Biography of Douglas C Wager

Douglas C. Wager currently serves as Artistic Director and Head of Directing for Temple University. He came to Philadelphia in 2003 to serve as Director in Residence for the Prince Music Theater where he staged It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues; the world premiere of The Great Ostrovsky by Cy Coleman and Avery Corman, for which he received his first Barrymore Award Nomination for outstanding direction of a musical; and the world premiere of Gemini, the Musical, by Albert Innaurato and Charles Gilbert. Prior to that, he spent several years in Los Angeles working in film and television after spending more than twenty years as a resident director and producer with the renowned Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Mr. Wager served as Arena's Artistic Director for seven seasons, from 1991 to 1998. While in residence at Arena, he was involved in producing over two hundred productions, beginning his distinguished career there as an intern in 1974. During his tenure, he directed over fifty plays in the main season, ranging from large-scale musicals to classics and new plays, world and American premieres, and he produced over sixty productions as Artistic Director. For his work as a director in Washington, DC, Mr. Wager has received three Helen Hayes awards and thirteen nominations for Outstanding Director. His copious and nationally celebrated work has been seen in New York, both on and off Broadway, and regionally at major theaters across the country such as The Mark Taper Forum, The Guthrie Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theater, and the Washington Opera. In 2002, he was invited to direct The Front Page as the opening production of England's acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre's 40th Anniversary Season. He most recently directed Joe Orton's Loot for the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia, Comedy of Errors for The Shakespeare Theater in Washington, DC, and Measure for Measurefor NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. In May of 2007, he staged Duke Ellington'sShakespeare Suites for the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, featuring the Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra and actor Avery Brooks with choreography by Mercedes Ellington. While in Los Angeles, Mr. Wager directed the series premiere and several episodes of The Lot, a single-camera period comedy/drama produced by AMC Television Network. For Temple University, he has staged Alan Ayckbourn's Taking Steps and Tom Stoppard's On the Razzle,and the Philadelphia premiere of Stephen Adly Guirgis' Our Lady of 121st Street. In the fall of 2007, he adapted and directed the highly acclaimed world premiere of In Conflict, based on the book by Yvonne Latty. The play has subsequently toured to the KCACTF American College Theater Festival, The Long Wharf Theater, and The Edinburgh Fringe. In Conflict will have its New York Off Broadway premiere in the fall of 2008 at The Culture Project.