Daniel John Sullivan (born June 11, 1940) is an American

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

Life and career

Sullivan was born in

Wray, Colorado Wray () is the List of cities and towns in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of Yuma County, Colorado, Yuma County, Colorado, United States. The population was 2,358 at the 2020 United States census ...

, the son of Mary Catherine (née Hutton) and John Martin Sullivan. He was raised in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, where he graduated from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

. In 1963, he began his professional career as an actor at the city's

Actor's Workshop The Actor's Workshop was a theatre company founded in San Francisco in 1952. It was the first professional theatre on the west coast to premiere many of the modern American classics such as Arthur Miller's ''Death of a Salesman'' and ''The Crucib ...

, where he remained for two years. Sullivan worked as both an actor and director with the Lincoln Center Repertory Company in the late 1960s and 1970s. His directorial debut there was

A.R. Gurney Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr. (November 1, 1930 – June 13, 2017) (sometimes credited as Pete Gurney) was an American playwright, novelist and academic. Gurney is known for plays including ''The Dining Room'' (1982), '' Sweet Sue'' (1986/7), '' T ...

's ''Scenes from American Life'' in 1971. for which he won a

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

. After two years as Resident Director of the

Seattle Repertory Theatre Seattle Rep (Seattle Repertory Theatre) is a major regional theater located in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle Center. Founded in 1963, it is led by Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez and Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann.Inspecting Carol ''Inspecting Carol'' is a comedic play by Daniel J. Sullivan, written in 1991 and produced by the Seattle Repertory Theatre Seattle Rep (Seattle Repertory Theatre) is a major regional theater located in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle Cent ...

''. Sullivan has forged successful working relationships with many prominent American playwrights. He directed

Herb Gardner Herbert George Gardner (December 28, 1934 – September 24, 2003) was an American commercial artist, cartoonist, playwright and screenwriter. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, Gardner was the son of a bar owner. His late brother, Robe ...

's Tony winning ''

I'm Not Rappaport ''I'm Not Rappaport'' is a play by Herb Gardner, which originally ran on Broadway in 1985. Productions The play was originally staged by Seattle Repertory Theatre in 1984. The play premiered on Broadway at the Booth Theatre on November 19 ...

'' at Seattle Rep before staging it off-Broadway, on Broadway, in London's West End, and the United States national tour. He reteamed with Gardner to stage '' Conversations with My Father'' in Seattle, New York City, and Los Angeles. His first association with

Wendy Wasserstein Wendy Wasserstein (October 18, 1950 – January 30, 2006) was an American playwright. She was an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. She received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1989 ...

was the Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning ''

The Heidi Chronicles ''The Heidi Chronicles'' is a 1988 play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Production history A workshop production at Seattle Repertory Theatre was held in April 1988, directed by Daniel J. Sullivan, starr ...

'', which he directed off Broadway, on Broadway and its National Tour. The duo later collaborated on ''

The Sisters Rosensweig ''The Sisters Rosensweig'' is a play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play focuses on three Jewish-American sisters and their lives. It "broke theatrical ground by concentrating on a non-traditional cast of three middle-aged women." Wasserstein receive ...

'' on Broadway and the National Tour, ''

An American Daughter ''An American Daughter'' is a play written by Wendy Wasserstein. The play takes place in a living room in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Production history ''An American Daughter'' opened under the New Play Workshop Series at Seattle Repertory T ...

'', and Ms. Wasserstein's final play, ''

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

.'' He directed both the off-Broadway and screen version of

Jon Robin Baitz Jon Robin Baitz (born November 4, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and television producer. He is a two time Pulitzer Prize finalist, as well as a Guggenheim, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and National Endowment for the Art ...

's ''

The Substance of Fire ''The Substance of Fire'' is a play by Jon Robin Baitz. Overview Isaac Geldhart is a survivor of the Holocaust. He arrived in New York City as an orphan, reinvented himself as a bon vivant, married well, and found fame and fortune as a champion ...

