Gerald Alan Freedman (June 25, 1927 – March 17, 2020) was an American

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

, and

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income de ...

, and a

college A college ( Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

dean.

Life and career

Freedman was born in

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of ...

, the son of Fannie (Sepenswol), a history teacher, and Barnie B. Freedman, a dentist. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. He was educated at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

under Alvina Krause and others. He earned both BA and MA degrees there. He began his career as assistant director of such projects as '' Bells Are Ringing'', ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid- ...

'', and ''

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with si ...

''. His first credit as a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

director was the 1961 musical '' The Gay Life''. Additional Broadway credits include the 1964 and 1980 revivals of ''West Side Story'', ''

The Incomparable Max ''The Incomparable Max'' is a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. It is based on the stories " Enoch Soames" and "A.V. Laider" in '' Seven Men'' by Max Beerbohm. Enoch Soames is a minor poet who makes a pact with the devil to spend a few h ...

'' (1971),

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' (19 ...

's '' The Creation of the World and Other Business'' (1972), the 1975 and 1976 productions of '' The Robber Bridegroom'', both of which garnered him

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. Fo ...

nominations as Outstanding Director of a Musical, ''

The Grand Tour ''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman, made for Amazon exclusively for its online streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 November ...

'' (1979) with Joel Grey, and ''

The School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Sn ...

'' (1995) with

Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play '' The Odd Couple'' by Neil Sim ...

. He was also the off-Broadway director of the rock musical '' Hair'' when it premiered at the Public Theater. Freedman was leading artistic director (1960–1967) and artistic director (1967–1971) of

Joseph Papp Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created a y ...

New York Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions a ...

, artistic director of the

Great Lakes Theater Festival Great Lakes Theater, originally known as the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, is a professional classic theater company in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1962, Great Lakes is the second-largest regional theater in Northeast Ohio. ...

in Cleveland, Ohio (1985–1997), and co-artistic director of

John Houseman John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann; September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988) was a Romanian-born British-American actor and producer of theatre, film, and television. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with directo ...

’s

The Acting Company The Acting Company is a professional theater company that tours the United States annually, staging and performing one or two plays in as many as fifty cities, often with runs of only one or two nights. Drama critic Mel Gussow has called it "the m ...

(1974–1977). He taught at

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...

and the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most ...

. He was Dean of the Drama School at the

University of North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants high school, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina School of the Arts by then-Governo ...

(1991–2012). He was the first American ever invited to direct at the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He was a member of the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

New Play Committee and the

College of Fellows of the American Theatre The College of Fellows of the American Theatre is an honorary society of outstanding theatre educators and professional theatre practitioners. Origin The organization was formed in 1965 as a project proposed by members of the American Theatre Ass ...

. He participated in the Oomoto Institute, Kameoka, Japan. He died on March 17, 2020 at his home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina of kidney failure.

Bibliography

* (theater program) * (theater program) * (theater program) * (theater program) * (theater program) * (theater program) * (theater program) * (theater program) * 20 linear ft. (10850 items) * Music Sound Recording 33 1/3 12 inch LP *

References

External links

* *
Gerald Freedman
at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
Interview with Gerald Freedman about West Side Story
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Freedman, Gerald 1927 births 2020 deaths American theatre directors American musical theatre lyricists American musical theatre librettists American Jews Northwestern University School of Communication alumni People from Lorain, Ohio Juilliard School faculty Yale University faculty University of North Carolina School of the Arts faculty Songwriters from Ohio Deaths from kidney failure