Mr. Jonathan Moscone is currently in his 12th season serving as Artistic Director of California Shakespeare Theater, organization that has its base in Berkeley.
A renowned director, he has received an Award by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation for “transforming the American theater through his unique and creative work”.
Besides his directing studies in college, being an alumnus of the Yale University and a Master degree holder, it is relevant to remember his old Italian origins and the importance that the name Moscone has had in the city of San Francisco.
His father George Moscone was a member of the Italian community, an important democratic politician who made San Francisco the city it is today. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, preceded by Joseph Alioto (another Italian-American mayor, son of Sicilian immigrants), from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. Moscone served in the California State Senate, as Majority Leader, from 1967 until becoming Mayor.
Jonathan Moscone most recently directed the world premiere of “Ghost Light”, a play about the effects of the assassination of his father when he was 14-year-old , co-created and developed with playwright Tony Taccone. The play was commissioned as part of “American Revolutions.
The United States History Cycle” by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland, Oregon. The World Premier, co-produced with Berkeley Repertory Theater, was staged at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2011.
For decades, the younger Moscone saw a legend grow up around city supervisor Harvey Milk, who was also gunned down that day. Milk became a gay rights’ icon, and his story became the subject of plays, documentaries and films. Moscone’s story, however, remained largely untold. While visiting the set of director Gus Van Sant’s 2008 film “Milk”, Jonathan Moscone decided to change that. Ghost Light is a play-within-a-play, in which the lead character, Jon, deals with the death of his father while staging a version of Hamlet.
In addition, he directed Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park for American Conservatory Theater. Cal Shakes credits include: Candida; the world premiere of John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven by Octavio Solis (recipient of the inaugural NEA New Play Development Award); The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby; Much Ado About Nothing; Twelfth Night; Happy Days; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and The Seagull.
Other regional credits include: Huntington Theatre, Alley Theater, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Intersection for the Arts + Campo Santo, Dallas Theater Center, San Jose Repertory Theater, Intiman Theatre, and Magic Theatre. Mr. Moscone is an adjunct faculty member with A.C.T.’s MFA program where he recently received an honorary M.F.A., and currently serves on the board of Theatre Communications Group.
California Shakespeare Theater (“Cal Shakes”) is a regional theater located in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Its performance space, the Lt. G.H. Bruns III Memorial Amphitheater, is located in Orinda, while the administrative offices, rehearsal hall, costume and prop shop are located in Berkeley.
In 2000, Jonathan Moscone was appointed its current Artistic Director.
In his first season at Cal Shakes, Moscone directed a production of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead; the company continued to produce one non-Shakespeare play a year until 2005, when its productions of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Parts One & Two (Charles Dickens, adapted by David Edgar) began a tradition of two Shakespeare plays and two non-Shakespeare plays each season. In 2003, the company officially changed its name to California Shakespeare Theater.
As mentioned above, in late 2009, Moscone was eventually chosen by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) as the inaugural recipient of the Zelda Fichandler Award.
The award was created to recognize an outstanding director or choreographer who is transforming the regional arts landscape through his singular creativity and artistry in theater.
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