'', as well as the original productions of ''

A Fair Country ''A Fair Country'' is a play by Jon Robin Baitz. The play premiered Off-Broadway in 1996, and was a finalist for the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Productions The play was initially presented by the New York Stage and Film Company at a workshop ...

'' and ''Ten Unknowns'' in New York, and Baitz's translation of ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage.Meyer, Michael Lever ...

'' in Los Angeles. His collaborations with

Donald Margulies Donald Margulies (born September 2, 1954) is an American playwright and academic. In 2000, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' Dinner with Friends''. Background and education Margulies attended John Dewey High School in Brookly ...

include the Pulitzer-Prize-winning '' Dinner With Friends'' in New York and Los Angeles, the Broadway revival of '' Sight Unseen'', and the Broadway productions of ''

Brooklyn Boy ''Brooklyn Boy'' is a play by American playwright Donald Margulies. The play premiered in 2004 at South Coast Repertory and then on Broadway in 2005. Plot Novelist Eric Weiss, critically celebrated but unsuccessful, "arrives" when his new, aut ...

'' and the 2010 Broadway production of ''Time Stands Still''. Sullivan has directed most of

Charlayne Woodard Charlaine "Charlayne" Woodard (born December 29, 1953) is an American playwright and actress. She is a two-time Obie Award winner as well as a Tony Award and Drama Desk nominee. She was a series regular on the hit FX TV series '' Pose''. She pl ...

's plays: ''Pretty Fire (Seattle Rep, 1994-95),'' ''Neat'' (Seattle Rep, 1996–97), ''Stories'' (Seattle Rep, May 1999), ''In Real Life'' (Mark Taper Forum, July 2001 and Manhattan Theatre Club, October 2002) and ''The Nightwatcher.'' Other Broadway credits include ''Retreat From Moscow'', ''

Morning's at Seven ''Morning's at Seven'' is a play by Paul Osborn. Its plot focuses on four aging sisters living in a small Midwestern United States, Midwestern town in 1928, and it deals with ramifications within the family when two of them begin to question the ...

'', ''

Proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a co ...

'', ''

Major Barbara ''Major Barbara'' is a three-act English play by George Bernard Shaw, written and premiered in 1905 and first published in 1907. The story concerns an idealistic young woman, Barbara Undershaft, who is engaged in helping the poor as a Major in ...

'', ''

A Moon for the Misbegotten A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'', ''Accent on Youth'', ''

The Homecoming ''The Homecoming'' is a two-act play written in 1964 and published in 1965 by Harold Pinter. Its premières in London (1965) and New York (1967) were both directed by Sir Peter Hall. The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony Award ...

'', '' Rabbit Hole'', ''Prelude to a Kiss'', ''After The Night And The Music'', ''Julius Caesar'', and '' Ah, Wilderness''."Daniel Sullivan Broadway Credits and Awards"
playbillvault.com, accessed August 1, 2015 For Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte, Sullivan directed ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'', ''A Midsummer Night’s Dream'' (2007) and ''Twelfth Night'' (2009). Other Off-Broadway credits include ''

Stuff Happens ''Stuff Happens'' is a play by David Hare, written in response to the Iraq War. Hare describes it as "a history play" that deals with recent history. The title is inspired by Donald Rumsfeld's response to widespread looting in Baghdad: "Stuff h ...

'', ''Intimate Apparel'', ''Ancestral Voices'', '' Spinning Into Butter'', ''Far East'', '' London Suite'', ''Psychopathia Sexualis'', ''

The American Clock ''The American Clock'' is a play by Arthur Miller. The play is about 1930s America during The Great Depression. It is based in part on Studs Terkel's '' Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression''. Plot The Baum family—father Moe, mot ...

'', and '' Good People''. At The

Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which is collec ...

, Sullivan directed ''Julius Caesar'', ''Cymbeline'' (1999), ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1998), ''Merry Wives of Windsor'' and ''Othello'', and at

South Coast Repertory South Coast Repertory (SCR) is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California. South Coast Repertory was founded in 1964. It has three stages and presents plays from all eras. SCR producers new plays, Theatre for Young Audiences ...

he directed ''Hamlet'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''Taming of the Shrew'' and ''Volpone''. Sullivan's Broadway acting credits include the 1973 revival of ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

'', ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

'' (1973), ''

The Playboy of the Western World ''The Playboy of the Western World'' is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge, first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 26 January 1907. The work is considered a centerpiece of the Irish Literary Revival mo ...

