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Nicholas Hytner (born May 7, 1956) is an English award-winning producer and director.
[edit] Biography
Hytner was born in Manchester to a Jewish family, the son of the barrister Benet Hytner QC. He attended Manchester Grammar School and read English at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He worked as an Associate Director at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre between 1985 and 1989, and at the National Theatre in London between 1989 and 1997. His directorial work includes The Country Wife, Edward II, Don Carlos, Ghetto, Miss Saigon, Orpheus Descending, a 2-part adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, Alan Bennett's The History Boys, Carousel, Southwark Fair and The Alchemist.
Hytner has also directed movies, such as The Crucible, The Madness of King George, The Object of My Affection and Center Stage. Openly gay, Hytner strived to avoid stereotypical gay characters in The Object of My Affection. The film was later criticized by some gay critics as a "commercial whitewash."[1]
Hytner's production of Miss Saigon and the launch of his period as director of the National Theatre with the controversial Jerry Springer: the Opera both benefited from his direction of operas, including most notably Xerxes in 1985, which won the Laurence Olivier Opera Award that year, became a huge hit for a baroque era opera today, and is yet in the English National Opera repertory. He has subsequently directed opera for Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, Paris Opera, Théâtre du Châtelet, Grand Théâtre de Genève and Bavarian State Opera.
[edit] The National Theatre
Hytner was appointed director of the National Theatre in London in April 2003.[2] He made drastic changes at the National, choosing much more political and controversial pieces than his predecessors, but he was famously quoted upon being appointed the job that he himself was "a member of all sorts of interesting minorities". He also introduced a very successful plan called the Travelex GB£10 Season, which, as the name suggests, offers up a number of tickets at a greatly reduced price.[3]
Hytner's film version of the very successful stage play The History Boys was released in 2006.
[edit] References
- ^ Matthew Hays. "Dancing Queen", Montreal Mirror, 2000-05-11. Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
- ^ National Theatre Departmental Glossary: Nicholas Hytner. National Theatre (May 2006). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
- ^ Fiachra Gibbons. "The Guardian profile: Nicholas Hytner", The Guardian, 26 September 2003. Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
[edit] External links
