Michael Blakemore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Michael Blakemore | |
 On the cover of his memoir, Arguments with England |
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| Birth name | Michael Howell Blakemore |
| Born | June 18, 1928 (age 78) Sydney, Australia |
| Years active | 1951 - present |
| Tony Awards | |
|---|---|
| 2000 Best Direction of a Musical for Kiss Me, Kate 2000 Best Direction of a Play for Copenhagen |
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Michael Howell Blakemore, OBE, (born 18 June 1928 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian actor, writer and theatre director. He is the only director ever to win Tony Awards as Best Director of a Play (Copenhagen) and Best Director of a Musical (Kiss Me, Kate) in the same year (2000).
Blakemore was educated at The King's School, Sydney and went on to study medicine at the University of Sydney. The English actor Robert Morley, who was touring Australia, advised him to try drama school. In 1950, he came to London, enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and trained as an actor.
Blakemore made his stage debut in 1951 as the doctor in The Barretts of Wimpole Street at the Theatre Royal, Huddersfield and then landed a string of small parts in repertory theatres, including the Birmingham Repertory Company and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. It was at the latter that he met and worked with Tyrone Guthrie, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Peter Brook, Peter Hall et al. After acting for some 15 years, Blakemore decided that his true calling was in directing and joined the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow and became its Artistic Director in 1968. He had a great success with Peter Nichols' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1967) and accompanied the play on its moves to London that year and Broadway in 1968, earning his first Tony nomination for directing.
In 1969, Blakemore joined the National Theatre at the Old Vic to direct The National Health by Peter Nichols (1969) and, in 1971, became Associate Director under Laurence Olivier. He directed Olivier in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night (1971). His other productions included, Tyger by Adrian Mitchell, co-directed with John Dexter (1971), The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (1972), Macbeth (1972), The Cherry Orchard (1973), Grand Manoeuvres by A. E. Ellis (1974), Engaged by W. S. Gilbert (1975), and Plunder by Ben Travers (1976). In 1977, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company to direct Peter Nichols' Privates on Parade, which Blakemore later filmed (1982) with Dennis Quilley and John Cleese. After an absence of many years, he returned to the National to direct Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen in 1999.
His association (and friendship) with playwright Michael Frayn began at the National when they were both working on The Cherry Orchard, with Frayn as translator. This association was to last through eight plays, including Make and Break (1980), Noises Off (1984), Benefactors (1984), Alarms and Excursions (1998), Copenhagen (1999) and Democracy (2003).
In addition to his work in the subsidised theatre, Blakemore has directed several productions in the West End and on Broadway, including Noel Coward's Design for Living , with Vanessa Redgrave (1973), Knuckle, David Hare's first play (1974), Peter Shaffer's Lettice and Lovage, with Maggie Smith and Margaret Tyzack (1987), the musical City of Angels by Larry Gelbart, Cy Coleman and David Zippel (1989), Arthur Miller's The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991), Coleman's The Life (1997), the revival of Kiss Me, Kate (1999), and Life After George (2002), a play by fellow Australian Hannie Rayson.
In 1995 he directed the off-Broadway production of Death Defying Acts, comprised of three one-act plays (Central Park West by Woody Allen, The Interview by David Mamet and Hotline by Elaine May).
In 1971, Blakemore made a documentary entitled A Personal History of the Australian Surf, which he directed and scripted and in which he appeared as himself. In 1994, he wrote and directed Country Life. In this adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, transferred to an Australian setting, he also played the role of Alexander who has left the London literary scene to return to his roots. The film received five nominations from the Australian Film Institute.
Blakemore has written a novel about the theatre entitled Next Season, ISBN 1-55783-223-4, and his memoirs, Arguments with England, ISBN 0-571-22445-8.
Blakemore earned a 2002 Laurence Olivier Award nomination as Best Director for Kiss Me, Kate and a 2003 Sydney Edwards Award nomination from the London Evening Standard for his direction of Democracy.
[edit] Tony Award wins and nominations
Wins
- 2000 Best Direction of a Musical for Kiss Me, Kate
- 2000 Best Direction of a Play for Copenhagen
Nominations
- 1968 Best Direction of a Play for A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
- 1984 Best Direction of a Play for Noises Off
- 1990 Best Direction of a Play for Lettice and Lovage
- 1990 Best Direction of a Musical for City of Angels
- 1997 Best Direction of a Musical for The Life
[edit] Drama Desk Award wins and nominations
Wins
- 2000 Outstanding Director of a Musical for Kiss Me, Kate
- 2000 Outstanding Director of a Play for Copenhagen
Nominations
- 1984 Outstanding Director of a Play for Noises Off
- 1990 Outstanding Director of a Musical for City of Angels
- 1997 Outstanding Direction of a Musical for The Life
