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Melvin Irwin Shapiro (December 16, 1935 – December 23, 2024) was an American theatre director, writer and academic.
Shapiro was born in Brooklyn, New York City, in 1935.[1] Trained atCarnegie-Mellon University, Shapiro began his professional directing career at thePittsburgh Playhouse and then as resident director atArena Stage inWashington, D.C. He was co-producing director at theGuthrie Theater inMinneapolis, Minnesota, and worked as guest director at theHartford Stage company inHartford, Connecticut, theCenter Theatre Group inLos Angeles, California (where he directed the American premiere ofDario Fo'sAccidental Death of an Anarchist), the National Playwright's Conference of theEugene O'Neill Theater Center and theStratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada.
Shapiro'soff-Broadway productions include the original staging ofJohn Guare'sThe House of Blue Leaves, which won theNew York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play in 1971, and Rachel Owen'sThe Karl Marx Play for theAmerican Place Theatre. London productions include the musicalsTwo Gentlemen of Verona andKings and Clowns.
ForBroadway, Shapiro co-wrote the book (with Guare) and directed the 1971 musical adaptation ofTwo Gentlemen of Verona and directed the 1978 revival ofStop the World – I Want to Get Off withSammy Davis Jr. as well as Guare's 1979 playBosoms and Neglect. He staged works atLincoln Center in New York City, includingVáclav Havel'sThe Increased Difficulty of Concentration, which won anObie Award for Best Foreign Play andShakespeare'sRichard III. His relationship withJoseph Papp spanned six years at theNew York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater. Among his productions there are Guare'sRich and Famous,Marco Polo Sings a Solo, andJohn Ford Noonan'sOlder People.
Shapiro was one of the founding members ofNew York University'sTisch School of the Arts and served as the head of theCarnegie Mellon School of Drama. He was the head of graduate acting for the Theatre Department at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles. He taught and directed at theQueensland University of Technology's Theatre School inBrisbane, Australia, and theNational Institute of Dramatic Art inSydney, Australia, in fall 2011.
He served on the boards of thePittsburgh Public Theater, theSociety of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and the Fund for New American Plays at theKennedy Center and theTheatre of Latin America.
Shapiro was the writer ofThe Director's Companion andAn Actor Performs.
Shapiro died on December 23, 2024 at his home inLos Angeles,California fromlung cancer at the age of 89.[2][1]
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