Kurup, Shishir 1961–

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Kurup, Shishir 1961–

(Gupta Shishir Kurup)

PERSONAL

Full name, Shishir Ravindran Kurup; also known as Gupta Shishir Kurup, according to some sources; born November 2, 1961, in Bombay, India; son of Ravi and Bhavani (maiden name; Mathews) Kurup; companion of Page Leong (an actress). Education: University of Florida, B.F.A., 1984; University of California, San Diego, M.F.A., 1987; studied with Tadashi Suzuki, 1986.

Career: Actor, director, writer, and composer. Cornerstone Theatre Company, founding member, 1986–; Los Angeles Theatre Center, Los Angeles, director of Asian American Theatre Project, 1990–91; Raven Group, codirector, 1991–; Artists Collective, associate director, 1992–; Audrey Skirball Kenis Theatre, member of playwrights' advisory committee, 1992–; South Coast Repertory Theatre, member of the advisory committee of the Nexus Program, 1993–. Young Conservatory, faculty member, 1990–92; University of California, Irvine, member of drama faculty, 1992; University of California, Los Angeles, member of Asian studies faculty, 1993; University of Southern California, adjunct assistant professor. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, audiovisual technician, 1988–91; Museum of Contemporary Art, member of Asian access advisory committee, 1992–. L.A. Ovation awards, presenter, 2003.

Awards, Honors: Grant from the Japan-America Friendship Committee, 1986; Flintridge Foundation awards, 1991, for Skeleton Dance, and 1992, On Caring for the Beast; Princess Grace Award, 1993, for theatre apprenticeship, Cornerstone Theatre Company; L.A. Ovation Award (with others), best play, c. 1995, for The Central Ave. Chalk Circle.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

Celestial Alphabet Event, One Dream Theatre, New York City, 1991.

EXILE: Ruminations on a Reluctant Martyr (solo show), Highways Performance Space, Santa Monica, CA, 1992, and other productions, including ones at the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, Whittier College, Whittier, CA, the New York Shakespeare Festival, New York City, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, the Green Room, Manchester, England, and the Institute of Contemporary Art, London.

A Slice of Rice, Frijoles, and Greens, Great Leap Theatre, 1992, Loyola University Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1998.

Assimilation (solo show), Mark Taper Forum, 1992, the Village, Hollywood, CA, 2002.

Life and Death: The Vaudeville Show, The Artists' Collective/Los Angeles Theatre Center, Santiago, Cuba, 1993.

The Central Ave. Chalk Circle, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Watts, Los Angeles, 1995.

Malliere, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Santa Monica Place Mall, Santa Monica, CA, 1996.

Major Tours:

The California Seagull, California and Massachusetts cities, c. 1995–96.

Stage Director:

Skeleton Dance, New Works Festival, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Los Angeles, 1991.

Ghurba, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Los Angeles Theatre Festival, University of California, Los Angeles, 1993.

Cleveland Raining, East West Players, 1995.

(With Bill Rauch) Everyman at the Mall (also known as Everyman), Cornerstone Theatre Company, Santa Monica Place Mall, Santa Monica, CA, c. 1995, also produced at multiple southern California malls, 1997.

Film Appearances:

Khoudri, Coneheads, Paramount, 1993.

Raji, The Trigger Effect, Gramercy Pictures, 1996.

Jimmy, City of Angels (also known as Stadt der Engel), Warner Bros., 1998.

Abu Statlin, Dill Scallion, The Asylum, 1999.

Voice of Hisham Badir, Anywhere but Here, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1999.

Turbans (short film), Different Drum Productions, 2000.

Loy, The Want, 2001.

Surfer clerk, The Zeros, Zilch Company, 2001.

Alex, A Day without a Mexican (also known as Un dia sin mexicanos), Altavista Films, 2004.

Maitre d', In Good Company (also known as Synergy), Universal, 2004.

Sharif and Attah, Sharif Don't Like It, 2006.

Film Work:

Director, Sharif Don't Like It, 2006.

Television Appearances; Series:

X-Ray the cab driver, Murder in Small Town X (also known as Endgame), Fox, 2001.

Dr. Krishna Singh, Surface (also known as Fathom), NBC and Sci-Fi Channel, beginning 2005.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Sujat, The Prime Gig, Independent Film Channel, 2000.

Television Appearances; Specials:

California Seagull—The Short Cut (short), KCET (PBS affiliate), 1996.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Dr. Rajid, "The Bad Boy in the Plastic Bubble," Nurses, NBC, 1992.

