Gerald Gutierrez (February 3, 1950 – December 29, 2003) was an American

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-winning stage director. He was born and died in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Career

Gutierrez was a graduate of Midwood High School in

, and then the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

and initially worked as a performer. He then started directing

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

, often at

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit American Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. ...

. He directed, among others, the following plays at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

: '' The Most Happy Fella'' (1992), ''

The Heiress ''The Heiress'' is a 1949 American romantic drama film directed and produced by William Wyler, from a screenplay written by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, adapted from their 1947 stage play of the same title, which was itself adapted from Henry Jam ...

'' (1995), '' A Delicate Balance'' (1996), and '' Dinner at Eight'' (2002). His work with ''The Heiress'' and ''A Delicate Balance'' was said to be (by ''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the ...

'') as "near perfect representations of those plays"."Gerald Gutierrez, 53; Broadway Director Won 2 Tony Awards"
''Los Angeles Times'', December 31, 2003.Buckley, Michael (December 30, 2003)

theatermania.com. Of ''The Heiress'', the '' Variety'' reviewer wrote: "Although Gerald Gutierrez’s direction can’t be undervalued, ''The Heiress'' is not by any stretch “director’s theater.”... Under Gutierrez's sure hand, the exceptional cast never falters." He directed the

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 ...

play ''Isn't It Romantic'' in 1983. Gutierrez and Wasserstein were good friends. He was said (by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'') to have "an obsession with detail that made each production tick like a perfectly calibrated clock", and to do "ferocious" research. André Bishop, a close friend of Gutierrez, said: "Of all the directors I know, he was one who combined a scrupulous sense of reality with enormous flair and style."

Death

Gutierrez died in his sleep of respiratory failure, on December 29, 2003, aged 53.

Awards and nominations

Gutierrez was nominated for the 1994

, Director of a Play for ''Abe Lincoln in Illinois''. He won the 1995 Tony Award, Director of a Play for ''The Heiress'' and the 1996 Tony Award, Director of a Play for ''A Delicate Balance''."Gutierrez Broadway"
''Playbill''. Retrieved September 22, 2017.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gutierrez, Gerald 1950 births 2003 deaths American theatre directors Drama Desk Award winners Tony Award winners