play by Wole Soyinka, conceived during his imprisonment in the Nigerian Civil War. It concerns Dr. Bero, a corrupt specialist, who imprisons and torments his physician father....
- Wole SoyinkaWole SoyinkaAkinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognised as a man "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence", and became the first African in Africa and...
(1970) - House of Blue Leaves - John GuareJohn GuareJohn Guare is an American playwright. He is best known as the author of The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, and Landscape of the Body...
(1966)
National Musical Theater Conference
- Tales of the CityTales of the CityTales of the City refers to a series of eight novels written by American author Armistead Maupin. The stories from Tales were originally serialized prior to their novelization, with the first four titles appearing as regular installments in the San Francisco Chronicle, while the fifth appeared in...
(2009) - In the HeightsIn the HeightsIn the Heights is a musical with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story explores three days in the characters' lives in the New York City Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights....
(2005) - Avenue QAvenue QAvenue Q is a musical in two acts, conceived by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who wrote the music and lyrics. The book was written by Jeff Whitty and the show was directed by Jason Moore and produced by Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, and Jeffrey Seller...
(2002) - The Wild PartyThe Wild Party (Lippa musical)The Wild Party is a musical with book, lyrics, and music by Andrew Lippa. It is based on Joseph Moncure March's 1928 narrative poem of the same name...
(1997) - VioletViolet (musical)Violet is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and libretto by Brian Crawley based on the short story "The Ugliest Pilgrim" by Doris Betts. It tells the story of a young disfigured woman who embarks on a journey by bus from her farm in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, all the way to Tulsa, Oklahoma...
(1994) - NineNine (musical)Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
(1979)
Cabaret & Performance Conference
- The Story of My LifeThe Story of My Life (musical)The Story of My Life is a musical with music and lyrics by Neil Bartram, and a book by Brian Hill. The show follows two childhood friends from age six to 35 and has only two characters....
(2006) - title of showTitle of show[title of show] is a one-act musical, with music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen and a book by Hunter Bell. The show chronicles its own creation as an entry in the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and follows the struggles of the author and composer/lyricist and their two actress friends during the...
(2005)
National Critics Conference
- Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American TheaterChelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American TheaterChelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater is a book by Davi Napoleon about the onstage triumphs and the offstage turmoil at the Chelsea Theater Center of Brooklyn...
– Davi NapoleonDavi NapoleonDavi Napoleon, aka Davida Skurnick is an American theater historian and critic. She is a theater columnist for The Faster Times, an online newspaper, and a regular contributor to Live Design, a monthly magazine about entertainment design and designers...
Notable O'Neill alumni
National Theater Institute- Emily BerglEmily BerglAnne Emily Bergl is an English-born American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her role as Rachel Lang on the film The Rage: Carrie 2 , Annie O'Donnell on the ABC television show Men in Trees , Beth Young on Desperate Housewives and Tammy Bryant on the TNT drama series...
- Adam BockAdam BockAdam Bock is a Canadian playwright currently living in the United States. Adam was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an artistic associate of the Shotgun Players, an award-winning San Francisco theater group. His play Medea Eats was produced in 2000 by Clubbed Thumb, who subsequently...
(The Receptionist) - Gordon ClappGordon ClappGordon Clapp is an American actor, best known for portraying the role of Det. Greg Medavoy for all 12 seasons on the television series NYPD Blue, winning an Emmy Award in 1998.-Early and personal life:...
(NYPD Blue) - Jack Coleman (Heroes)
- Rachel DratchRachel DratchRachel Susan Dratch is an American comic actress best known for her roles as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...
(SNL) - Chris ElliottChris ElliottChristopher Nash "Chris" Elliott is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his comedic sketches on Late Night with David Letterman, starring in the cult comedy series Get a Life and for his recurring role as Peter MacDougall on Everybody Loves Raymond...
(SNL) - Michael EmersonMichael EmersonMichael Emerson is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost and fictional serial killer William Hinks in The Practice.-Early life:...
- Paul HodesPaul HodesPaul Hodes is an attorney, musician, and the former U.S. Representative for , serving fom 2007 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was New Hampshire's first Jewish representative....
- Kristina KlebeKristina KlebeKristina Klebe is an American and German actress.-Biography:Born in New York City, Kristina Klebe spent much time overseas with her family in Germany, France and Italy. With an ability to speak all of the above languages due to her European heritage, she jokes she sometimes can't decide whether...
- John KrasinskiJohn KrasinskiJohn Burke Krasinski is an American actor, film director, and writer. He is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office...
(The Office) - Jeremy PivenJeremy PivenJeremy Samuel Piven is an American film producer and actor best known for his role as Ari Gold in the television series Entourage for which he has won three Emmy Awards as well as several other nominations for Best Supporting Actor....
