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Robert Falls
Robert Falls (born March 2, 1954) is an American theater director and the former artistic director of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. Hailed as "Chicago's most essential director" by the Chicago Tribune, Falls' four-decade career spans groundbreaking new plays, reimagined classics, opera, and large-scale musical works. He has been featured in American Theatre magazine as one of the "most powerful" individuals in the American theater.
Robert Arthur Falls was born March 2, 1954, in Springfield, IL to Arthur Joseph Falls and Nancy (Stribling) Falls. He grew up in Ashland, IL, before moving with his family to Champaign at age 12 and later to suburban Chicago. After earning a BFA in Directing and Playwriting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1976, he briefly studied acting in New York with Edward Kaye-Martin.
Falls returned to the Midwest to direct Michael Weller's Moonchildren for Apollo Productions in Chicago—a remount of his university production. Its success earned him a Joseph Jefferson Award. His 1977 staging of Of Mice and Men at Wisdom Bridge Theatre brought a second Jeff Award and his appointment as artistic director at age 23.
From 1977 to 1985, Falls led Wisdom Bridge, where he built his reputation for bold, emotionally charged interpretations of classic and contemporary works. His productions included Travesties, Mother Courage and Her Children, A Streetcar Named Desire, In the Belly of the Beast; and John Olive's Standing on My Knees, which transferred to the Manhattan Theatre Club. Falls also championed innovative artists like Shozo Sato, who reimagined Western classics through Japanese Kabuki, broadening the theater's appeal.
Under his leadership, Wisdom Bridge became known for inventive, off-Loop theatre. Falls concluded his tenure in 1985 with Hamlet, starring Aidan Quinn, before becoming artistic director of the Goodman Theatre in 1986.
Two of Mr. Falls' most highly acclaimed Broadway productions, Death of a Salesman and Long Day's Journey into Night (both first staged at Chicago's Goodman Theatre) won seven Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards combined. Other noteworthy Broadway productions include Shining City (Tony Award nomination), Talk Radio (Tony Award nomination), The Rose Tattoo (Tony Award nomination), Desire Under the Elms, The Night of the Iguana, and The Young Man from Atlanta. His Broadway production of Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, for which he also co-wrote the book, continues to be performed worldwide.
Off-Broadway, Falls directed The Iceman Cometh, The Jacksonian, Swing State, Blue Surge, The Food Chain, subUrbia (Obie Award), and We're Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time. His directing honors include a Helen Hayes Award for King Lear and multiple Jeff Awards.
Falls made his operatic debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1993 with Susannah, starring Renee Fleming and Samuel Ramey. He later directed The Consul for Lyric Opera and returned to Susannah for New York's Metropolitan Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Washington Opera, the Grand Théâtre de Genève in Switzerland, and the Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao, Spain. In 2019, he directed Don Giovanni for Lyric Opera and again in 2020 for Dallas Opera.
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Robert Falls
Robert Falls (born March 2, 1954) is an American theater director and the former artistic director of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. Hailed as "Chicago's most essential director" by the Chicago Tribune, Falls' four-decade career spans groundbreaking new plays, reimagined classics, opera, and large-scale musical works. He has been featured in American Theatre magazine as one of the "most powerful" individuals in the American theater.
Robert Arthur Falls was born March 2, 1954, in Springfield, IL to Arthur Joseph Falls and Nancy (Stribling) Falls. He grew up in Ashland, IL, before moving with his family to Champaign at age 12 and later to suburban Chicago. After earning a BFA in Directing and Playwriting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1976, he briefly studied acting in New York with Edward Kaye-Martin.
Falls returned to the Midwest to direct Michael Weller's Moonchildren for Apollo Productions in Chicago—a remount of his university production. Its success earned him a Joseph Jefferson Award. His 1977 staging of Of Mice and Men at Wisdom Bridge Theatre brought a second Jeff Award and his appointment as artistic director at age 23.
From 1977 to 1985, Falls led Wisdom Bridge, where he built his reputation for bold, emotionally charged interpretations of classic and contemporary works. His productions included Travesties, Mother Courage and Her Children, A Streetcar Named Desire, In the Belly of the Beast; and John Olive's Standing on My Knees, which transferred to the Manhattan Theatre Club. Falls also championed innovative artists like Shozo Sato, who reimagined Western classics through Japanese Kabuki, broadening the theater's appeal.
Under his leadership, Wisdom Bridge became known for inventive, off-Loop theatre. Falls concluded his tenure in 1985 with Hamlet, starring Aidan Quinn, before becoming artistic director of the Goodman Theatre in 1986.
Two of Mr. Falls' most highly acclaimed Broadway productions, Death of a Salesman and Long Day's Journey into Night (both first staged at Chicago's Goodman Theatre) won seven Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards combined. Other noteworthy Broadway productions include Shining City (Tony Award nomination), Talk Radio (Tony Award nomination), The Rose Tattoo (Tony Award nomination), Desire Under the Elms, The Night of the Iguana, and The Young Man from Atlanta. His Broadway production of Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, for which he also co-wrote the book, continues to be performed worldwide.
Off-Broadway, Falls directed The Iceman Cometh, The Jacksonian, Swing State, Blue Surge, The Food Chain, subUrbia (Obie Award), and We're Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time. His directing honors include a Helen Hayes Award for King Lear and multiple Jeff Awards.
Falls made his operatic debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1993 with Susannah, starring Renee Fleming and Samuel Ramey. He later directed The Consul for Lyric Opera and returned to Susannah for New York's Metropolitan Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Washington Opera, the Grand Théâtre de Genève in Switzerland, and the Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao, Spain. In 2019, he directed Don Giovanni for Lyric Opera and again in 2020 for Dallas Opera.