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O’Rourke Director Portfolio

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Michael O'Rourke
Michael O'Rourke

A comprehensive look at my theatre and film work as director since since entering the professional arena at Oregon Shakes.

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Michael O’Rourke Portfolio LinkedIn Stage and Film Director
I worked 7 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as staff carpenter and director of Black Swan Midnight Projects. Built these two towers for Henry V.
Medea Director  Oregon Shakespeare Black Swan Project  With Kristin Patton, William Moreing, and Sands Hall 
Director of 11 projects while a student at the University of Wyoming, including a full length version of Hamlet.
“I’ve known three men who had the drive to start with nothing and form a viable and exciting company— Angus Bowmer [founder Oregon Shakespeare Festival], Michael Leibert [founder Berkeley Repertory], and Michael O’Rourke [founder Actors’ Theatre]. All three had the tenacity to overcome artistic and financial obstacles.” —Karl Barron, San Francisco Bay Area Critic .. inning . e beg In th
. . . Actors’ Theatre was a nomadic company performing on the street, at fairs, in bars, and empty office buildings . . .
ica l] Queen [mus The Snow re 1985 emie World Pr ne Building ho Ashland P
I welcomed the opportunity to cast an acting student at Southern Oregon University to play the title role in The Elephant Man as his BFA acting thesis. I directed the play on the backstage of a movie theatre, enlisting “the entire audience as extras in the opening crowd scenes.” “Elephant Man is brilliant, moving, excellent, A marvelous theatrical illusion that draws the audience inside the play . . . Doane [the student] portrays Merrick with consummate skill.” —Medford Mail Tribune (Note: I took the stage name O’Rourke in honor of my grandmother 6 months after this production.)
The Miracle on Main Theatre Before The main room of an office suite before we remodeled in 1987.
Miracle on Main Theatre After I designed this 49-seat black box.
• Amadeus “An intimate pageant with just 7 actors. . .” in the Miracle on Main Producer / Director
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN In the winter of ‘89 I negotiated a lease with an option to buy a vaudeville house in Talent, OR, 4 miles north of Ashland. I organized a successful capital campaign to purchase and renovate the Miracle Playhouse, where I directed a wide spectrum of plays.
Prince Caspian Fight Master
The Magician’s Nephew [musical]
Tale of Two Cities [musical] Miracle Playhouse
CO-AUTHOR / DIRECTOR A TRIBUTE TO GARLAND [MUSICAL REVUE] OREGON CABARET THEATRE / REGIONAL TOUR
Actors’ Theatre “An astonishing example of how a small company can become a major theatrical force ... Dazzling critics and audiences with audacious undertakings, as well as beautifully acted revivals of classics.” — A. J. Esta, critic for Back Stage
In the Land Where Acorns Dance After 5 years of research, I wrote a screenplay portraying the lifeways and suffering of the Winnemem Wintu in the wake of the Gold Rush of ’49 in Northern California. Directed 7 staged readings in Oregon and Alaska.
Anchorage Community Theatre Golden Anniversary 2003 Managing Artistic Director, Michael O’Rourke Mainstage Productions Count of Monte Cristo [world premiere] Long Day’s Journey Into Night [Alaska premiere] Magician’s Nephew [musical, Alaska premiere] Bus Stop [held over twice; invitation to Valdez] Woody Guthrie’s American Song [musical, Alaska premiere]
Bus Stop ACT Studio Theatre Co-Director / Co-Set Designer In 2003 I designed a 49-seat black box in a warehouse owned by ACT. For one of the first productions in the new Studio Theatre, we created “a terrific production design that put the audience right inside the diner.”
Dr. McDowell, president of Prince William Sound Community College, invited ACT to perform Bus Stop for the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, AK in June 2004. We transferred the set to a large proscenium stage, sitting 100 onstage—twice as many as in this theatre in Anchorage.
Bus Stop [Valdez]
Student Showcase Producer Anchorage Community Theatre Golden Anniversary 11 student showcases on school and club sites, and 13 showcases at the new ACT Studio Theatre Funded in part by grants from the Municipality of Anchorage, ConocoPhillips Alaska, and the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Education.
Scrap Mettle SOUL, Chicago, moved into the Ravenswood United Methodist Church rummage room with a flexible 120-seat theatre in the Fall of 2005, which we dubbed The New Theatre. As Artistic Director, I wrote and directed the winter show to open in the new black box.
musical book / director 2006 Streetwise performers and highly trained professionals, taking cues from the rhythms, languages, and ethnicities of Uptown, Chicago, work to build community through the arts in one of the most diverse neighborhood in the US. Rehearsal shots of “Uptown Christmas Carol” show a gritty new musical set in a Chicago homeless camp.
sica l] w Qu een [mu The Snoremiere 2006 e P o tr a Chicag ood New The w Ravens
Hoka Hey Stone Soup! Woodland Montessori Kindergarten 2011 Director / Adaptor
Still photo from my short film Refuge of Dragonflies, based on characters in Victor Hugo’s ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame.’ I wrote, directed & edited in 2008, winning 4 international film fest awards.
Great Plains Theatre Conference Omaha 2010 Carry Me [original play staged reading] Director
Dinner with Friends Madison Theatre Guild 2011
Screen adaptation & staged reading based on Winona’s powerful novel, which traces the lives of seven generations of Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. Winona was present for post show discussion.
“Michael O’Rourke has been tireless in his pursuit of excellence . . . his intelligence is keen . . . his imagination unlimited . . . his integrity unshakable. His vision for what this art can be or do for artists and audiences is among the highest I know. ” —James Edmondson, Associate Artist, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Michael O’Rourke Director http://vimeo.com/user2696242/videos Photos: Vilmar Borges, Lisa Byrne, Chava Florendo, David French, Kent Harrison, Rob Jaffe, Oliver Korshin, Hank Kranzler, Leah Levinger, James O. Mason, Helga Motley, Marie Schulte, Jared Silver.

