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Karen
Carpenter was one of seven nominees nationwide for the coveted Mike
Ockrent Fellowship at the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers
this year. An accomplished theatrical director and producer, her
most recent four-season run as Associate Artistic Director of the
Old Globe Theatre marks a flourishing period of directorial achievement
in her burgeoning career.
At the Old Globe, Ms. Carpenter’s award-winning works consistently
enjoyed both successful runs and critical acclaim. Among her noted
productions there: the American premiere of Abi Morgan’s Splendour
(Critics Choice, San Diego Tribune), Nilo Cruz’s Two Sisters
and a Piano (Critics Choice, Los Angeles Times), Jeffrey Hatcher’s
Smash (Patté Award and Critics Choice, Los Angeles Times),
and Harold Pinter’s Betrayal (Craig Noel and Patté
Awards and The Reader’s “Best Bet”). Karen’s
As You Like It, created for the inaugural season of their
newly revived Shakespeare Festival, was named The Best of 2004 by
San Diego Magazine. Additionally, she collaborated as their artistic
producer on many premieres and revered works by such theatrical
luminaries as Mark Lamos, Dan Sullivan, Stephen Wadsworth, David
Edgar, and Arthur Miller (in the last production of his life).
Karen’s key role and artistic success at the Old Globe capitalized
on copious prior accomplishments as the Founding Producer of Insight
Entertainment. In the preceding years, her independent productions
in New York were indicative of a keen passion for presenting astute,
trenchant, engaging theatre: a Fringe First award from the 1st New
York International Fringe Festival for the biting and hilarious
Hazel and the Bugman, the New York premiere of Mac Wellman’s
The Lesser Magoo, the American premiere of Time and the
Room by Botho Strauss, and the premiere of David Karl Lee’s
innovative and satirical musical, Nirvanov, for the Pure
Pop and Chekhov Now Festivals, named Critic’s Choice by Village
Voice Theatre critic Michael Feingold. Nirvanov will be
presented at the Chekov Festival in Poland this year.
While honing her own singular talents as a theatre artist, Karen
was graced by the mentorship of some of America’s most brilliant
directors: the great Lloyd Richards and the magnanimous Jack O’Brien,
during her many years of service to each. She counts herself most
fortunate to have produced or managed the premieres of many of the
original works of our nation’s most gifted playwrights: August
Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, Mac Wellman and Jeffrey Hatcher, among
others.
Ms. Carpenter believes her years as a Production Stage Manager on
Broadway for such shows as Sunset Boulevard, Les Misérables,
and August Wilson’s Joe Turner's Come and Gone, The
Piano Lesson and Two Trains Running, gave her a ‘big
picture’ perspective and provided her with an unparalleled
theatre education and unwavering directive to support the text and
honor the play, which now serve her in positive and fruitful relationships
with playwrights and actors alike, and enable her to create the
most compelling theatre possible.
As an Educator, Karen was on the faculty at Yale School of Drama
for five years, and created the curriculum still in use there for
its Master of Fine Arts in Stage Management. She has taught stage
management and directing in graduate theatre programs across the
country, and is currently authoring a book on the subject, entitled
“Managing Creativity: Philosophy and Practice”.
Karen is currently developing the premieres of these original
works:
Kingdom of the Shadows, by Barbara Chronowski.
An epic tale of the birth of cinema and the Russian revolution.
Exploring prospective joint productions with the Moscow Art Theater
and Maly Theater of St. Petersburg, Russia, and American regional
companies.
The Last Stop, book, music, and lyrics by Horace
Turnbull. Set in a radio station in the 1940s, the story of Lorna,
a radio personality with a stellar past now languishing in Peoria,
and her last chance at the big time. Developmental workshop and
reading in May for commercial prospects.
St. Watermelon Man and the Mother of Despair, by
Ann Taylor. An intimate and harrowing story of the pursuit of human
dignity. Workshop in April for rm 120 theatre, Austin.
Spoolie Girl, music by Rosemary Loar, book by Robert
Atwood and Rosemary Loar. The quirky musical journey of a teenage
American girl, raised in Africa but now orphaned, who arrives in
the Big Apple to be adopted by her only living relative, a fashion-obsessed
hair stylist; and the fairy rock mother who guides them to true
beauty. Reading in May for commercial prospects.
and committed to the following projects:
Sex, Death, and the Beach Baby, by Kim Merrill.
World Premiere,
Contemporary American Theatre Festival, July 2006
The House of Blue Leaves, by John Guare, Special
Faculty in Residence,
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, September 2006
Resume
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