Norman René (1951 – May 24, 1996) was an American theater and film director and film producer who frequently collaborated with playwright Craig Lucas.

Biography

René was born in

Bristol, Rhode Island Bristol is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, US as well as the historic county seat. The town is built on the traditional territories of the Pokanoket Wampanoag. It is a deep water seaport named after Bristol, England. The population of B ...

. He studied

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

for a year at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

before transferring to

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

to pursue acting. While there, he realized he was better suited for directing, and during three summer breaks he ran the

repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...

Red Barn Theater in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. After graduating in 1974, René moved to New York City. Three years later he teamed with three Carnegie Mellon alumni to found the

off-off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the pro ...

Production Company, where he served as

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since th ...

and directed and/or supervised productions such as ''

The Guardsman ''The Guardsman'' is a 1931 American pre-Code film based on the play '' Testőr'' by Ferenc Molnár. It stars Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Roland Young and ZaSu Pitts. It opens with a stage re-enactment of the final scene of Maxwell Anderson's ' ...

'' and '' Blues in the Night''. The company included

Julie Hagerty Julie Beth Hagerty (born June 15, 1955) is an American actress. She starred as Elaine in the films ''Airplane!'' (1980) and '' Airplane II: The Sequel'' (1982). Her other film roles include ''A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy'' (1982), ''Lost in Am ...

Judith Ivey Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She has twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for ''Steaming'' (1981) and '' Hurlyburly'' (1984). She has also appeared in several film ...

Treat Williams Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film '' Hair'', and la ...

Mark Linn-Baker Mark Linn-Baker (born June 17, 1954) is an American actor and director who played Benjy Stone in the film ''My Favorite Year'' and Larry Appleton in the television sitcom '' Perfect Strangers''. Early life and education Mark Linn-Baker was bo ...

, and John Glover. René met Craig Lucas in 1979. Their first collaboration was '' Marry Me a Little'' in 1981. The two wrote a script incorporating songs that had been written for but discarded from

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

musicals, and René also directed. They followed this with the plays ''Missing Persons'' (1981) and ''Blue Window'' (1984); ''Three Postcards'' (1987), an original music by Lucas and

Craig Carnelia Craig Carnelia (born 1949) is an American musical theater composer and singer, known for his collaboration on the musicals '' Working'' and ''Sweet Smell of Success''. Biography Carnelia grew up in Floral Park, New York. He was exposed to Broadw ...

; and another play, ''Reckless'' (1988). In 1990 they joined forces for what would prove to be their biggest commercial and critical success, '' Prelude to a Kiss'', for which René won the

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the ...

for Best Director. ''Prelude'' later transferred to Broadway, where he had directed ''Precious Sons'' by

George Furth George Furth (born George Schweinfurth; December 14, 1932 – August 11, 2008) was an American librettist, playwright, and actor. Life and career Furth was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of George and Evelyn (née Tuerk) Schweinfurth. He was ...

in 1986. René was nominated twice for the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. F ...

for Outstanding Director of a Play, for ''Reckless'' and ''Prelude''. René directed an episode of ''

American Playhouse ''American Playhouse'' is an American anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Overview It premiered on January 12, 1982, with ''The Shady Hill Kidnapping'', written and narrated by John Cheever an ...

'' in 1987, and made his feature film directorial debut with ''

Longtime Companion ''Longtime Companion'' is a 1989 American romantic drama film directed by Norman René and starring Bruce Davison, Campbell Scott, Patrick Cassidy, and Mary-Louise Parker. The first wide-release theatrical film to deal with the subject of AIDS, ...

'', scripted by Lucas, in 1990. For his work on that film, he won the Audience Award and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

, and was nominated for the Critics Award at the

Deauville Film Festival The Deauville American Film Festival (french: Festival du cinéma américain de Deauville, link=no) is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Ch ...

. He co-produced and directed the 1992 screen adaptation of ''Prelude'' with

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nic ...

and Meg Ryan and directed the 1995 film version of ''Reckless'' with

Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...

and

Mary-Louise Parker Mary-Louise Parker (born August 2, 1964) is an American actress. After making her Broadway debut as Rita in Craig Lucas' '' Prelude to a Kiss'' in 1990 (for which she received a Tony Award nomination), Parker came to prominence for film roles i ...

. Kevin McKenna was René's long-term boyfriend. René died of complications from AIDS in New York City.

References

External links

Norman René at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rene, Norman 1951 births 1996 deaths American theatre directors American film producers Obie Award recipients Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni LGBT theatre directors LGBT people from Rhode Island AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) People from Bristol County, Rhode Island Film directors from Rhode Island LGBT film directors