2023 Master Teacher - Jerry Zaks

Jerry Zaks is a renowned American stage and television director, and actor.  His most recent success is as Director for The Music Man, starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster.  Jerry will soon be directing the touring company of Mrs. Doubtfire, after having directed it on Broadway. He has been nominated for eight Tony Awards, winning four for The House of Blue Leaves, Lend Me a Tenor, Six Degrees of Separation, and Guys and Dolls.

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On Broadway, he has also directed Sister Act, Hello Dolly, La Cage aux Folles, Little Shop of Horrors, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, among many others.  He directed feature films Marvin’s Room and Who Do You Love.

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Jerry began his theater career as an actor, performing in Tintypes and as Kenickie in Grease.  His big screen credits as an actor include Outrageous Fortune, Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Husbands and Wives.  On the small screen he appeared in M*A*S*H and The Edge of Night, and has directed episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, Hope and Faith, and Two and a Half Men, and more. 

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He served as Resident Director at the Lincoln Center in New York for four years.  Jerry has received the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theater, an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Dartmouth College, and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.