Frank Corsaro

Frank Corsaro (born December 22, 1924, in New York City) is one of America's foremost stage directors of opera and theatre. His Broadway productions include "The Night of the Iguana" (with Bette Davis, 1961).

Corsaro made his operatic directing debut at the New York City Opera in 1958, with a staging of Carlisle Floyd's "Susannah". It was this production that the company took to the Brussels World's Fair that year, starring Phyllis Curtin, Norman Treigle and Richard Cassilly. He was to become one of the City Opera's leading directors, creating such important productions as "The Fiery Angel" (of Prokofiev), "La traviata" (with Patricia Brooks and Plácido Domingo), "Madama Butterfly", "The Crucible" (featuring Chester Ludgin), "Faust" (with Beverly Sills and Treigle), "Prince Igor" (of Borodin), "The Makropulos Case" (with Maralin Niska), "Summer and Smoke" (of Lee Hoiby), "Médée" (in the Italian version), "Die tote Stadt" (with Carol Neblett), "The Cunning Little Vixen" (in designs by Maurice Sendak) and "Carmen".

Corsaro directed the world premieres of two of Floyd's later operas, "Of Mice and Men" (1970) and "Flower and Hawk" (1972). He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1984, with Handel's "Rinaldo", starring Marilyn Horne and Samuel Ramey.

Corsaro has written several libretti for operas. These include "Heloise and Abelard" by Stephen Paulus [cite news | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CE4D81E3CF932A15757C0A9649C8B63 | title=Love and Lust In Opera? Nothing New. But God? | publisher="The New York Times" | author=Johanna Keller | date=Date|2002-04-21 | accessdate=2007-12-24] and "Frau Margot" by Thomas Pasatieri [cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/arts/music/27gure.html | title=A Keeper of the Flame Who Tried to Snuff It | publisher="The New York Times" | author=Matthew Gurewitsch | date=Date|2007-05-27 | accessdate=2007-12-24] whose opera "The Seagull" he directed at its premiere.

As an actor, Corsaro appeared in the 1968 film, "Rachel, Rachel" (as Hector Jonas), opposite Joanne Woodward, directed by her husband, Paul Newman. In 1988, he became the head of the Actors Studio. [cite news | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE1DE163FF93BA35757C0A96E948260 | title=Frank Corsaro to Head Actors Studio | publisher="The New York Times" | author=Jeremy Gerard | date=Date|1988-04-08 | accessdate=2007-12-24]

Corsaro was married to Mary (Bonnie) Corsaro and has a son, Andrew (Andrea) Corsaro.

References

Bibliography

* "Maverick", by Frank Corsaro, The Vanguard Press, Inc, 1978. ISBN 0-8149-0790-3