Artistic Director Robert Falls Celebrates 20 Years At The Goodman

Goodman Theatre’s 2006/2007 season marks the 20th anniversary of its Tony Award-winning Artistic Director, Robert Falls.  Since 1986, Falls’ forward-thinking leadership has created ground-breaking live theater and earned the Goodman unparalleled artistic distinction; since his time as Artistic Director of Wisdom Bridge Theatre (1977 – 1985) he has brought the city of Chicago national attention to its theater scene.  In recognition of its excellence under Falls, the Goodman received a Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1992) and was cited in 2003 by Time magazine as the country's outstanding professional resident theater.  Through his 20-year leadership at the Goodman and his 30-year history as a director in Chicago, Falls has emerged as one of this city’s major cultural figures. Falls’ 20th anniversary season at Goodman Theatre begins with his production of William Shakespeare’s King Lear, featuring Stacy Keach in the title role (performances begin September 9).  On Friday, October 6, at 7:00pm, Goodman Theatre honors Falls with a special recognition at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago.

In his two decades at the Goodman, Falls has brought to Chicago some of the greatest artists of the American stage and screen, including Luis Alfaro, Eric Bogosian, Carol Burnett, Gabriel Byrne, David Cale, Kim Cattrall, Hope Davis, Brian Dennehy, Fred Ebb, Calista Flockhart, Horton Foote, Philip Glass, Cherry Jones, John Kander, Stacy Keach, Arthur Miller, Randy Newman, OyamO, William L. Petersen, Harold Prince, Chita Rivera, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Sellars, Stephen Sondheim, Cheryl L. West and August Wilson.  He has directed more than 30 major productions and produced/co-produced more than 200 plays and 100 premieres.

Falls and his professional partner Roche Schulfer share one of the longest Artistic Director and Executive Director partnerships in American theater history.  Falls and Schulfer—who has been in his current position for 25 years and at the theater for over 30 years—lead the Goodman with more than 60 combined years in Chicago theater. Under their leadership, the Goodman’s attendance has averaged 90% capacity; subscribership has reached over 23,000; sales revenue has grown from $2.5 million to $8.5 million; and public support has grown from $1.5 million to $5.6 million.  During their leadership they built the $46 million Goodman complex (opened fall of 2000), which positioned the Goodman as a catalyst in the revitalization of Chicago’s downtown theater district.

Early in his tenure at the Goodman, Falls tapped a diverse handful of outstanding theater artists with whom he would share the responsibility of season selection; these artists comprise the Goodman’s Artistic Collective.  Current members include Frank Galati, Mary Zimmerman, Regina Taylor, Chuck Smith and Henry Godinez.  Past members include Harry Lennix, the late Michael Maggio, David Petrarca and Cheryl Lynn Bruce. This philosophy of inclusivity and diversity, reflected in these artists, resulted in a corresponding depth in the theater’s audience.

Falls has shepherded Goodman productions to New York and abroad; two of his most highly acclaimed Broadway productions, Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman and Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night (first staged at the Goodman in 1998 and 2002, respectively, and both starring his longtime collaborator Brian Dennehy) were honored with seven Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. His production of Horton Foote's Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Young Man from Atlanta, starring Rip Torn and Shirley Knight, was nominated for three 1997 Tony Awards, including Best Play.  Previously, his production of The Iceman Cometh, starring Dennehy, was named by Time and USA Today as one of the "10 best" American theater productions of the 1991/1992 season, and was subsequently hailed as the highpoint of the 33rd Annual Dublin Theatre Festival.  Falls received a 1995 Obie Award for his direction of Eric Bogosian's subUrbia at Lincoln Center Theater.  His production of Tennesee Williams' The Rose Tattoo at Circle in the Square, starring Anthony LaPaglia and Mercedes Ruehl, was nominated for a 1995 Tony Award as Best Revival of a Play.  Most recently, his production of Conor McPherson’s Shining City received two Tony Award nominations.  Throughout his 30-year career, Falls has received numerous Joseph Jefferson Awards for work at both the Goodman and at Wisdom Bridge Theatre.

Falls is a past board president of Theatre Communications Group, the national organization of non-profit professional theaters in America, as well as a past artistic director of Northwestern University's graduate directing program.  He is the recipient of the Illinois Arts Council 1999 Governor’s Award for outstanding achievement by an individual artist, and was honored in 2000 with a “Chicagoan of the Year” Award from Chicago magazine.  The League of Chicago Theatres honored Mr. Falls with its 2003 Artistic Leadership Award, and he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in October 2003.  In May 2006, Falls was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree by Lake Forest College.

Listed below are the productions that Falls has directed during the past 30 years.
* World Premiere    
**American Premiere
***Midwest Premiere

