Ira Weitzman is an American

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

and producer. He was the creator and first director of the Musical Theater Program 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. ...

from 1978 and at

Lincoln Center Theater The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT ...

(LCT) from 1992. He also served as associate producer of musical theater at both institutions. Weitzman was involved in the development of the following productions: *

William Finn William Alan Finn (February 28, 1952 – April 7, 2025) was an American composer and lyricist. He was best known for his musicals, which include ''Falsettos'', for which he won the 1992 Tony Awards for Tony Award for Best Original Score, Best O ...

and

James Lapine James Elliot Lapine (born January 10, 1949) is an American stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for ''Into the Woods'', ''Falsettos'', and '' Passion''. He ha ...

's ''

Falsettos ''Falsettos'' is a sung-through musical theatre, musical with a book by William Finn and James Lapine, and music and lyrics by Finn. The musical consists of ''March of the Falsettos'' (1981) and ''Falsettoland'' (1990), the last two installment ...

'' trilogy *

Lynn Ahrens Lynn Ahrens (born October 1, 1948) is an American writer and lyricist for the musical theatre, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty for many years. She won the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Aw ...

and

Stephen Flaherty Stephen Flaherty (born September 18, 1960) is an American composer of musical theatre and film. He works most often in collaboration with the lyricist/book writer Lynn Ahrens. They are best known for writing the Broadway musicals ''Ragtime'', wh ...

's ''

Lucky Stiff ''Lucky Stiff'' is a musical farce. It was the first collaboration for the team of Lynn Ahrens (book and lyrics) and Stephen Flaherty (music). The show is based on the 1983 novel ''The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo'' by Michael Butter ...

'' and ''

Once on This Island ''Once on This Island'' is a coming-of-age one-act stage musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. It is based on the 1985 novel ''My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl'' by Rosa Guy, a Caribbean-set retel ...

'' * Tom Cone,

Ellen Fitzhugh Ellen Fitzhugh (July 5, 1942 – July 14, 2023) was an American musical theatre lyricist and librettist. She was most notable for lyrics to the Broadway musical ''Grind'', for which she was nominated for the 1985 Tony Award for Best Original Score ...

, and Skip Kennon's ''Herringbone'' *

George C. Wolfe George Costello Wolfe (born September 23, 1954) is an American playwright and director. His accolades include two Tony Awards for directing the play '' Angels in America: Millennium Approaches'' and the musical '' Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'd ...

's New York theater debut, ''Paradise!'' *

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

and

's ''Sunday in the Park with George'', ''Into the Woods'', and ''Passion'' * Stephen Sondheim and

John Weidman John Weidman (born September 25, 1946) is an American librettist and television writer for ''Sesame Street''. He has worked on stage musicals with Stephen Sondheim and Susan Stroman. Career Weidman was born in New York City and grew up in Westport ...

's ''

Assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. The origin of the term is the medieval Order of Assassins, a sect of Shia Islam 1090–1275 CE. Assassin, or variants, may also refer to: Fictional characters * Assassin, in the Japanese adult ...

'' *

Jeanine Tesori Jeanine Tesori, known earlier in her career as Jeanine Levenson, (born November 10, 1961) is an American composer and Arrangement, musical arranger best known for her work in the theater. She is the most prolific and honored female theatrical com ...

and Brian Crawley's ''

Violet Violet may refer to: Common meanings * Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue * One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly: ** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants Places United States * Vi ...

'' * Kirsten Childs' ''The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin'' *

James Valcq James Valcq (born 1963 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American musical theatre composer, lyricist, and librettist, as well as an actor and arts administrator. He contributed to various theatrical works. Education Valcq holds a BFA from the U ...

and

Fred Alley Fred Alley (1962–2001) was an American musical theatre lyricist and librettist who died unexpectedly just as his work gained national recognition. His collaboration on the musical '' The Spitfire Grill'' with composer James Valcq won the Ameri ...

's ''

The Spitfire Grill ''The Spitfire Grill'' (also known as ''Care of the Spitfire Grill'') is a 1996 American drama film written and directed by Lee David Zlotoff, and starring Alison Elliott, Ellen Burstyn, Marcia Gay Harden, Will Patton, Kieran Mulroney and Gaila ...

'' *

Ricky Ian Gordon Ricky Ian Gordon (born May 15, 1956) is an American composer of art song, opera and musical theatre. Life Gordon was born in Oceanside, New York. He was raised by his mother, Eve, and father, Sam, and he grew up on Long Island with his three sist ...

and Richard Nelson's '' My Life with Albertine'' *

Michael John LaChiusa Michael John LaChiusa (born July 24, 1962) is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for musically esoteric shows such as '' Hello Again'', '' Marie Christine'', '' The Wild Party'', and '' See W ...

's '' Hello Again'', ''

Marie Christine ''Marie Christine'' is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It opened on Broadway in 1999. While loosely based on the Greek play ''Medea'', it is set in the 1890s, in New Orleans and Chicago, and draws heavily on the bi ...

'', and ''

Bernarda Alba ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' () is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Commentators have often grouped it with ''Blood Wedding'' and ''Yerma'' as the Rural Trilogy. García Lorca did not include it in his plan for a "tril ...

'' * The 1994 revival of

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their musical ...

's ''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...