(Entourage) - Michael "Soy Bomb" PortnoyMichael PortnoyMichael Portnoy is an American multimedia artist, choreographer, musician and actor. He calls himself a "Director of Behavior".-Performance artist:...
- Josh RadnorJosh RadnorJoshua Michael "Josh" Radnor is an American actor, director, and writer, best known for portraying the main character Ted Mosby on the popular, Emmy Award-winning CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, for which he has received worldwide fame and recognitions.He made his writing and directorial debut...
(How I Met Your Mother) - Kate Robin (Six Feet Under)
- Sam RobardsSam RobardsSam Prideaux Robards is an American actor.-Life and career:Robards was born in New York City, the son of actors Jason Robards and Lauren Bacall. He began his acting career in 1980 in an off-Broadway production of Album, and made his feature film debut in director Paul Mazursky's 1982 film Tempest....
- Mark TeschnerMark Teschner-Career:Has been in charge of ABC Daytime's General Hospital casting since 1989. He has been described by Rolling Stone magazine as "an actor's casting director" and TV Guide noted his "unparalleled track record for finding top new talent." He is a former vice president of the Casting Society of...
Conference Playwrights
- Roberto Aguirre-SacasaRoberto Aguirre-SacasaRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa is an American playwright, screenwriter and comic-book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics and for the HBO drama series Big Love.-Biography:...
- Edward AlbeeEdward AlbeeEdward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
- Lee BlessingLee Blessing-Biography:Blessing's best-known play is A Walk in the Woods, which depicts the developing relationship between two arms limitation negotiators, one Russian and one American, over years of negotiation...
- Julia ChoJulia ChoJulia Cho is an American playwright and television writer who has won national awards for her work.-Biographical information:Cho was born in Los Angeles and is the daughter of Korean immigrants. Her mother is a nurse and her father worked for an aerospace company where his job relocation led the...
- Kia CorthronKia CorthronKia Corthron is an American playwright, activist, and television writer. She wrote an episode of The Wire entitled, "Know Your Place", as well as an episode of The Jury called, "Lamentation on the Reservation".-Biography:...
- Joe DiPietroJoe DiPietroJoe DiPietro is an American playwright and author.Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, DiPietro grew up in nearby Oradell. Son of the banker Lou, and Jean DiPietro. He attended Oradell Public School and River Dell Regional High School. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers University in 1984 with a...
- Christopher DurangChristopher DurangChristopher Ferdinand Durang is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s.- Life :...
- Rebecca GilmanRebecca GilmanRebecca Gilman is an American playwright. She attended Middlebury College, graduated from Birmingham-Southern College, and earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop at the University of Iowa...
- Gina GionfriddoGina GionfriddoGina Gionfriddo is an American playwright and television writer.For her writing she has received an Obie Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She has written for both the stage and for television...
- John GuareJohn GuareJohn Guare is an American playwright. He is best known as the author of The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, and Landscape of the Body...
- Willy HoltzmanWilly HoltzmanWilly Holtzman is an American playwright and screenwriter, often focusing on theatrical representations of actual historical events. Holtzman has received, two Pulitzer Prize nominations, a Humanitas Prize, a Writers Guild Award, a Peabody Award, as well as an HBO Award at the National...
- Israel HorovitzIsrael HorovitzIsrael Horovitz is an American playwright and screenwriter.-Theatre career:An American dramatist, Horovitz has written more than 70 produced plays, many of which have been translated and performed in more than 30 languages worldwide . The 70/70 Horovitz Project was created by NYC Barefoot Theatre...
- David Henry HwangDavid Henry HwangDavid Henry Hwang is an American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S.He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University...
- David Lindsay-AbaireDavid Lindsay-AbaireDavid Lindsay-Abaire is an American playwright and lyricist. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2007 for his play Rabbit Hole, which also earned several Tony Award nominations.-Early life and education:...
- Adam RappAdam RappAdam Rapp is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, musician and film director. His play Red Light Winter was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2006.-Early life:...
- John Patrick ShanleyJohn Patrick ShanleyJohn Patrick Shanley is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He also contributed articles on the performing arts to The New York Times among other publications.-Life and career:...
- Sam ShepardSam ShepardSam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
- Regina TaylorRegina TaylorRegina Taylor is an American actress and playwright. She has won several awards throughout her career, including a Golden Globe Award and NAACP Image Award.-Biography:...
- Paula VogelPaula VogelPaula Vogel is an American playwright and university professor. She received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, How I Learned to Drive.-Early years:...
- Wendy WassersteinWendy WassersteinWendy Wasserstein was an American playwright and an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University...
- August WilsonAugust WilsonAugust Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
- Lanford WilsonLanford WilsonLanford Wilson was an American playwright who helped to advance the Off-Off-Broadway theater movement. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1980, was elected in 2001 to the Theater Hall of Fame, and in 2004 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters...
External links
- [//http://www.theoneill.org/ Eugene O'Neill Theater Center official website]