Michael Kahn, Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company since 1986, has led the Company to national and international prominence, including the 2012 Tony Award for Regional Theater. He has voiced documentaries on AIDS awareness and Harvey Milk championed marriage equality written op-eds for The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and PBS's In The Life and advocated for the rights of gays and lesbians in the military and abroad. Fierstein is also a prominent social and political commentator.

Doubtfire, Bullets Over Broadway, Death to Smoochy, and Independence Day on stage in Hairspray (Tony Award), Fiddler on the Roof, and La Cage aux Folles and in television shows such as How I Met Your Mother, Family Guy, Cheers (Emmy nomination), The Simpsons, and Nurse Jackie. Fierstein is known for his performances in the films Mrs. Fierstein is also the author of the children’s book The Sissy Duckling and received the Humanitas Prize for its HBO film adaptation.Īs an actor, Mr. He received Tony Award nominations for Best Book of a Musical for the currently running Broadway hits Newsies and Kinky Boots.

His other theatrical projects include Safe Sex, Forget Him, Spookhouse, and the libretti for the musicals Legs Diamond and A Catered Affair. Fierstein wrote the libretto (and won another Tony Award) for the musical La Cage aux Folles, which, like Torch Song Trilogy, treats its central gay relationship as equal to its straight counterparts. Fierstein reprised his lauded performance in the subsequent Los Angeles and London productions.įollowing the success of Torch Song Trilogy, Mr. For his portrayal of Arnold, Fierstein received the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor, as well as a Drama Desk Award and Theater World Award. The production received the Tony Award for Best Play, as well as the Drama Desk, OBIE, and Dramatist Guild Awards. Torch Song Trilogy debuted Off Broadway in 1981, then transferred to Broadway in 1982. The three one-acts that comprise Torch Song Trilogy- The International Stud, Fugue in a Nursery, and Widows and Children First!-individually premiered at La MaMa ETC beginning in 1978, forever changing his career trajectory.

Fierstein’s early works include Flatbush Tosca, In Search of the Cobra Jewels, and Freaky Pussy. He followed that with appearances in more than 60 Off Off Broadway productions including work with The Playhouse of the Ridiculous, Negro Ensemble Company, WPA, and Theater Genesis. Harvey Fierstein made his professional acting debut at La MaMa ETC in 1971 in Andy Warhol's only play, Pork.

Torch song trilogy on broadway