Mel Shapiro

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Mel Shapiro is an award-winning American theatre director and writer, college professor, and author.

Trained at Carnegie-Mellon University, Shapiro began his professional directing career at Arena Stage in Washington; he directed at a series of regional theaters, including the Guthrie in Minneapolis, before staging the original off-Broadway production of John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves.

For Broadway, Shapiro co-wrote the book (with Guare) and directed the 1971 musical adaptation of Two Gentlemen of Verona, and directed the 1978 revival of Stop the World - I Want to Get Off with Sammy Davis, Jr. and John Guare's 1979 play Bosoms and Neglect. He has staged works at Lincoln Center and for the New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater.

Shapiro was one of the founding members of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and served as the head of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. He currently is the head of Acting and Music Theatre at UCLA's Theatre Department.

Shapiro is the author of The Director's Companion and An Actor Performs.

He is currently working on a musical adaptation of the Odyssey to be performed in June by UCLA undergrads in the theater department. The show is titled "Homer in Cyberspace."

[edit] Awards and nominations

1972 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (Two Gentlemen, winner)
1972 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (Two Gentlemen, nominee)
1972 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book (Two Gentlemen, winner)
1972 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play (Older People, winner)
1972 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical (Two Gentlemen, winner)