Dr. Tarica, "Perfectly Perfect," Beverly Hills 90210, Fox, 1993.

Pakistani medical student, "Feb 5, '95," ER (also known as Emergency Room), NBC, 1995.

Anesthesiologist, "Sweet Surrender," Chicago Hope, CBS, 1996.

Anesthesiologist, "A Time to Kill," Chicago Hope, CBS, 1996.

Harshad Ghafoor, "Chapter Thirteen," Murder One, ABC, 1996.

Gurdip Sahel, "Eight Pounds of Pressure," C-16: FBI (also known as C-16), ABC, 1997.

Glenn, "Welcome to Bent Copper," Soldier of Fortune, Inc. (also known as SOF, Inc., S.O.F., Inc. and S.O.F. Special Ops Force), syndicated, 1999.

Obstetrician and gynecologist, "Oh What a Piece of Work Is Man," Chicago Hope, CBS, 1999.

Anesthesiologist, "Cold Hearts," Chicago Hope, CBS, 2000.

Jayanti Salimpour, City of Angels, CBS, c. 2000.

Nitin Sharma, "Darkness for Light," Judging Amy, CBS, 2001.

Restaurant owner, "The Room," Six Feet Under, HBO, 2001.

Zach, "Bad Moon Rising," The West Wing, NBC, 2001.

Zach, "The Stackhouse Filibuster," The West Wing, NBC, 2001.

Doctor, "Bite Me," Charmed, The WB, 2002.

Saeed Akhtar, "Passage: Part 1," Alias, ABC, 2002.

Carmole Swarma, "Mr. Monk and the Sleeping Suspect," Monk, USA Network, 2003.

Vedic astrologer, "Who's Sari Now?," Miss Match, NBC, 2003.

"Blocked Lines," Strong Medicine, Lifetime, 2003.

Howard, "The People vs. Sergius Kovinsky," The D.A., ABC, 2004.

Adeeb Amar, "Bale to the Chief," NYPD Blue, ABC, 2005.

Emergency room doctor, "Flashpoint," The Closer, TNT, 2005.

Television Appearances; Pilots:

Mr. Shandra, Veronica's Video, UPN, 1997.

Dr. Krishna Singh, Surface (also known as Fathom), NBC and Sci-Fi Channel, 2005.

RECORDINGS

Audiobooks:

His Holiness Dalai Lama, Victor Chan, and Bstan-'Dzin-Rgy, The Wisdom of Forgiveness: Intimate Journeys and Conversations, Riverhead, 2004.

WRITINGS

Stage Plays:

Skeleton Dance, New Works Festival, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Los Angeles, 1991.

On Caring for the Beast, Highways Performance Space, c. 1992, Currican Theatre, New York City, 2001, also produced elsewhere.

Assimilation (solo show), Mark Taper Forum, 1992, the Village, Hollywood, CA, 2002.

Ghurba, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Los Angeles Theatre Festival, University of California, Los Angeles, 1993.

(With others) Life and Death: The Vaudeville Show, The Artists' Collective/Los Angeles Theatre Center, Santiago, Cuba, 1993.

(Adaptation) Sid Arthur (adaptation of the Hermann Hesse work Siddhartha), Cornerstone Theatre Company, St. John's United Methodist Church, Watts, Los Angeles, c. 1994–95.

Merchant on Venice (based on the William Shakespeare play The Merchant of Venice), South Asian League of Artists in America, New York City, 2001, Lark Theatre Studio, New York City, 2004.

As Vishnu Dreams, Cornerstone Theatre Company and East West Players, David Henry Hwang Theatre at the Union Center for the Arts, Los Angeles, 2004.

Music for the Stage:

Songs, Sid Arthur (adaptation of the Hermann Hesse work Siddhartha), Cornerstone Theatre Company, St. John's United Methodist Church, Watts, Los Angeles, c. 1994–95.

Songs, The Central Ave. Chalk Circle, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Watts, Los Angeles, 1995.

Everyman at the Mall (also known as Everyman), Cornerstone Theatre Company, Santa Monica Place Mall, Santa Monica, CA, c. 1995, also produced at multiple southern California malls, 1997.

As You Like It: A California Concoction (based on the William Shakespeare play As You Like It), Cornerstone Theatre Company, P.L.A.Y./Center Theatre Group, Pasadena, CA, 2006.