Matthew Warchus

Matthew Warchus

Born (1966-10-24) 24 October 1966
Rochester, Kent, England
Occupation Director, dramatist, Artistic Director of The Old Vic (2015-the present)
Notable work Simpatico
Pride
Spouse(s) Lauren Ward
Children 3
Awards Drama Desk Award
Tony Award
Laurence Olivier Award

Matthew Warchus (born 24 October 1966) is a British director and dramatist.[1][2] He has been Artistic Director of London's Old Vic Theatre since September 2015 [3]

Personal Life

He is married to American actress Lauren Ward, who originated the role of Miss Honey in the Stratford-upon-Avon, London, and Broadway productions of Matilda the Musical. Ward and Warchus met when he directed her in the 2001 revival of Follies on Broadway and they have three children.

Career

Warchus attended Selby High School. He studied music and drama at Bristol University and has directed for the National Youth Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Donmar Warehouse, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre, Opera North, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Welsh National Opera, English National Opera and in the West End. He won the Globe's Most Promising Newcomer Award for Much Ado About Nothing in the West End, the Evening Standard Best Director award, and Olivier Award nominations for Henry V and Volpone.

Productions include: Sejanus his Fall (Edinburgh), "Master Harold"...and the Boys (Bristol Old Vic), The Suicide, Coriolanus (National Youth Theatre), Life is a Dream, Plough and the Stars, True West (Donmar Warehouse), Henry V, The Devil is an Ass, Hamlet (RSC), Volpone (RNT), Troilus and Cressida (Opera North), Rake's Progress (Welsh National Opera), Falstaff (Opera North & ENO), and Art (West End & Broadway).

His 1997 productions of Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre and Falstaff at the English National Opera have been nominated for several Olivier awards including "Best Director". Hamlet was also seen at the Brooklyn Academy in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Warchus directed Yasmina Reza's plays, The Unexpected Man (RSC) and Life x 3 (National Theatre) in London and New York (at, respectively, the Promenade Theatre and Circle in the Square Theatre). In 1999, he completed his debut feature film – an adaptation of Sam Shepard's play Simpatico – which he co-wrote and directed, starring Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges, Albert Finney and Sharon Stone. In 2000 he directed Sam Shepard's True West starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly and in 2008 he directed David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow, starring Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum.

Recent projects included a production of Alan Ayckbourn's trilogy of plays The Norman Conquests at London's Old Vic Theatre, Boeing Boeing at New York's Broadhurst Theatre (Tony nomination for Best Director of a Play), a UK tour of the musical Our House and the stage adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, which played the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane from May 2007 through July 2008. It was the most expensive stage production at the time of its debut.

During the 2008-09 Broadway season, Warchus directed two productions. One was the critically lauded, 2009 Tony Award winner for Best Revival of a Play transfer of his Old Vic production of The Norman Conquests, for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Best Director. The other was the 2009 Tony Award winner for Best Play, Yasmina Reza's smash hit God of Carnage for which Warchus won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play.[4] In 2010, Warchus directed the acclaimed RSC musical production, Matilda, which transferred to the West End in October 2011. The show arrived on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on 4 March 2013.[5]

Warchus's production of Ghost: The Musical, a stage adaptation of the Academy Award winning 1990 film, Ghost premiered at the Manchester Opera House in March 2011, and opened at the West End's Piccadilly Theatre in July 2011 and closed on 6 October 2012. The show transferred to Broadway beginning at the Lunt Fontanne Theater on 15 March 2012 and closed on 18 August 2012. Ghost The Musical was on tour in UK and USA in 2013 while also playing in Budapest. It opened in Korea in November 2013.

His film Pride was selected to be screened as part of the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival,[6] where it won the Queer Palm award on 23 May 2014.

In May 2014 he was announced as the new Artistic Director of the Old Vic Theatre London,[7] succeeding Kevin Spacey. In 2015, it was announced he had teamed up again with the creative team from Matilda to direct Groundhog Day as part of his debut season at The Old Vic.[8] The musical is scheduled to premiere at The Old Vic in 2016, before transferring to Broadway.[9]

Awards and nominations

Films

References

  1. ↑ Profile of Matthew Warchus in The New York Times
  2. ↑ "Matthew Warchus Biography (1966-)". filmreference.com.
  3. ↑ The Old Vic's new artistic director Matthew Warchus on succeeding Kevin Spacey, Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard, London, 1 September 2015. Retrieved: 6 October 2016.
  4. ↑ IBDb profile
  5. ↑ "Olivier Winner Bertie Carvel to Reprise Role as Evil Headmistress Miss Trunchbull in Matilda on Broadway". Broadway.com.
  6. ↑ Goodfellow, Melanie (22 April 2014). "Cannes Directors' Fortnight 2014 lineup unveiled". Screendaily. Screen International.
  7. ↑ "Matthew Warchus to replace Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic". The Stage. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "Groundhog Day musical: Tim Minchin to write lyrics with Matilda collaborators also attached". independent.co.uk. The Independent. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "'Groundhog Day' musical to premiere at London's Old Vic". dailymail.co.uk. Daily Mail. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
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