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O’Rourke Director Portfolio

  • 1. Michael O’Rourke Portfolio LinkedIn Stage and Film Director
  • 2. I worked 7 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as staff carpenter and director of Black Swan Midnight Projects. Built these two towers for Henry V.
  • 3. Medea Director  Oregon Shakespeare Black Swan Project  With Kristin Patton, William Moreing, and Sands Hall 
  • 4. Director of 11 projects while a student at the University of Wyoming, including a full length version of Hamlet.
  • 5. “I’ve known three men who had the drive to start with nothing and form a viable and exciting company— Angus Bowmer [founder Oregon Shakespeare Festival], Michael Leibert [founder Berkeley Repertory], and Michael O’Rourke [founder Actors’ Theatre]. All three had the tenacity to overcome artistic and financial obstacles.” —Karl Barron, San Francisco Bay Area Critic .. inning . e beg In th
  • 6. . . . Actors’ Theatre was a nomadic company performing on the street, at fairs, in bars, and empty office buildings . . .
  • 7. ica l] Queen [mus The Snow re 1985 emie World Pr ne Building ho Ashland P
  • 8. I welcomed the opportunity to cast an acting student at Southern Oregon University to play the title role in The Elephant Man as his BFA acting thesis. I directed the play on the backstage of a movie theatre, enlisting “the entire audience as extras in the opening crowd scenes.” “Elephant Man is brilliant, moving, excellent, A marvelous theatrical illusion that draws the audience inside the play . . . Doane [the student] portrays Merrick with consummate skill.” —Medford Mail Tribune (Note: I took the stage name O’Rourke in honor of my grandmother 6 months after this production.)
  • 9. The Miracle on Main Theatre Before The main room of an office suite before we remodeled in 1987.
  • 10. Miracle on Main Theatre After I designed this 49-seat black box.
  • 11. • Amadeus “An intimate pageant with just 7 actors. . .” in the Miracle on Main Producer / Director
  • 12. CAPITAL CAMPAIGN In the winter of ‘89 I negotiated a lease with an option to buy a vaudeville house in Talent, OR, 4 miles north of Ashland. I organized a successful capital campaign to purchase and renovate the Miracle Playhouse, where I directed a wide spectrum of plays.
  • 13. Prince Caspian Fight Master
  • 14. The Magician’s Nephew [musical]
  • 15. Tale of Two Cities [musical] Miracle Playhouse
  • 16. CO-AUTHOR / DIRECTOR A TRIBUTE TO GARLAND [MUSICAL REVUE] OREGON CABARET THEATRE / REGIONAL TOUR
  • 17. Actors’ Theatre “An astonishing example of how a small company can become a major theatrical force ... Dazzling critics and audiences with audacious undertakings, as well as beautifully acted revivals of classics.” — A. J. Esta, critic for Back Stage
  • 18. In the Land Where Acorns Dance After 5 years of research, I wrote a screenplay portraying the lifeways and suffering of the Winnemem Wintu in the wake of the Gold Rush of ’49 in Northern California. Directed 7 staged readings in Oregon and Alaska.
