Robert Kalfin Biography

Founder of New York's award-winning Chelsea Theater Center, Mr. Kalfin has directed plays on Broadway, off-Broadway, on television, in American and Canadian regional theaters, in Europe, the Middle East and as far abroad as Siberia. Under his artistic leadership, such Chelsea productions as Slaveship, Saved, AC/DC, Genet's The Screens, Allen Ginsburg's Kaddish, The Beggar's Opera, Polly, Vanities, and The Contractor introduced major new works to theater audiences. A recent book, Chelsea on the Edge details Mr. Kalfin's ongoing contribution to the American theater scene. His acclaimed production of Yentl for the Folksbiene Theater just completed a long run off-Broadway. Joe Pintauro's play, What I Did for Love was one of four projects Mr. Kalfin staged for the John Drew Theater in East Hampton, last summer. Other recent credits include the London Premiere of Hyam Maccaby's The Disputation; the World Premiere of Becoming Eleanor-[A Play about Eleanor of Aquitaine] for Theatre Conspiracy; Arthur Miller's The Price starring Jack Klugman and Dan Lauria for the Coconut Grove Playhouse; Billy Bishop Goes to War for Capital Repertory Theatre; the off-Broadway Premiere of Love in a Thirsty Land; the Coconut Grove productions of A Passionate Woman starring Loretta Swit and The Disputation starring Theo Bikel; Shaw's Androcles and the Lion and Tennesee Williams' The Eccentricities of a Nightingale for The J. Howard Wood/Pirate Playhouse; David Mamet's A Life in the Theatre for the The Bay Street Theatre and the Restoration classic, Wycherly's The Country Wife for the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival. Mr. Kalfin's productions on Broadway include Strider, Happy End [with Meryl Streep and Christopher Lloyd], the original production of Yentl [starring Tovah Feldshuh], Truly Blessed-[A Celebration of Mahalia Jackson], and as Chelsea Co-Producer of Harold Prince's Candide. He also staged productions of Rashomon and The Mistress of the Inn for The Roundabout Theatre Company and directed The Prince of Homburg starring Frank Langella for the PBS Great Performances - Theatre in America Series. Other productions abroad include the English language Scandinavian Touring Production of The Skin of Our Teeth starring E.G. Marshall, Sada Thompson and Esther Rolle; Strider in Hebrew for the Haifa Municipal Theatre and The Habima Theatre in Israel; the Russian language Premieres of The Skin of Our Teeth for the Krasne Fakel Theatre in Novosibirsk, [the capital city of Siberia], and Tennesee Williams' The Eccentricities of a Nightingale for the Sfera Theatre in Moscow. American and Canadian productions include over 30 plays and musicals ranging from experimental works to Broadway comedies and the classics for theatres such as The Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The Hartford Stage Company, The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Manitoba Theatre Centre; The Philadelphia Drama Guild; The Citadel; The Walnut Street Theatre; Capital Repertory Theatre and The Coconut Grove Playhouse. Under Mr. Kalfin's artistic direction, works produced by the Chelsea Theater Center have received 5 Tony Awards and 4 Tony Nominations; 21 off-Broadway Obie Awards; 2 Drama Desk Nominations; the Margo Jones Award; 3 Joseph Maharam Awards for Distinguished Contribution to Theatre Design; The New England Theatre Conference Award; 5 Outer Critics Circle Awards; The Vernon Rice Award; 1 Audelco Award and 3 Audelco Award Nominations. Mr. Kalfin has served as the Artistic Director of the Chelsea Theater Center, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and the Pirate Playhouse on Sanibel Island. He holds an M.F.A. Degree in Directing from the Yale School of Drama and a B.A. Degree in Speech & Drama from Alfred University, and attended the N.Y. High School of Music and Art where he majored in music. He is a member of the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers, and has served on the Boards of both SSD&C and Theatre Communications Group.