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Sabra Jones

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sabra Jones
EducationNew York University (BFA)
OccupationFounding & Producing Artistic Director
OrganizationThe Mirror Theater Ltd
SpouseJohn Strasberg (1976–1988) Thomas McAteer (1988–2010)
Children1

Sabra Jones is an American actress, director, writer, and producer known for her expansive collection of artistic work and for founding The Mirror Theater Ltd. She has produced over 172 theatrical productions in New York City, London, and around the country, including the 1982 Broadway production of Alice in Wonderland.[1]

Jones has acted on Broadway, at the Metropolitan Opera, in numerous regional productions, and in select television and film roles.[2] She currently lives between Manhattan and Vermont, working as the Founding & Producing Artistic Director for The Mirror Theater Ltd and for The Mirror’s Vermont chapter, the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency.[3]

Biography

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Sabra Jones grew up in a small town just outside of Los Angeles, separated from the metropolitan hubbub and yet close to the city's arts. At 18, she moved east to Manhattan to attend NYU and earned a BFA from the Tisch School of the Arts.[4] Shortly after, she landed her first Broadway role, a lead in Butterflies Are Free.

Following this, Jones met and married John Strasberg--son of Actors Studio Artistic Director Lee Strasberg--and founded The Mirror Theater Ltd “under the mentorship of Harold Clurman, Ellis Rabb, Eva Le Gallienne, Alan Schneider, and John Gielgud.”[5] Though Strasberg and Jones divorced, the company flourished, expanding into The Mirror Repertory Company (MRC)[6] and eventually developing the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency (GAAR).[7] Jones' son, Charlie McAteer, is currently co-Artistic Director for The Mirror.[8]

Outside of performing, directing, and producing, Jones is known for her award-winning Arts in Education program. She taught for almost nine years at the Lee Strasberg Institute, was a Professor of Acting at Pace University, directed at the Manhattanville College, and taught years of Mirror Rep Ensemble Classes as a Master Teacher.[9]

Career

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Acting

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Jones made her Broadway debut in 1971, replacing Blythe Danner as Jill Tanner in Butterflies Are Free and continuing the role in the First National Tour. She also appeared in the original production of Six Degrees of Separation at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. In 1972, Jones made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the Duchess of Krackenthorp in La Fille du Régiment and later acted as Andromache in Les Troyens. Jones also performed in 13 plays with her own Mirror Repertory Company,[10] nominated by the Outer Critics Circle for Best Acting Ensemble and Best Sustained Excellence. Other New York and select regional credits include Sally and Marsha, Someone, Hot Buttered Bourbon, Jigsaw, Indiscretions, and Our Town. Jones starred as Marcella in the 1979 film Night-Flowers[11] and appears on episodes of Law & Order and Laverne & Shirley.[12]

Directing

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Sabra Jones has directed nearly 80 productions, many with the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency. Her most recent directing credits include The Sound of Music (2012), The Music Man (2013), The Miracle Worker (2014), Hamlet (2015), and To Kill a Mockingbird (2016). Her shows with the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency have been called "absolutely delightful", "bold", and "high quality".[13][14]

Her production of To Kill a Mockingbird (2016), starring Sean Haberle, Tony nominee Marla Schaffel, and Tony nominee Katheryn Meisle, was so highly regarded that local papers termed it "a masterpiece" and the Rev. Richard Fenn of Princeton Theological Seminary called it "liturgy" because of its beauty.

Sabra directed The Children's Hour at Marymount College in Purchase, New York. She is presently tagged to direct the world premier of Bernard Pomerance's only unpublished play, Miranda. It explores the fictional lives of Prospero and an adult Miranda after their return to Italy from the Island in The Tempest by Shakespeare, as well as the founding of America and the fate of Powhatan tribes at the hands of British settlers.

