Serban, Andrei 1943–
SERBAN, Andrei 1943–
PERSONAL
Full name, Andrei George Serban; born June 21, 1943, in Bucharest, Romania; immigrated to the United States in 1969; son of Gheorghe and Elpis (maiden name, Lichardopu) Serban; married; two children. Education: Attended the Theatre Institute of Bucharest, 1963–68; also attended the University of Bucharest; has studied Asian theatre.
Addresses: Office— Columbia University, School of Arts, 601C Dodge Hall, 2960 Broadway, New York, NY 10027–6902.
Career: Director. International Theatre Institute, Paris, France, assistant to Peter Brook, 1970–71; La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York City, director, 1970–77; Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, PA, and Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, professor of drama, both 1974; Paris Conservatory (also known as La Conservatoire de Paris), Paris, France, professor of drama, 1975; Yale University, New Haven, CT, guest professor of drama, 1977; Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT, associate director, 1977–78; American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge, MA, resident director, 1986–87; National Theatre of Romania, general manager, 1990; Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies, Columbia University, director, School of Arts, professor and head of M.F.A. in acting program, New York, 1997—; founder of Great Jones Repertory Company and American Repertory Theatre (1979); also taught at University of California at San Diego.
Awards, Honors: Ford Foundation fellowship, 1969–70; European Festival Awards, 1972, 1973, and 1975; Obie Award, Village Voice, 1975, for distinguished direction of Greek tragedy; Drama Desk Award, outstanding director, 1975, for Medea; Guggenheim fellowship, 1976–77; Outer Critics Circle Award, 1977, for his direction of The Cherry Orchard; Rockefeller Foundation fellowship, 1980; Lifetime Achievement Award, Government of Romania.
CREDITS
Stage Director:
Arden of Faversham, Romania, 1965.
Ubu Roi, Romania, 1966.
Julius Caesar, Romania, 1968.
The Good Woman of Setzuan, Young People's Theatre of Piatra Neampt, Bucharest, Romania, 1968.
Jonah, Bucharest's Little Theatre, Romania, 1969.
Arden of Faversham, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York City, 1970.
Ubu Roi, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, 1970.
The Fragments of a Trilogy (composed of three plays: The Trojan Women, Medea, and Elektra ), La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, 1974–1976.
The Good Woman of Setzuan, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, 1975.
As You Like It, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, 1976.
The Cherry Orchard, New York Shakespeare Festival, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, New York City, 1977.
Agamemnon, New York Shakespeare Festival, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, then Delacorte Theatre, New York City, both 1977.
The Ghost Sonata, Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1977.
Sganarelle: An Evening of Moliere Farces, Yale Repertory Theatre, then New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, New York City, both 1978.
(And set designer) The Master and Margarita, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, 1978.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, 1979, then Phoenix Theatre, London, 1980.
Happy Days, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, 1979.
The Seagull, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, 1980.
Eugene Onegin, Welsh National Opera, Cardiff, Wales, 1980.
Sganarelle, American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge, MA, 1981.
I puritani, Welsh National Opera, 1981.
Norma, Welsh National Opera, 1981 then 1985.
La traviata, Julliard American Opera Centre, New York City, 1981.
The Marriage of Figaro, Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, MN, 1982.
Zastrozzi, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, 1982.
The Three Sisters, American Repertory Theatre, 1982.
Uncle Vanya, La MaMa Annex, New York City, 1983.
Alcina, New York City Opera, State Theatre, New York City, 1983.
Orpheus Descending, Circle in the Square Theatre, New York City, 1984.
The King Stag, American Repertory Theatre, 1984.
Turandot, Royal Opera House, London, 1984.
The Love of Three Oranges, American Repertory Theatre, 1984.
The Juniper Tree, American Repertory Theatre, 1985.
The Marriage of Figaro, Circle in the Square Theatre, 1985.
Fidelio, Covent Garden Theatre, London, England, 1986.
Sweet Table at the Richelieu, American Repertory Theatre, 1986.
