Mel Shapiro

• Professor
• Office: 303F East Melnitz
• E-mail:
• Phone: 310-206-4957

Biography

Mel Shapiro was one of the founders of NYU’s Theater Program (Tisch School) and served as Head of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University. He is presently Distinguished Professor of Theater at UCLA. He has served as advisor for Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theater program for the last several years. His books “An Actor Performs” and ‘The Director’s Companion” are both still in print.

On Broadway Shapiro directed the musical, “Two Gentlemen of Verona” (Tony and NY Drama Critics awards-Best Musical), John Guare’s “Bosoms and Neglect”, and “Stop the World”, starring Sammy Davis, Jr. Off Broadway he directed Guare’s “The House of Blue Leaves” (NY Drama Critics-Best American Play), Vaclev Havel’s “The Increased Difficulty of Concentration” (Obie award-Foreign play) and five productions for Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival. He has also directed in various regional theatres, such as the Tyrone Guthrie, Stratford Ontario Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage, Center Theatre Group Los Angeles, as well as in London.

He has received Tony, Obie, New York Drama Critics, Drama Desk and Drama-Logue awards.