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Fred Curchack

1990-Present

Directing Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.  World Premiere of incidental music by Robert Xavier Rodriguez.  University of Texas at Dallas.  2002.

Wrote, directed, and performed solo, Glimpsings.  Cinnabar Theater, Petaluma, Ca.; Undermain Theater, Dallas.  2001-2002

Played all the roles in Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale with Robert Xavier Rodriguez and Musica Nova.  UTD.  2001.

Directed and edited two half-hour videos of Bakkhai and Lear's Shadow.  The Dallas Video Festival at the Dallas Theater Center.  2001. 

Directed Euripides' Bakkhai.  Also played role of Kadmos.  World premiere of a new translation by Reginald Gibbons (Oxford University Press).  The University of Texas at Dallas.  2001.

Wrote, directed, and performed (with Shannon Kearns), Lear's Shadow. The MAC, Dallas; Cinnabar Theater, Petaluma CA. 2000.

Co-created and directed Measuring Man. Performed by Daniel Stein and Robert Smythe. Dell'Arte Theater, Blue Lake CA.; Mum Puppet Theatre, Philadelphia; national tour. 2000.

Wrote, directed, and performed solo, Live Love Acts. Undermain Theatre, Dallas; Cinnabar Theater. 1999.

Video retrospective of nine solo performances presented by the Dallas Video Association. Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas. 1999.

Directed, designed, shot, edited video, composed music, and performed solo, Hamet: Carnal, Bloody, & Unnatural Acts. Cinnabar Theater, Petaluma CA.; Dallas Video Festival at the Dallas Theater Center. 1999.

Directorial Consultant for Theater of the Independent Eye’s production, Innana. Philadelphia. 1999.

Narrated The Song of Songs by Robert Xavier Rodriguez. Petaluma Music Festival. Petaluma, California. 1999.

Reworked Stuff As Dreams Are Made On and performed it at the Seattle International Children's Festival. 1999.

Video performance of role of Macheath in scenes from The Beggar's Opera and commedia scenes in Musica Nova concert. The University of Texas at Dallas. 1999.

Read original stories, poems, and songs. Presented by Wordspace at the Dallas Institute for the Humanities. 1999.

Performed a retrospective of original performances and works by Shakespeare, Blake, and Yeats. UTD. 1998.

Directed, shot, edited feature-length video, The Secret Life of UTD. The University of Texas at Dallas. 1998.

Wrote, directed, designed, shot, and edited video for new solo A Surprise Party. Cinnabar Theater, Petaluma CA.; Dallas Theater Center (The Dallas Video Festival); The Dallas Institute for the Humanities; University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 1997 - 1998. Received the Dallas Theatre Critics’ Forum’s "Outstanding Performance Award."

Directorial Consultant to Erika Batdorf’s solo performances Facing East, and Mr. Raisinhead. New York Fringe Festival and tour. 1998.

Wrote and performed Orpheus in Hollywood: a Myth Mash. (Solo version) The MAC, Dallas; Cinnabar Theater, CA. 1997. Chosen for "Top Ten of 1997" by the Dallas Morning News.

Wrote, directed, and performed Multiple Climaxes. El Teatro, Tunis, Tunisia. 1997.

Directed, shot, and edited feature-length video, Orpheus in Hollywood. The University of Texas at Dallas. 1997.

Performed video of To Have Done with the Judgement of God by Antonin Artaud. Undermain Theater. 1997.

Shot and edited videos and directed concert by "Cafe Noir." The University of Texas at Dallas. 1997.

Wrote, directed, composed music, and performed ISSAC and ISHMAEL: A Biblical Debacle, in collaboration with percussionist/actor Jamal Mohamed. The MAC. 1996.

Wrote, directed, designed, composed music, made video, and performed The Comeback of Freddy Chickan at Cinnabar Theater, California; Smokebrush Theatre, Colorado Springs; and at The MAC, Dallas. The Dallas Morning News critic Lawson Taitte reviewed the work, calling Mr. Curchack a "theatrical genius...supremely talented artist." 1996.

Conceived and directed The Making of the American Entertainment Industry's Tribute to Freddy Chickan. The University of Texas at Dallas. 1996.

Associate Director/Visual Effects Designer for The Wanderings of Odysseus, a theatrical adaptation of The Odyssey, in collaboration with translator Alan Mandelbaum and actor/playwright John O'Keefe. Smokebrush Theatre, Colorado Springs. 1996.

Wrote, directed, designed, and performed in ABEL AND CAIN: A Biblical Debacle in collaboration with Daniel Stein. Odyssey Theater, LA; Pontine Theater, Portsmouth NH; Carthage International Theater Festival, Tunis, Tunisia; MidAtlantic Movement Theatre Festival, Baltimore MD. 1995.

Created THE SHOW: a Metatheatrical Hodgepodge. The University of Texas at Dallas. 1995.

Sang roles of Witch and Sailor in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. Conducted by Robert Xavier Rodriguez with principal singers from the Dallas Opera. The University of Texas at Dallas. 1995.

Wrote, directed, performed HEDDY and TEDDY: a closet drama. Wordfire Festival, New York; Henry Street Settlement, New York; Cinnabar Theater, Petaluma CA; Zachary Scott Theater, Austin TX. 1993.

Created and performed ART-O-RAMA JR., a solo children's performance tour of the Virginia Museum of Art, Richmond. 1993.

Played lead role in world premiere of Caesar, adapted from Shakespeare and directed by Charles Marowitz. Humboldt State University CA. 1993.

Created and performed The Land of Dreams, a solo for children. Dell'Arte Theatre, Blue Lake CA. 1993.

Conceived and directed Art-O-Rama #3: THE NEW WORLD/THE NEW WING, a performance tour of the Dallas Museum of Art's new Art of the Americas wing. Workshop with UTD students. 1993.

Collaborated with Lee Murray on video documentary of the process of creating FAMILY VALUES: A Closet Drama at UTD. KERA-TV and KDTN-TV, Dallas TX. 1993-94.

Performed with music ensemble Voices of Change, narrating Robert Xavier Rodriguez's Song of Songs from a story by Sholem Aleichem. The University of Texas at Dallas, 1992; Temple Shalom concert and studio recording of CD. 1994; Cinnabar Theater, Petaluma Ca. 1999.

Wrote, directed, composed music, made inter-active video, and performed scenes, songs, and dances from THE SEXUAL MYTHOLOGY TRILOGY. Cinnabar Theatre; Petaluma, Ca. 1993.

Conceived and directed FAMILY VALUES: A Closet Drama with students at The University of Texas at Dallas. 1992.

Wrote, directed, designed, performed WHAT FOOLS THESE MORTALS BE -- Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM re-visioned. International tour. Dallas Critics' "Outstanding Performance Award." Hensen International Puppetry Festival, New York Public Theater. 1992 - present.

Performed in Memory and Desire - A Theatre Marathon directed by Arthur Pellman. Seattle. 1992.

Made 26 minute video version of Sexual Mythology part 3: HEAVEN -or- The Big Talk Show for PBS-TV (KERA) show "Mind's Eye.: Dallas. 1992.

Performed excerpts from WHAT FOOLS THESE MORTALS BE on PBS-TV (KQED) show "Q." San Francisco. 1992.

Wrote and performed three radio spots for the Sonoma County Fair (aired on 15 S.F. Bay Area stations). 1992.

Performed in radio play The Girl With No Name. National Public Radio, Philidelphia. 1992.

Conceived and directed ART-O-RAMA with students from The University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Museum of Art. 1991.

Conceived, directed, designed, videotaped and edited, and performed Sexual Mythology part 3: HEAVEN -or- The Big Talk Show, with John O'Keefe, Cecile Pineda, Peter Rose, Frederick Turner; music by Robert Xavier Rodriguez. International tour. 1991.

Wrote, directed, designed, and performed solo, Sexual Mythology part 2: PURGATORY. National tour. 1989-91.

Recorded a story, song, and poem on an album (CD and cassette) for children. Benefit for Young Imaginations (arts education program); ("Children's Album of the Year," Parents' Choice Magazine). 1991.

Conceived and directed Isadora, a dance-theatre performance by Ellen Forman. Philadelphia. 1990.

Performed segment of Stuff As Dreams Are Made On for Alive from Off-Center. PBS (national television). 1990.

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1980-1989

Conceived and directed Sexual Mythology part 2: PURGATORY (ensemble version) music by Robert X. Rodriguez. The University of Texas at Dallas. 1989.

Wrote and performed Sexual Mythology part 1: THE UNDERWORLD, an ensemble music-theatre piece. Music by Robert X. Rodriguez and Jim Kohn. Theatre Garage, Dallas; Theatre Project, Baltimore; International Movement Theatre Festival, Philadelphia. 1989.

Co-created and directed Windowspeak with Daniel Stein, music by John Welstead. Created at U.T.D., followed by international tour. 1989.

Conceived and performed Legacy, a site-specific performance on the 25th anniversary of the assassination of J.F.K. at the Texas Theater, Dallas (where Oswald was apprehended) with Daniel Stein and Peter Rose. 1989.

Directorial consultant for dance-theatre performance Bread by Ellen Forman and the South Street Dance Company. International Movement Theatre Festival, Philadelphia. 1989.

Wrote adaptation and performed Chekhov's The Harmfulness of Tobacco. Palace Theatre, Petaluma, California; Theatre Garage, Dallas. 1988.

Directed and performed new version of solo Fred Breaks Bread with the Dead - fragments of a lost repertoire. Theatre Garage, Dallas. 1988.

Performed (and wrote, directed, composed music and designed) Inquest for Freddy Chickan International Theatre Festivals in the U.S., Canada, Berlin, national tour. 1987-1988.

Directed Chekhov's Uncle Vanya at the Dallas Theatre Center, with dramaturg Robert Corrigan and designer Eugene Lee. 1988.

Wrote, composed, sang, played guitar and recorded Sexual Mythology, an album of original songs. Performed live at Club DaDa, Dallas. 1988.

Ongoing collaboration with film/video artist Peter Rose on creating and recording audio and video pieces. 1987-present.

Directed Uncle Vanya at U.T.D. Collaborated with Robert Corrigan in teaching Chekhov seminar. 1987.

Conceived and directed Play House at The University of Texas at Dallas. 1987.

Directed America I Love You - an opera of e.e. cummings poems. Workshop with Cinnabar Opera Theatre, Petaluma, California. 1986.

Directed, sang,and improvised with "Totem" - a new music quintet. Performances in the San Francisco Bay Area. 1984-1986.

Conceived and directed Party at Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California. 1985.

Conceived and directed Cinnabar Time Voyagers with 30 children, grades K-6. Cinnabar School, Petaluma. 1984.

Created and performed PROJECT JOB: A Biblical Debacle. Collaboration with Zbigniew Cynkutis, director and actor from Grotowski's Polish Theatre Laboratory and Stephen Rappaport, Intersection, San Francisco and tour. 1984.

Performed all male voices and narration of The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain. Read Wounds in the Rain stories by Stephan Crane. Book of the Road, Tape Book Co. 1985.

Directed, adapted,and performed Dickens' A Christmas Carol and Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales. Cinnabar Theater, Petaluma. 1983.

Wrote, designed,and performed Stuff As Dreams Are Made On, Shakespeare's The Tempest, changed "into something rich and strange." Performed throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe. 1983-Present.

Wrote and directed PARROT ISLAND: A Nuclear Opera in collaboration with the Cinnabar Opera Theatre, Petaluma. 1983.

Directed and performed in A Gathering of Clowns, conceived with Raymond Burr as part of a 5 year theatre training program. Sonoma State University. 1983.

Directed and performed FRED BREAKS BREAD WITH THE DEAD: Fragments of a Lost Repertoire. Adaptations from Shakespeare, Beckett, Blake, Joyce, Yeats, Zeami, Brecht, O'Neill, the Old Testament. National Tour. 1982-Present.

Wrote, directed, and performed Incarnation. National tour. 1982.

Directed a movement-theatre adaptation of Stravinski's Les Noces with live music. Sonoma State University. 1982.

Performed Beckett's Cascando. 1981-Present.

Wrote, directed, and performed in The Birds, a musical-comedy adaptation of Aristophanes' The Birds and Lysistrata. Leavenworth Theatre, S.F. and SSU. 1980-81.

Conceived and directed IN TENTS: A Play About a Group That Goes into the Wilderness to Create a Play About a Group that Goes Into the Wilderness to Create. . . Lost Valley, Big Sur, and SSU. 1980.

Conceived, directed, and performed in The Mental Traveller, adapted from William Blake. The Performance Space, S.F. and Cinnabar Theatre, Petaluma. 1980.

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1970-1979

Conceived and directed The Young Man Who Gave the King's Daughter the Power of Speech--or--The Singing Cock, a musical adapted from a folk tale. SSU. 1979.

Directed CUCHULAIN: Three Plays by W.B. Yeats. The Performing Space, S.F., and SSU. 1979.

Conceived and directed All Hallows' Eve. The Performance Space, S.F., SSU, and Bay Area tour. 1978.

Conceived, directed, and performed Duo with Joya Cory and Motion: the Women's Performance Collective. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, S.F. 1978.

Directed and performed Hamlet Kathakali and Shunkan in Exile, a Noh play. National tour. 1977-1982.

Choreographed and performed in Oedipus the King adapted by Anthony Burgess. The Stage Company, New York. 1976.

Performance/demonstrations with Krishnan Nambudiri of Kathakali: South Indian dance-theatre. LaMaMa, NY, and east coast tour. 1975-76.

Wrote and directed Ain't It the Truth and directed Spoon River Anthology with the J.S.P.O.A. Players. Toured New York City Senior Citizen Centers with a company of seniors. 1974-75.

Co-wrote and performed in Solaris - a dance-theatre collaboration with the Philadelphia Composers' Forum. Dance Theatre Lab, New York. 1974-75.

Directed, composed music, and performed in W.B. Yeats' Purgatory. The Space for Innovative Development, New York, east coast tour. 1974.

Wrote, directed, and performed An Evening of NOH. Japan Society, New York, Boston Center for the Arts. 1974.

Performed in Pining Wind. Centrifugal Theatre Co., New York. 1973.

Wrote and directed EXORCISE IN LOVE AND WAR: a Blind Man's Song. Queensborough College, New York. 1973.

Wrote, directed, and performed The Garden of the Sightless Stones. Performance/lectures for Japanese artists in Kyoto and Osaka, Japan. 1972.

Wrote, directed, and performed in Jongleurs. Queens College and New York City tour. 1972.

Wrote, directed, and performed in The Dance of Life and Breath. Toured New York City Junior High Schools. 1971.

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1960-1969

Wrote, directed, and performed in Dream of Danang. LaMaMa Experimental Theater Co., New York. 1968.

Played Estragon in Waiting for Godot and Stephan Dedalus in Ulysses in Nighttown. Queens College, New York. 1967-68.

Wrote, directed and performed in Metaphysics in Mecklenberg Street or The Head. Queens College, New York. 1968.