Writing

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Jones traveled to the Philippines as a journalist, “interview[ing] former Philippine presidents Garcia, Macapagal, and Marcos and [writing] features on Corregidor’s infamous Malinta Tunnel.”[15] She is also an award-winning poet—her poem “Christus Neger” won first prize at the University of California—and playwright, winning the Dramalogue Best New Play award for her play One Hundred Percent Alive.[16]

Producing

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With over 170 producing credits and a Tony nomination, Jones’ producing experience spans from Broadway to London with much in between. Her show Alice in Wonderland, directed by Eva Le Gallienne, opened on Broadway in 1982 garnering a Tony nomination.[17] She produced the WNET13 Masterpiece Theatre Production for television.[18] With The Mirror Repertory Company, Jones produced three full repertory seasons. She continues to work for The Mirror Theater Ltd and the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency today. Her latest production, Sinners (written by Joshua Sobol, dir. Brian Cox), debuted in Vermont in summer 2016[19] and will be performed in Boston in March.

In a review of Sinners, Boston's Arts Fuse said, "This sort of bravery has become very rare in American theater. For far too long, artists and administrators have been arrogantly confident that words such as “truth” and “freedom” mean what they have always meant; confident that the only major political problem theater has left to tackle is that of the issue of equitable representation; confident that all we need to know about enlightenment could be found via staring at our own navels. Our theaters have blinded themselves to the world’s most lethal evils, and have looked for every excuse to ignore its victims. This is why the very fact that Sinners is playing anywhere in America matters."[20]

The Mirror

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The Mirror Theater Ltd was founded by Sabra Jones in 1983. The company was created to be an alternating repertory company and included founding members Eva Le Gallienne, John Strasberg, and Geraldine Page. Laurance S. Rockefeller was the primary philanthropist behind the company's creation, but other actors and philanthropists like Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, and Paul Newman also offered support. The company began at a small, 70-seat theater at the Real Stage Acting School.[21] After receiving positive reviews in the New York Times,[22] the company was moved Off-Broadway to the Theatre at St. Peter's Church. The Mirror Repertory Company presented three repertory seasons. Through the 1990s, the Mirror produced shows in New York and London[23] and the company focused on Arts-in-Education. Today, The Mirror continues to produce in New York, Boston, and Vermont.[24]

Performance work

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Stage performance

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Year Title Theatre Role Notes
1990 Six Degrees of Separation Vivian Beaumont Kitty; Ouisa, alt. Stockard Channing, Swoozie Kurtz Broadway
1971 Butterflies Are Free Booth Theatre Jill Tanner Broadway and First National Tour
1972 La Fille du Régiment Metropolitan Opera Duchess of Krackenthorp w/Luciano Pavarotti and June Anderson
1993 Les Troyens Metropolitan Opera Andromache w/Maria Ewing and Samuel Ramey
1979 Sally and Marsha Manhattan Theatre Club Sally w/Bernadette Peters and Christine Baranski
1998 Someone Ensemble Studio Theatre Janis w/Mark Forestine
2000 Hot Buttered Bourbon Ensemble Studio Theatre Orchid w/Roberta Wallach
2000 Jigsaw Peccadillo Theatre Clair Burnell First NY production since 1934
1984 Joan of Lorraine Theatre at the Real Stage Joan w/Will Patton
1984 Inheritors Theatre at St. Peter's Church Madeline w/Geraldine Page
1984 Paradise Lost Theatre at St. Peter's Church Libby w/Mason Adams, Maxwell Caulfield, and Juliet Mills
1984 Rain Theatre at St. Peter's Church Sadie Thompson w/David Cryer, Madeleine Sherwood and Jim Rebhorn
1984 Ghosts Theatre at St. Peter's Church Regina w/Geraldine Page and Victor Slezak
1985 The Madwoman of Chaillot Theatre at St. Peter's Church Irma w/Geraldine Page, Carrie Nye, Jane White, and F. Murray Abraham. On view at the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center.
1985 Clarence Theatre at St. Peter's Church Violet Pinney On view at the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center.
1985 Vivat! Vivat Regina! Theatre at St. Peter's Church Mary of Scotland w/Geraldine Page. On view at the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center.
1986 Children of the Sun Theatre at St. Peter's Church Melaniya w/Michael Moriarty and Elizabeth France
1986 The Time of Your Life Theatre on Main Street Kitty Duval The Mirror Rep in Belfast, Maine.
1986 Les Liaisons Dangereuse Theatre on Main Street Mme. Mereteuil U.S. Premiere. The Mirror Rep in Belfast, Maine.
1986 The Seagull Theatre on Main Street Arcadina The Mirror Rep in Belfast, Maine. Dir. Robert Lewis.

