by invitation of THE SMITH COLLEGE CLUB OF GREENWICH-STAMFORD
A Conversation with Jerry Zaks
Monday, April 4, 2022, from 4-5 pm
Smith MFA in Theatre, 1969
Four-time Tony-winning Director of his 26th Broadway production
“I like to laugh. I've always believed that the sound of laughter
is the sound of people falling in love with what's happening onstage.”
(Jerry Zaks, 2010)
Famed actor/director Jerry Zaks will talk about his memories of Smith, his continuing connection to the College and his outstanding career, most recently as director of The Music Man on Broadway.
Born in Stuttgart, Germany, Jerry Zaks is the son of Holocaust survivors who immigrated to the U.S. in 1948. He grew up in the Bronx and then New Jersey, where, alone in front of a large mirror in his basement, he sang along to recordings of Marvin Gaye and the Righteous Brothers. At Dartmouth, he discovered musical theater and “was hooked.” After Dartmouth, he headed to Northampton for a master’s degree in theatre at Smith.
A successful actor on stage and in film and television, Zaks’ directing credits began Off-Broadway in 1979 with Christopher Durang’s comedy Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You. Since then, he has directed more than thirty New York productions and has received four Tony Awards and eight Tony Award nominations, as well as four Drama Desks, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, and an Obie. Among his credits are The House of Blue Leaves, the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls, Little Shop of Horrors, Lend Me a Tenor, Six Degrees of Separation, Anything Goes, Smokey Joe’s Café, Sister Act, A Bronx Tale, the 2017 revival of Hello Dolly and Mrs. Doubtfire. He also directed the award-winning film Marvin’s Room, with Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton.
Jerry Zaks is a founding member of the Ensemble Studio Theater and now serves on its board. His honors include the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Dartmouth in 1999, and induction to the Theater Hall of Fame in 2013.
Topic: 'A Conversation with Jerry Zaks'
Date: Monday, April 4, 2022 (Eastern)
Time: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Eastern)
Attendance - Unlimited
Cost: Free to Members and Nonmembers
Members and Nonmembers: Click to Register
Zoom information will be provided with Registration Confirmation