2006	King Lear by William Shakespeare (Upcoming production at Goodman Theatre)
	Frank’s Home by Richard Nelson (Upcoming production at Goodman Theatre)*
	Shining City by Conor McPherson (Manhattan Theatre Club/Biltmore)**
	A Life in the Theatre by David Mamet (Goodman Theatre)
2005	Dollhouse by Rebecca Gilman (Goodman Theatre)*
	Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (Lyric Theatre, London)
	Aida by Elton John and Tim Rice (Walt Disney Theatrical Productions/ Germany, Japan, South Korea)
2004	Hughie by Eugene O’Neill (Goodman Theatre)
	Finishing the Picture by Arthur Miller (Goodman Theatre)*
2003	The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia? by Edward Albee (Goodman Theatre)***
	Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill (Plymouth Theatre, NY)
2002	Lobby Hero by Kenneth Lonergan (Goodman Theatre)***
	The Guys by Anne Nelson (Goodman Theatre/Northlight Theatre co-production)
	Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill (Goodman Theatre)
	Blue Surge by Rebecca Gilman (Joseph Papp Public Theater, NY)
	Aida by Elton John and Tim Rice (Walt Disney Theatrical Prods./ Netherlands)
2001	Blue Surge by Rebecca Gilman (Goodman Theatre)*
	Aida by Elton John and Tim Rice (Walt Disney Theatrical Productions/Natl. Tour)
	House and Garden by Alan Ayckbourn (Goodman Theatre)**
2000	Aida by Elton John and Tim Rice (Walt Disney Theatrical Productions/ New York)
1999	Aida by Elton John and Tim Rice (Walt Disney Theatrical Productions/ Chicago)
	Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (Eugene O’Neill Theatre/NY)
	Susannah by Carlisle Floyd (Metropolitan Opera Company/NY)
1998	Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (Goodman Theatre)
1997	Griller by Eric Bogosian (Goodman Theatre)*
	The Young Man from Atlanta by Horton Foote (Longacre Theatre/New York)
	The Young Man from Atlanta by Horton Foote (Goodman Theatre)
1996	A Touch of the Poet by Eugene O’Neill (Goodman Theatre)
	The Consul by Gian Carlo Menotti (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
	Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams (Roundabout Theatre/NY)
1995	The Food Chain by Nicky Silver (Westside Theatre/New York)*
	The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams (Circle in the Square/NY)
	Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (Goodman Theatre)
1994	SubUrbia by Eric Bogosian (Lincoln Center Theater/NY)*
	Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams (Goodman Theatre)
1993	Susannah by Carlisle Floyd (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
	On the Open Road by Steve Tesich (New York Shakespeare Festival)
1992	The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O’Neill (Abbey Theatre/Dublin)
	Riverview: A Melodrama with Music by John Logan (Goodman Theatre)*
	On the Open Road by Steve Tesich (Goodman Theatre)*
1991	Book of the Night by Louis Rosen and Thom Bishop (Goodman Theatre)*
	The Speed of Darkness by Steve Tesich (Belasco Theatre/NY)
1990	The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O’Neill (Goodman Theatre)
1989	The Misanthrope by Moliere, adapted by Neil Bartlett (Goodman Theatre/LaJolla Playhouse co-production)
	The Speed of Darkness by Steve Tesich (Goodman Theatre)*
	Pravda by Howard Brenton and David Hare (Guthrie Theatre)**
1988	Pal Joey by Richard Rogers, Lorenz Hart, and John O’Hara (Goodman Theatre) Landscape of the Body by John Guare (Goodman Theatre)
1987	Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, translated by Adrian Hall and James Schewill (Goodman Theatre)
	Road by Jim Cartwright (Remains Theatre/Chicago)**
	The Tempest by Shakespeare (Goodman Theatre)
1986	Orchards: Seven American Playwrights Present Stories by Chekhov. Adaptations by Maria Irene Fornes, Spalding Gray, John Guare, David Mamet, Wendy Wasserstein, Michael Weller, and Samm-Art Williams (The Acting Company/NY, tour with off-Broadway opening)
1985	In the Belly of the Beast: Letters from Prison by Jack Abbott (Wisdom Bridge Theatre production at Mayfest (Glasgow), Lyric Hammersmith Studio (London), and Ivanhoe Theatre (Chicago)
	Hamlet by Shakespeare (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)
1984	Terra Nova by Ted Tally (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)
	Careless Love by John Olive (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)
	Life and Limb by Keith Reddin (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)*
1983	In the Belly of the Beast: Letters from Prison by Jack Abbott (Wisdom Bridge Theatre adaptation at Goodman Studio Theatre)*
	Losing It by Jon Klein (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)
1982	We Won’t Pay, We Won’t Pay by Dario Fo (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)***
	Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You and The Actor’s Nightmare by Christopher Durang (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)***
	A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)
1981	Standing on My Knees by John Olive (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)*
	Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)
	A Sorrow Beyond Dreams by Peter Handke (St. Nicholas Theatre/ Chicago)
	Bent by Martin Sherman (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)***
1980	Yentl by Isaac Bashevis Singer and Leah Napolin (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)***
	Getting Out by Marsha Norman (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)***
	The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (Wisdom Bridge Theatre/performed in rotating rep with Travesties by Tom Stoppard)
1979	Wings by Arthur Kopit (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)***
	Bagtime by Alan Rosen, Louis Rosen, and Thom Bishop, based on the newspaper columns of Bob Greene and Paul Galloway (Wisdom Bridge Theatre/Drury Lane Water Tower Theatre co-production)*
	Curse of the Starving Class by Sam Shepard (Goodman Theatre Stage 2)***
	Tartuffe by Moliere, co-directed with Michael Maggio (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)
1978	The Runner Stumbles by Milan Stitt (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)***
	Happy End by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (SCT Productions, Athenaeum Theatre/Chicago)
	Othello by Shakespeare (Oak Park Shakespeare Festival/Oak Park, Illinois)
	Fits and Starts by Grace McKeaney (Northlight Theatre/Evanston, Illinois)*
	The Idiots Karamazov by Albert Innuarato and Christopher Durang (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)
1977	Ladyhouse Blues by Kevin O’Morrison (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)
	The Tempest by Shakespeare (Court Theatre/University of Chicago)
	Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Wisdom Bridge Theatre)
1976	The Wax Museum by John Hawkes (Direct Theatre/New York)
	Moonchildren by Michael Weller (Apollo Productions, St. Nicholas Theatre/Chicago)