George C. Wolfe | |
|---|---|
 Wolfe in 2013 | |
| Born | George Costello Wolfe (1954-09-23)September 23, 1954 (age 71) Frankfort, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Education | Kentucky State University Pomona College(BA) New York University(MFA) |
| Occupation(s) | stage and screen director • playwright • producer |
| Awards | Full list |
George Costello Wolfe (born September 23, 1954) is an American stage and screen director, playwright and producer.His accolades include twoTony Awards for directing theplayAngels in America: Millennium Approaches and themusicalBring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk. He served as Artistic Director ofThe Public Theater from 1993 until 2004.
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Wolfe was born into an African-American family inFrankfort, Kentucky, the son of Anna (née Lindsey), an educator, and Costello Wolfe, a government clerk.[1] He attended an all-black public school (aRosenwald school) where his mother taught. He is interviewed in the documentary filmRosenwald, discussing his time at the school. After a family move, he began attending the integrated Frankfort public schools.
Wolfe attendedFrankfort High School where he began to pursue his interest in the theatre arts, and wrote poetry and prose for the school's literary journal. After high school, Wolfe enrolled atKentucky State University, ahistorically black college and the alma mater of his parents. Following his first year, he transferred toPomona College inClaremont, California, where he pursued a BA in theater. Wolfe taught for several years in Los Angeles at the Inner City Cultural Center.
He moved to the East Coast and taught in New York City. In 1983, he earned an MFA in dramatic writing and musical theater atNew York University.
In 1977, Wolfe gaveC. Bernard Jackson, the executive director of the Inner City Cultural Center in the Los Angeles, the first scene of a play he was working on. Rather than suggest that he finish writing it, Jackson said, "Here's some money, go do it." The name of the play wasTribal Rites, or The Coming of the Great God-bird Nabuku to the Age of Horace Lee Lizer. Wolfe stated in an article he wrote about Jackson for theLos Angeles Times that "this production was perhaps the most crucial to my evolution" as an artist.[2]
Among Wolfe's first major offerings—the musicalParadise (1985) and his playThe Colored Museum (1986)--wereoff-Broadway productions that met with mixed reviews. In 1990, however, Wolfe won anObie Award for a best off-Broadway director for his playSpunk, an adaptation of three stories byZora Neale Hurston.
Wolfe gained a national reputation with his 1991 musicalJelly's Last Jam, a musical about the life ofjazz musicianJelly Roll Morton. After a Los Angeles opening, the play moved toBroadway, where it received 11Tony nominations and won theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical. Two years later, Wolfe directedTony Kushner'sAngels in America: Millennium Approaches to great critical acclaim, and won a Tony Award. Wolfe also directed the world premiere of the second part ofAngels, entitledPerestroika, the following year.
From 1993 to 2004, Wolfe served as artistic director and producer of theNew York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater. In 1996 he created the musicalBring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk, an ensemble oftap and music starringSavion Glover; the show moved to Broadway'sAmbassador Theatre. His work won a second Tony Award for direction and was an enormous financial success.
In 2000, Wolfe co-wrote the book and directed the Broadway production of the musicalThe Wild Party.
In late 2004, Wolfe announced his intention to leave the theater for film direction, beginning with the well-receivedHBO filmLackawanna Blues.
Wolfe has also continued to direct plays, such asSuzan-Lori Parks'Pulitzer Prize-winning playTopdog/Underdog (2001), andTony Kushner'sCaroline, or Change (2003), athrough-composed musical. In the summer of 2006, Wolfe directed a new translation ofBertolt Brecht'sMother Courage and Her Children at the timeDelacorte Theatre in Central Park, starringMeryl Streep,Kevin Kline, andAustin Pendleton.
Wolfe directed the filmNights in Rodanthe, starringRichard Gere andDiane Lane, which opened in theaters in September 2008.
Wolfe is bringing his artistic talent to the design of the upcomingCenter for Civil & Human Rights in Atlanta as its new chief creative officer.
In 2013, he was inducted into theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame.[3]
In August 2017, Wolfe was the only one of the 17 private members of thePresident's Committee on the Arts and Humanities who did not sign on to a letter of mass resignation in the wake ofDonald Trump's remarks on theUnite the Right rally incident inCharlottesville, Virginia. However, his representatives stated that he, too, would be resigning and would add his name to the letter.[4]
Wolfe directed a Broadway revival ofEugene O'Neill'sThe Iceman Cometh in 2018, withDenzel Washington starring as Hickey. The production played at the Jacobs Theatre for 14 weeks and began regular performances April 26.[5]
Wolfe is openlygay.[6] In 2022, he was featured in the book50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre, with a profile written by theatre scholar Charles I. Nero.[7]
| Year | Title | Credit | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Trying Times | Writer (1 episode) | — |
| 1993 | Fires in the Mirror | Director | — |
| 1994 | Fresh Kill | Actor | Othello Yellow |
| 2004 | Garden State | Actor | Restaurant Manager |
| 2005 | Lackawanna Blues | Director | — |
| 2006 | The Devil Wears Prada | Actor | Paul |
| 2008 | Nights in Rodanthe | Director | — |
| 2014 | You're Not You | Director | — |
| 2017 | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Director, writer | — |
| 2019 | She's Gotta Have It | Actor | Himself |
| 2020 | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Director | — |
| 2023 | Rustin | Director, producer | — |
