Tazewell Thompson

Who is Tazewell Thompson?

Tazewell Thompson, is an African-American theatre director, the former Artistic Director of the Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut and the Syracuse Stage in New York state. Prior to that he was an Assistant Director at Arena Stage in Washington, DC.

Thompson has directed numerous independent productions, and since 2000, when he directed his first opera, Porgy and Bess for the New York City Opera, has been called on to direct more operas and musicals. His success led to invitations to direct productions of Francis Poulenc's Dialogue of the Carmelites for the Glimmerglass Opera and City Opera in 2002 and 2004, respectively, as well as other works. He was nominated for an Emmy in 2006 as Best Director for the televised production of his Porgy and Bess produced at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. In August 2012, he directed Maxwell Anderson and Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars for Glimmerglass Opera, based on the South African classic, Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton.

As a playwright, Thompson has also received recognition, with numerous productions of his Constant Star about the activist Ida B. Wells. His new play, Mary T. & Lizzy K., about Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley, opened in Washington, DC at Arena Stage in March 2013.