  • 19. Anchorage Community Theatre Golden Anniversary 2003 Managing Artistic Director, Michael O’Rourke Mainstage Productions Count of Monte Cristo [world premiere] Long Day’s Journey Into Night [Alaska premiere] Magician’s Nephew [musical, Alaska premiere] Bus Stop [held over twice; invitation to Valdez] Woody Guthrie’s American Song [musical, Alaska premiere]
  • 20. Bus Stop ACT Studio Theatre Co-Director / Co-Set Designer In 2003 I designed a 49-seat black box in a warehouse owned by ACT. For one of the first productions in the new Studio Theatre, we created “a terrific production design that put the audience right inside the diner.”
  • 21. Dr. McDowell, president of Prince William Sound Community College, invited ACT to perform Bus Stop for the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, AK in June 2004. We transferred the set to a large proscenium stage, sitting 100 onstage—twice as many as in this theatre in Anchorage.
  • 23. Student Showcase Producer Anchorage Community Theatre Golden Anniversary 11 student showcases on school and club sites, and 13 showcases at the new ACT Studio Theatre Funded in part by grants from the Municipality of Anchorage, ConocoPhillips Alaska, and the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Education.
  • 24. Scrap Mettle SOUL, Chicago, moved into the Ravenswood United Methodist Church rummage room with a flexible 120-seat theatre in the Fall of 2005, which we dubbed The New Theatre. As Artistic Director, I wrote and directed the winter show to open in the new black box.
  • 25. musical book / director 2006 Streetwise performers and highly trained professionals, taking cues from the rhythms, languages, and ethnicities of Uptown, Chicago, work to build community through the arts in one of the most diverse neighborhood in the US. Rehearsal shots of “Uptown Christmas Carol” show a gritty new musical set in a Chicago homeless camp.
  • 26. sica l] w Qu een [mu The Snoremiere 2006 e P o tr a Chicag ood New The w Ravens
  • 27. Hoka Hey Stone Soup! Woodland Montessori Kindergarten 2011 Director / Adaptor
  • 28. Still photo from my short film Refuge of Dragonflies, based on characters in Victor Hugo’s ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame.’ I wrote, directed & edited in 2008, winning 4 international film fest awards.
  • 29. Great Plains Theatre Conference Omaha 2010 Carry Me [original play staged reading] Director
  • 30. Dinner with Friends Madison Theatre Guild 2011
  • 31. Screen adaptation & staged reading based on Winona’s powerful novel, which traces the lives of seven generations of Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. Winona was present for post show discussion.
  • 32. “Michael O’Rourke has been tireless in his pursuit of excellence . . . his intelligence is keen . . . his imagination unlimited . . . his integrity unshakable. His vision for what this art can be or do for artists and audiences is among the highest I know. ” —James Edmondson, Associate Artist, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Michael O’Rourke Director http://vimeo.com/user2696242/videos Photos: Vilmar Borges, Lisa Byrne, Chava Florendo, David French, Kent Harrison, Rob Jaffe, Oliver Korshin, Hank Kranzler, Leah Levinger, James O. Mason, Helga Motley, Marie Schulte, Jared Silver.