34 Facts About Peter Sellars

Peter Sellars was born on September 27,1957 and is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays.

Peter Sellars is widely regarded as one of the key figures of theatre and opera of the last 50 years.

Peter Sellars was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.

Later, Peter Sellars studied theatre and related arts in Japan, China, and India.

Peter Sellars's productions included an influential Pericles, Prince of Tyre and a staging of The Lighthouse, with music by British composer Peter Maxwell Davies.

In 1984, Peter Sellars was named director and manager of the American National Theater at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC at the age of 26; he held this post until 1986.

Peter Sellars directed productions of Idiot's Delight by Robert Sherwood, and Sophocles's Ajax, as adapted by Robert Auletta.

Peter Sellars was Artistic Director of the 1990 and 1993 Los Angeles Festivals, presenting works of talented artists such as the late Iranian director Reza Abdoh, and playwright Frank Ambriz.

Peter Sellars produced the three operas by Mozart with libretti by da Ponte, Cosi fan tutte, The Marriage of Figaro, and Don Giovanni, in collaboration with Emmanuel Music and its Artistic Director, Craig Smith.

Peter Sellars co-wrote and was featured in Jean-Luc Godard's film of the Shakespeare play King Lear.

Peter Sellars staged Handel's opera Giulio Cesare and oratorio Theodora, and Stravinsky's A Soldier's Tale, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, in addition to I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky and The Peony Pavilion.

In 1998, Peter Sellars was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his work combining European and American cultural traditions in opera and theatre.

Peter Sellars has acted in very small roles in TV series, including Miami Vice and The Equalizer.

Peter Sellars was the librettist for the opera Doctor Atomic composed by John Adams.

In late 2006, Peter Sellars organized the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna, Austria as Artistic Director.

Peter Sellars directed the premieres of Saariaho's oratorio La Passion de Simone and Adams's most recent opera, A Flowering Tree, in Vienna.

In 2007, Peter Sellars delivered the "State of Cinema" address at the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival on April 29.

Peter Sellars introduced the screenings of Mahamat Saleh Haroun's Daratt and Garin Nugroho's Opera Jawa, two of the New Crowned Hope films.

An extensive commentary by Peter Sellars is included in the 2007 DVD of Grigori Kozintsev's King Lear by Facets Video.

In early 2009, Peter Sellars co-curated a contemporary art exhibition of work by Ethiopian artist Elias Sime at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, a kunsthalle in Santa Monica, California.

Peter Sellars's Othello, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as Iago, was produced in the Fall 2009 season at New York City's Public Theater.

In 2011, Peter Sellars directed a production of John Adams's opera Nixon in China for New York's Metropolitan Opera.

In 2011, Sellars's work was documented in John Freeman's book, The Greatest Shows on Earth: World Theatre from Peter Brook to the Sydney Olympics.

Peter Sellars wrote the libretto for John Adams's opera Girls of the Golden West.

In 2019 Peter Sellars gave the keynote address at the Salzburg Festival.

Peter Sellars is a professor at the University of California Los Angeles.

Peter Sellars has been criticized for straying too far from composers' intentions.

Peter Sellars again worked with Saariaho in directing the 2006 Paris, and 2008 Helsinki and Santa Fe presentations of her second opera, Adriana Mater.

In 2001, Peter Sellars briefly directed South Australia's Adelaide Festival of Arts before being replaced by Sue Nattrass.

Peter Sellars' directorship remains the most controversial in the festival's history.

Peter Sellars said the reason behind his shock departure was that he was "impeding the forward progress of the Festival".

Peter Sellars asked the community to take a leap of faith for his particular Festival which was based around themes.

Peter Sellars rejected what he termed 'the shopping trolley' approach to Festivals.

The August 2019 Los Angeles Times piece on Peter Sellars focused on a production of Lohengrin directed by fellow MacArthur recipient Yuval Sharon.