'' *

Graciela Daniele Graciela Daniele (born December 8, 1939) is an Argentine- American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director. A stage musical based on her life, title '' The Gardens of Anuncia'', premiered in 2021, created by Michael John LaChiusa. Biography ...

, Jim Lewis,

, and

Bob Telson Robert Eria Telson (born May 14, 1949) is an American composer, songwriter, and pianist best known for his work in musical theater and film, for which he has received Tony, Pulitzer, and Academy Award nominations. Biography Robert Eria Telso ...

's ''

Chronicle of a Death Foretold ''Chronicle of a Death Foretold'' () is a novella by Gabriel García Márquez, published in 1981. It tells, in the form of a pseudo-journalistic reconstruction, the story of the murder of Santiago Nasar by the Vicario twins. Plot The book is a ...

'' * William Finn and James Lapine's ''A New Brain'' *

Susan Stroman Susan P. Stroman (born October 17, 1954) is an American theatre director, choreographer, and performer. Her notable theater productions include ''Oklahoma!'', ''The Music Man'', ''Crazy for You (musical), Crazy for You'', ''Contact (musical), Co ...

and John Weidman's ''

Contact Contact may refer to: Interaction Physical interaction * Contact (geology), a common geological feature * Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye * Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects * C ...

'' * Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," M ...

's '' A Man of No Importance'' *

Alfred Uhry Alfred Fox Uhry (born December 3, 1936) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is the recipient of the two Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for '' Driving Miss Daisy'', as well as the Academy Award for the 1989 film adaptat ...

and

Jason Robert Brown Jason Robert Brown (born June 20, 1970) is an American musical theatre composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards for his work on ''Parad ...

's ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'' * William Finn's ''

Elegies An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

'' *

Burt Shevelove Burton George Shevelove (September 19, 1915 – April 8, 1982) was an American musical theater playwright, lyricist, librettist, and director. Biography Born in Newark, New Jersey, he graduated from Brown University and Yale (Master's degr ...

Nathan Lane Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. Since 1975, he has been Nathan Lane on screen and stage, on stage and screen in both comedic and dramatic roles. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Na ...

, and Stephen Sondheim's ''

The Frogs ''The Frogs'' (; , often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus in Athens, in 405 BC and received first place. The pla ...

'' *

Martha Clarke Martha Clarke (born June 3, 1944) is an American theater director and choreographer noted for her multidisciplinary approach to theatre, dance, and opera productions. Her best-known original work is ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' (1984, re-i ...

and Charles L. Mee's ''Belle Époque'' * Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's '' Dessa Rose and ''

The Glorious Ones ''The Glorious Ones'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. Set in 17th-century Italy, it concerns a theatre group in the world of commedia dell'arte and theatre of the Italian Renaissance. After premi ...

'' *

Adam Guettel Adam Guettel (; born December 16, 1964) is an American composer-lyricist of musical theater and opera. Born into a musical theater family, he is the son of Mary Rodgers and the grandson of Richard Rodgers. Guettel has received two Tony Awards and ...

and

Craig Lucas Craig Lucas (born April 30, 1951) is an American playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, musical actor, and film director. Biography Born on April 30, 1951, he was found abandoned in a car in Atlanta, Georgia. Lucas was adopted when he was e ...

's '' The Light in the Piazza'' From 2008 to the present, Weitzman has been the Mindich Musical Theater Producer at LCT, overseeing the development and production of the

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 revival of

's ''

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

'' as well as ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childr ...

'',

Lerner and Loewe Lerner and Loewe is the partnership between lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. Spanning three decades and nine musicals from 1942 to 1960 and again from 1970 to 1972, the pair are known for being behind the cr ...

's ''My Fair Lady'' and the 2016 Broadway revival of Finn and Lapine's ''Falsettos''. During this period, he also developed new musicals including: * ''Clay'' by Matt Sax and Eric Rosen, which inaugurated LCT3 * ''Dogfight'' by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Peter Duchan * ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'' by Davis Yazbek and Jeffrey Lane * ''Happiness'' by Susan Stroman, John Weidman, Michael Korie, and Scott Frankel * ''A Minister's Wife'' by Austin Pendleton, Joshua Schmidt, and Jan Tranen * ''Preludes'' by Dave Malloy and Rachel Chavkin * ''Flying Over Sunset'' by James Lapine, Tom Kitt, and Michael Korie * ''The Gardens of Anuncia'' by Michael John LaChiusa and Graciela Daniele Weitzman produced the revival of Moss Hart and Irving Berlin's ''As Thousands Cheer'' for Drama Dept, was line producer and dramaturge for the first post-Broadway revival of Sondheim and Furth's ''Merrily We Roll Along'' directed by Lapine at the La Jolla Playhouse, and was the production coordinator for the world premiere of ''Into the Woods'' at the Old Globe. As a concert producer, Weitzman was Artistic Director of

WBAI-FM WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music ...

's Free Music Store, The Writers Cabaret at NY's West Bank Café under the auspices of Playwrights Horizons, the first Artistic Director of City Center's Encores! and the inaugural producer of

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 ...

's American Songbook concert series. In 2009, Ira Weitzman received the

Lucille Lortel Award The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres ...

for Sustained Excellence in Off-Broadway Theater.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weitzman, Ira Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Dramaturges American musical theatre directors