Television and film

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Year Title Role Notes
1998 Law & Order (NBC) Tracy Teasdale Episode: "Bait"
1979 Night-Flowers Marcella Film
1978 Laverne & Shirley Irma Episode: "The Quiz Show"

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Ceremony Category Work Role Result
1965 University of California Poetry Prize N/A "Christus Neger" (poem) Poet Won
1979 Dramalogue Award Best New Play One Hundred Percent Alive (play) Playwright Won
1983 Tony Award Best Costume Design (Patricia Zipprodt) Alice in Wonderland (play) Producer Nominated
1984 Outer Critics Circle Award Best Acting Ensemble Mirror Repertory Company, First Season Actress/Producer Nominated
1985 Outer Critics Circle Award Best Sustained Excellence Mirror Repertory Company, Second Season Actress/Producer Nominated
1998 Brown and Williamson Achiever Award N/A Arts in Education Program Educator Won
2017 SDC fichandler award Best Regional Directorial Excellence All Productions Directed for GAAR Director Nominated

References

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  1. ^ Alice in Wonderland – Broadway Play – 1982 Revival" IBDB. The Broadway League, 1982.
  2. ^ Jones, Sabra. Résumé. [2016].
  3. ^ Hallenbeck, Brent. "Greensboro Group Plans Globe-esque Theater." Burlington Free Press, 10 Aug. 2014
  4. ^ Galloway, Anne. "In Greensboro, Bard-Inspired Summer Theater - and a Stage?" Seven Days, 8 Feb. 2017.
  5. ^ "Leadership & Staff." The Mirror Theater Ltd. N.p., n.d. .
  6. ^ Bennetts, Leslie. "REPERTORY COMPANY BLOSSOMS." The New York Times, 26 June 1984
  7. ^ Hallenbeck, Brent. "Greensboro Group Plans Globe-esque Theater." Burlington Free Press, 10 Aug. 2014. Web. Jump up ^
  8. ^ "Leadership & Staff." The Mirror Theater Ltd. N.p., n.d.
  9. ^ "Sabra Jones" LinkedIn. 2016
  10. ^ Beaufort, John. "Freshness and Style at the Mirror Rep: 'Madwoman' and 'Clarence'." The Christian Science Monitor. 5 March 1985
  11. ^ "Sabra Jones." BFI Film Forever. BFI, n.d.
  12. ^ "Sabra Jones" IMDb. n.d.
  13. ^ Ayers Cravedi, Stephanie. Interview. 2016.
  14. ^ Lowe, Jim. "Review". The Times Argus. 2016.
  15. ^ "Leadership & Staff" The Mirror Theater Ltd. N.p., n.d.
  16. ^ "Sabra Jones" LinkedIn, 2016.
  17. ^ "Alice in Wonderland – Broadway Play – 1982 Revival" IBDB. The Broadway League, 1982
  18. ^ "Masterpiece PBS Online." THIRTEEN - New York Public Media. WNET13, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
  19. ^ "Olivier Winner Brian Cox to Helm World Premiere of SINNERS at GAAR This Summer." BroadwayWorld, 14 June 2016.
  20. ^ "Stage Review: "Sinners" — Theater that Matters".
  21. ^ Nightingale, Benedict. "DRAMAS FROM THE PAST THAT SPEAK TO THE PRESENT." The New York Times, 7 Jan. 1984
  22. ^ Nightingale, Benedict. "DRAMAS FROM THE PAST THAT SPEAK TO THE PRESENT." The New York Times, 7 Jan. 1984
  23. ^ BWW News Desk. "Brian Cox & Brian Murphy to Talk Shakespeare at Mirror Repertory Company, 7/26." Broadway World, 24 July 2015.
  24. ^ Editorial Staff. "Brian Cox Named Co-Artistic Director of Mirror Theater Ltd. and Greensboro Arts Alliance." TheaterMania, 29 July 2016.