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'''Mel Shapiro''' is an American [[theatre director]] and [[writer]], college [[professor]], and [[author]].

Trained at [[Carnegie-Mellon University]], Shapiro began his professional directing career at the [[Pittsburgh]] Playhouse and then as resident director at [[Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.)|Arena Stage]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] He was co-producing director at the [[Guthrie Theater]] in [[Minneapolis]] and has worked as guest director at the Hartford Stage Company, the [[Center Theatre Group]] in [[Los Angeles]] (where he directed the American Premiere of [[Dario Fo]]'s [[Accidental Death of an Anarchist]]), the National Playwright's Conference of the [[Eugene O'Neill Theater Center]] and the [[Stratford Shakespeare Festival]] in [[Canada]].

Shapiro's [[off-Broadway]] productions include the original staging of [[John Guare]]'s ''[[The House of Blue Leaves]],'' which won the [[New York Drama Critics' Circle]] Award for Best American Play in 1971, and Rachel Owen's ''The Karl Marx Play'' for the [[American Place Theatre]]. [[London]] productions include the [[Musical theatre|musicals]] [[Two Gentlemen of Verona (musical)|Two Gentlemen of Verona]] and Kings and Clowns.

For [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], Shapiro co-wrote the book (with [[John Guare|Guare]]) and directed the 1971 musical adaptation of ''[[Two Gentlemen of Verona (musical)|Two Gentlemen of Verona]]'' and directed the 1978 revival of ''[[Stop the World - I Want to Get Off]]'' with [[Sammy Davis Jr.]] as well as [[John Guare]]'s 1979 play ''[[Bosoms and Neglect]]''. He has staged works at [[Lincoln Center]], including [[Václav Havel]]'s The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, which won an [[Obie Award]] for Best Foreign Play and [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s [[Richard III (play)|Richard III]]. His relationship with [[Joseph Papp]] spanned six years at the [[New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater]]. Among his productions there are Guare's ''[[Rich and Famous (play)|Rich and Famous]]'', ''[[Marco Polo Sings a Solo]]'', and [[John Ford Noonan]]'s ''Older People''.

Shapiro was one of the founding members of [[New York University]]'s [[Tisch School of the Arts]] and served as the head of the [[Carnegie Mellon School of Drama]]. He was the head of graduate acting for the Theatre Department at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]]. He has taught and directed at the [[Queensland University of Technology]]'s Theatre School in [[Brisbane]], [[Australia]], and  the [[National Institute of Dramatic Art]] in [[Sydney]], Australia, in Fall, 2011. He has served on the boards of the [[Pittsburgh Public Theater]], the [[Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers]], and the Fund for New American Plays at the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts|Kennedy Center]] and Theatre of Latin America.

Shapiro is the author of ''The Director's Companion'' and ''An Actor Performs''.

==Directing Credits==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=December 2023}}
*Among the actors worked with are:  Milton Berle, Sammy Davis, Jr., Raul Julia, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Walken, Stockard Channing, Jeff Goldblum, Linda Lavin, Joel Grey, Len Cariou, George Hearn, Billie Porter, Blair Underwood, James Wood, Patricia Routledge, Charles Ludlam, Allison Janney, Cloris Leachman, Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller and Rob Marshal
*
*Among other authors worked with:  Isaac Bashevis Singer, Enemies, a Love Story; Dario Fo, Accidental Death of an Anarchist; Derek Walcott, The Charlatan.

==Awards and nominations==
*1972 [[Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical]] (''Two Gentlemen'', '''winner''')
*1972 Tony Award for Best Musical, “Two Gentlemen”, winner
*1972 [[Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical]] (''Two Gentlemen'', nominee)
*1972 [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical]] (''Two Gentlemen'', '''winner''')
*1972 [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play]] (''Older People'', '''winner''')
*1972 [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical]] (''Two Gentlemen'', '''winner''')
*1994 Drama-logue award, playwriting, The Price of Admission
*1999 Drama-logue award, direction, The Misanthrope
*1998 Joseph Kesselring award, playwriting, The Lay of the Land

==Books==
''An Actor Performs'', 2017

''A Director's Companion'', 2018

==External links==
* {{IBDB name}}
* Playingwithshakespeare.com  
* [http://www.tft.ucla.edu/faculty/mel-shapiro/ Mel Shapiro | UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television]

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