The Good Woman of Setzuan, American Repertory Theatre, 1986.
I puritani, Paris Opera, Paris, 1987.
Fragments of a Greek Trilogy (also known as Fragments of a Trilogy; composed of three plays, Medea, Elektra, and The Trojan Women ), La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, 1987.
The Miser, 1988.
Twelfth Night, American Repertory Theatre, 1989.
An Ancient Trilogy (composed of three plays: Medea, The Trojan Women, and Elektra ), National Theatre, Bucharest, Romania, 1990.
Lucia di Lammermoor, Civic Opera House, Chicago, IL, 1992, then Los Angeles, later Paris.
Elektra, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, CA, 1992.
The Fiery Angel, Opera Bastille, Paris, 1992.
Les contes d'Hoffman, Vienna State Opera, Vienna, Austria, 1994.
I puritani, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, CA, 1994.
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor, Opera Bastille, 1995.
The Taming of the Shrew, American Repertory Theatre, Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge, MA, 1997–1998.
Cymbeline, Delacorte Theatre, 1998.
The Merchant of Venice, Loeb Drama Center, 1998–1999.
The King Stag, Loeb Drama Center, 2000.
Hamlet, The Public Theatre, Newman Theatre, New York City, 2000.
Lysistrata, Loeb Drama Center, Harvard University, 2002.
Pericles, Loeb Drama Center, 2003.
Also directed The Magic Flute, Paris Opera; The Serpent Woman; Rodelinda and The Merry Widow, National Welsh Opera; Don Carlos, Caballera Rusticana I Pagliacci, and The Fiery Angel, in Geneva, Switzerland; Oedipe, Romanian National Opera; Prince Igor and I puritani, Covent Garden Theatre; Eugene Onegin, Lisbon, Portugal; Rigoletto, Venice, Italy; Don Giovanni and Les contes, Vienna, Austria; Adriana Lecouvreur, Zurich, Switzerland; What Happened in Boston, Willie?; Elektra and Thaie, Nice, France; and Peer Gynt, Columbia School of the Arts; also worked with the Shiki Company, Tokyo, Japan.
Opera Director; Movies:
Happy Days, 1980.
Prince Igor, 1990.
L'italiana in Algeri, 1998.
Film Stage Director:
Jane Austen in Manhattan, 1980.
ADAPTATIONS
(With Elizabeth Swados) Agamemnon, produced by New York Shakespeare Festival, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, then Delacorte Theatre, New York City, both 1977; The Master and Margarita, produced by New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, New York City, 1978; Fragments of a Greek Trilogy, produced by La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York City, 1987.
OTHER SOURCES
Books:
Menta, Ed, The Magic World Behind the Curtain: Andrei Serban in the American Theatre, Lang Publishing, 1995.
International Dictionary of Theatre, Volume 3, Actors, Directors and Designers, St. James Press, 1996.
Periodicals:
Yale Theatre, spring, 1977.
Serban, Andrei
Şerban, Andrei
Şerban, Andrei, Romanian theater and opera producer; b. Bucharest, June 21, 1943. He received training at the Theater Inst. in Bucharest. He began his career as a producer of plays in his homeland, where he attracted notice with his staging of Ubu Roi in 1966. In 1970 he went to N.Y. to work with the experimental theater group La Mama, where his production of The Cherry Orchard in 1972 was produced to much critical acclaim. In 1980 he made his debut as an opera producer with Eugene Onegin at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff. He staged Turandot in Los Angeles and at London’s Covent Garden in 1984, and returned to Covent Garden to produce Fidelio in 1985 and Prince Igor in 1990. From 1990 to 1993 he was artistic director of the National Theater in Bucharest. He produced Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Vienna State Opera in 1993. After staging Lucia di Lammermoor at the Opéra de la Bastille in Paris in 1995, he produced Thaïs in Nice in 1997. In 1999 he mounted the Ring cycle at the San Francisco Opera. His opera productions reflect his long and successful career in the legitimate theater.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire