Author Description

"Julie Taymor is one of the most imaginative and provocative directors and designers working in the performing arts. Her productions range from musicals and Shakespeare plays - among them The Lion King, Juan Darien, and The Tempest - to classical operas and films - The Flying Dutchman, Oedipus Rex, Titus, and others. She has collaborated with such world-renowned artists as Jessye Norman, Seiji Ozawa, and Zubin Mehta, as well as with highly respected stage and film actors, including Robert Stattel and Anthony Hopkins. Her Broadway smash The Lion King won six Tony Awards, including two for her direction and costume designs."--BOOK JACKET. "In this volume, Eileen Blumenthal traces Taymor's theatrical apprenticeship: in France, where she studied mime; at Oberlin College, where she worked with the experimental director Herbert Blau; in Indonesia, where she honed her directorial skills by immersing herself in traditional dance-drama, puppetry, and mask-making and formed her own theater company, Teatr Loh; and in New York, where she has further developed her art. Blumenthal then presents many of Taymor's major projects in theater, opera, and film. The numerous pictures illustrating Blumenthal's text include production photos, Taymor's sketches for characters and costumes, and shots of her in rehearsal and constructing puppets and masks."--BOOK JACKET.