JAMES ENGELHARDT holds an M.F.A. in Directing from the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago and a Certificate in Directing (summa cum laude) from Studio ’68 of Theatre Arts, London. He has served as faculty director at Columbia College, Chicago, visited twice as director-in-residence at Lake Forest College, Illinois, and has guest-directed for the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Connecticut. An Actor’s Equity and Dramatists Guild member, Mr. Engelhardt teaches screenwriting and hosts film industry guest seminars at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena.
He served as Artistic Director of the Travel Light Theatre, Chicago, was Artistic Director of the Regent Dinner Theatre, and guest-directed for the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and the Equity Library Theatre. In Los Angeles, he won a Drama-Logue Award for THE CRUCIBLE, directed for Company of Angels.
Mr. Engelhardt has created, written, and associate-produced five television series: MR. MOON’S MAGIG CIRCUS (starring Marcia Lewis, guest stars Kathy Rigby, Harry Blackstone, CBS); THE COMIC BOOK KIDS (starring Joseph Campanella and James Engelhardt, guest star Angelica Huston, WNBC); SLAPSTICK STUDIO (starring Dick Shawn, SELEC Cable); BETSY LEE’S GHOST TOWN JAMBOREE (starring Ruth Buzzi and Stubby Kaye); and THE MUSIC SHOPPE (starring Gary Crosby and Nia Peeples, guest stars Edie Adams, Jesse White, and Hans Conreid). All series are marketed on videocassette. He has also written for SQUARE ONE, the PBS mathematics series.
His screenplay DIVIDED HIGHWAYS garnered a Grand Jury Award for supreme excellence at the 2004 Houston Film Festival.
Among Engelhardt’s plays are THE PHANTOM SWORD and THE PHANTOM SWORD’S REVENGE (Travel Light Theatre; Brooklyn Playworks, N.Y.); BRING ON THE GIRLS (Travel Light Theatre, Coronet, Theatre, L.A.), VAMPIRE HUNTERS (Hyatt Hotel, L.A.); THE MATING DANCE (Torso Theatre, Chicago); MARCUS IN ROMOLAND (Charlotte Repertory Theatre Festival); RATTUS RATTUS (Alleyway Theatre, Buffalo); ANDROCLES AND THE LION (commissioned for the 70th Anniversary Season Celebration at The Theatre School, DePaul University, Chicago); and musicals THE FIR TREE (The Theatre School); THE PERPETUAL MOTION MAN and SHADOW SERENADE (Alleyway Theatre). SLAVE TRADE (Brooklyn Playworks), a supernatural drama of race relations, had its international premiere (Sand du Plessis Theatre, