George Costello Wolfe (born
September 23,
1954) is an American
playwright and director of
theater and
film.
Biography
Early life
Wolfe was born in
Frankfort, Kentucky, to Costello Wolfe, a government clerk, and Anna Lindsey, an educator.
He attended an all-black private school where his mother taught and later began attending the integrated Frankfort public school district after a family move.
He attended
Frankfort High School where he began to pursue his interest in the
theatre arts, and wrote poetry and prose for the school's literary journal. After high school, Wolfe enrolled at the
historically-black Kentucky State University, the alma mater of his parents, Costello and Anna Lindsey Wolfe. Following his first year, he transferred to
Pomona College in
Claremont, California, where he pursued a
BA in theater. Wolfe then taught for several years in
Los Angeles at the Inner-City Cultural Center and later in
New York, where he received an
MFA in dramatic writing and
musical theater at
New York University in 1983.
Career
Wolfe's first offerings—the musical
Paradise (1985), his play
The Colored Museum (1986)--were
off-Broadway productions that met with mixed reviews. In 1989, however, Wolfe won an
Obie Award for best off-Broadway director for his play
Spunk, an adaptation of three stories by
Zora Neale Hurston.
Wolfe gained a national reputation with his 1991 musical
Jelly's Last Jam, a musical about the life of
jazz musician
Jelly Roll Morton; after a Los Angeles opening, the play moved to
Broadway, where it received 11
Tony nominations and won him the
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical. Two years later, Wolfe directed
Tony Kushner's
Angels in America: Millennium Approaches to great critical acclaim as well as a Tony award. Wolfe also directed the world premiere of the second part of "
Angels", entitled
Perestroika, the following year.
From 1993 to 2004, Wolfe served as artistic director and producer of the
New York Shakespeare Festival/
Public Theater, where, in 1996, he created the musical
Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk, an ensemble of
tap and music starring
Savion Glover; the show moved to Broadway's
Ambassador Theatre and his work won him a second Tony Award for direction and was an enormous financial success.
In 2000, Wolfe co-wrote the book and directed the Broadway production
The Wild Party.
In late 2004, Wolfe announced his intention to leave the theater for film direction, beginning with the well-received
HBO film
Lackawanna Blues.
Despite this move, Wolfe continues to direct plays such as
Tony Kushner's
Caroline, or Change and
Suzan-Lori Parks'
Pulitzer Prize-winning play
Topdog/Underdog. In the summer of 2006 he directed a new translation of
Bertolt Brecht's
Mother Courage and Her Children at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park starring
Meryl Streep,
Kevin Kline, and
Austin Pendleton.
His latest movie
Nights in Rodanthe opened in theatres in September 2008.
Wolfe is openly
gay.
Theater works
Broadway
| Year
| Title
| Credit
| Venue
|
| 1992
| Jelly's Last Jam
| Director, writer (book)
| Virginia Theatre
|
| 1993
| Angels in America: Millennium Approaches
| Director, producer
| Walter Kerr Theatre
|
| 1993
| Angels in America: Perestroika
| Director, producer
| Walter Kerr Theatre
|
| 1994
| Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
| Director, producer
| Cort Theatre
|
| 1995
| The Tempest
| Director, producer
| Broadhurst Theatre
|
| 1996
| Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk
| Director, producer, lyrics, idea
| Ambassador Theatre
|
| 1998
| Golden Child
| Producer
| Longacre Theatre
|
| 1998
| On the Town
| Director, producer
| George Gershwin Theatre
|
| 2000
| The Ride Down Mt. Morgan
| Producer
| Ambassador Theatre
|
| 2000
| The Wild Party
| Director, producer, writer (book)
| Virginia Theatre
|
| 2002
| Elaine Stritch At Liberty
| Director, producer
| Neil Simon Theatre
|
| 2002
| Topdog / Underdog
| Director, producer
| Ambassador Theatre
|
| 2003
| Take Me Out
| Producer
| Walter Kerr Theatre
|
| 2004
| Caroline, or Change
| Director, producer
| Eugene O'Neill Theatre
|
Filmography