'' (1971), ''

The Good Woman of Setzuan ''The Good Person of Szechwan'' (, first translated less literally as ''The Good Man of Setzuan'') is a play written by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, in collaboration with Margarete Steffin and Ruth Berlau. The play was begun in 1938 but no ...

'', and '' Camino Real''. In addition to his directing, Sullivan currently holds the Swanlund Chair at the

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the fou ...

Personal life

Sullivan has three daughters. His wife Mimi Lieber is an actress, choreographer and noted acting teacher.

Stage productions

*''

The Little Foxes ''The Little Foxes'' is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman, considered a classic of 20th century drama. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15, of the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, "Take us the foxes, the li ...

'' (2017) *''

All's Well That Ends Well ''All's Well That Ends Well'' is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the First Folio in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. There is a debate about the date of its composition, with possible dates ranging from 1598 to 1608. ...

'' (2011) *'' Good People'' (2011) *''

'' (2010 revival) *''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

'' (2009) *'' Prelude to a Kiss'' (2007 revival) *'' Rabbit Hole'' (2006) *''

After the Night and the Music ''After the Night and the Music'' is a one-act play in three parts, written by Elaine May. It opened in 2005. May derived the name of the play from the Howard Dietz song "You and the Night and the Music". Plot ''Curtain Raiser'' The aptly-titled ...

'' (2005) *''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

'' (2005) *''

Intimate Apparel Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled ...

'' (2004) *'' Sight Unseen'' (2004) *''

The Retreat from Moscow ''The Retreat from Moscow'' is a play written by William Nicholson. The play is about the end of a three-decade marriage and the subsequent emotional fallout. The title is taken from Napoleon's costly invasion of Moscow and the subsequent retr ...

'' (2003) *''

'' (2002 revival) *''

'' (2001) *''

'' (2000) *''

'' (2000 revival) *''

Ah, Wilderness! ''Ah, Wilderness!'' is a comedy play by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on October 2, 1933. It differs from a typical O'Neill play in its happy ending for the central character, and depiction o ...

'' (1998) *''

The Plough and the Stars ''The Plough and the Stars'' is a four-act play by the Irish writer Seán O'Casey that was first performed on 8 February 1926 at the Abbey Theatre. It is set in Dublin and addresses the 1916 Easter Rising. The play's title references the Sta ...

'' (1973) *''

Narrow Road to the Deep North ''Narrow Road to the Deep North'' is a 1968 satirical play on the British Empire by the English playwright Edward Bond. It is a political parable set in Japan in the Edo period. It deals with the poet Basho and the changing political landscap ...

'' (1972)

Awards and nominations

;Awards *1972

for Most Promising Director - ''Suggs'' *2001

Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot for Frosted Flakes cereal * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * ...

- ''Proof'' *In 2011 he was inducted into the

American Theatre Hall of Fame American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

.Playbill.com
;Nominations *1989 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play - ''The Heidi Chronicles'' *1989 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play - ''The Heidi Chronicles'' *1992 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play - ''Conversations With My Father'' *1993 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play - ''The Sisters Rosensweig'' *1993 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play - ''The Sisters Rosensweig'' *2000 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play - ''Dinner with Friends'' *2002 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play - ''Morning's at Seven'' *2006 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play - ''Stuff Happens'' *2006 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play - ''Rabbit Hole'' *2011 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play - ''The Merchant of Venice'' *2011 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play - ''The Merchant of Venice'' *2017 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play - ''If I Forget'' *2017 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play - ''The Little Foxes'' *2017 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play - ''The Little Foxes''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Daniel J. 1940 births 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American theatre directors Living people People from Yuma County, Colorado San Francisco State University alumni Film directors from Colorado