CHARLES NELSON REILLY (Director) made his first stage appearance at P.S. 53 in the Bronx playing Columbus. He has directed Miss Harris in 11 plays, most recently in Ladies in Retirement, Exile in Jerusalem. He conceived both The Belle of Amherst w/Miss Harris & Paul Robeson w/James Earl Jones for B'way, London and PBS. B'way credits include Ira Levin's Break a Leg (Palace), Larry Shue's The Nerd. Between 1980 and 1990, he directed world premieres of the works of Ira Levin, Phillip Hayes Dean, James Kirkwood, William Gibson, Bill C. Davis, Ernest Thompson, Donald Freed, Clyde Talmage, Ron Clark, and Oliver Hailey. He directed The Last Flapper w/Piper Laurie (Alley Theatre), several plays at Long Wharf, and Death of the Salesman w/Miss Harris. Helmed the national company of Driving Miss Daisy w/Rosemary Prinz, Ted Lange, and directed Burt Reynolds in his one man play, The Lies, The Loves, The Legends, The Lies for a 40 city tour. Earlier this year he directed Mr. Reynolds and Ann-Margret in Love Letters at Mr. Reynolds theater in Florida and did The Subject was Roses (Caldwell Theater). He currently teaches at his school, The Faculty, in North Hollywood, HB Studio, and at the Burt Reynolds Institute for Theatre Training where the Equity theatre bears his name. He holds the Theatre Chair in Drama at Florida State Univ. and currently teaches young opera singers at Lyric Opera (Chicago), Santa Fe Opera and musical theater classes at Redlands Univ. Former & current pupils include Liza Minelli, Lily Tomlin, Bette Midler, Peter Boyle, Gary Burghoff, Ronnie Graham, Tom Poston, Terri Garr, Christine Lahti, Donna McKechnie, John DiAquino, Anastasia Barzee, Pepper Sweeney, Ed Beechner, Louis Cleale and Lisa De Simone. Opera: directed at major opera houses in Chicago, Dallas, San Diego, Minneapolis, Opera Pacifica and has future dates with Detroit Opera and Portland Opera. As an actor, he appeared in the original Bye, Bye Birdie, How to Succeed in Business...(Tony and Drama Critics Award), Hello Dolly (Tony nom.), Skyscraper w/Miss Harris, God's Favorite, and Charlotte w/Uta Hagen. TV: Recent TV roles: recurring role of Jose Chung on the "X Files", and guest spots on "The Gary Sanders Show", "Family Matters", "Dave's World", "The Rosie O'Donnell Show". Directed two seasons of "Evening Shade" and received an Emmy nom. for "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir." Mr. Reilly has a boat in Mariana del Rey called "La Boheme" and makes safety training films for power boats for the Coast Guard.
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