Des Mcanuff
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Two-time Tony Award-winning director Des McAnuff grew up in Canada and moved to NYC in the mid-1970s, co-founding the Dodger Theatre Company and directing their first production "Gimme Shelter" in 1978. His production of "The Death of Von Richthofen as Witnessed From Earth" (1982), complete with special effects like a flying piano, got him tagged a "wunderkind" in Newsweek and convinced La Jolla Playhouse board members to hire him as artistic director. During his tenure at La Jolla, he directed four shows that he eventually brought to Broadway, beginning with "Big River" (1985), Roger Miller's musical version of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," and followed by Lee Blessing's "A Walk in the Woods" (1988), "The Who's 'Tommy'" (1993) and the revisal of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (1995). He received his first film credit as director of the "Henry V" theatrical unit for Penny Marshall's "Renaissance Man" (1994) and finally made his feature directorial debut with the 19th Century period piece "Cousin Bette" (1998), adapted from Honore Balzac's novel "La Cousin Bette." McAnuff produced the animated "Iron Giant" (1999) based on the Ted Hughes novel "Iron Giant: A Story in Five Nights" before working on his own live-action/animated feature, "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" (2000).
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Director (Special)
Cast (Special)
Writer (Special)
Music (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Life Events
1964
Began composing music (date approximate)
1969
While still in high school, wrote and directed "Urbania", a 26-song musical
1975
Moved to NYC at age 23 (date approximate)
1977
Directed "The Crazy Locomotive" at two NYC venues
1978
Co-founded Dodger Theatre Company, NYC; directed company's first production "Gimme Shelter"
1979
Wrote, directed and composed music for "Leave It To Beaver Is Dead" at NYC's Public Theater
1982
Wrote, directed and composed music for "The Death of Von Richthofen as Witnessed from Earth" at Public Theater
1983
Became artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, California
1985
Broadway directorial debut, "Big River", a musical version of "Huckleberry Finn"; show received seven Tony Awards, including one for Best Director (Musical)
1986
Staged world premiere of Lee Blessing's "A Walk in the Woods" at La Jolla Playhouse (restaged it at Yale Repertory Theatre in 1987 and on Broadway in 1988)
1993
Brought The Who's "Tommy" from La Jolla Playhouse to Broadway, winning his second Tony as Best Director (Musical)
1994
Stepped down as artistic director at La Jolla, becoming its director-in-residence instead
1994
Made short film "Bad Dates"
1994
Abandoned plans to make feature directing debut with a biopic of James Dean to star Leonardo DiCaprio; cited conflict with theater commitments
1994
First feature film credit as director of "Henry V" theatrical unit for Penny Marshall's "Renaissance Man"
1995
Directed Broadway revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (debuted in La Jolla)
1998
Reportedly did uncredited doctoring on the Broadway musical "High Society"
1998
Feature film directorial debut, "Cousin Bette"
2000
Helmed second feature, a combined live-action animated version of "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle"
Family
Companions
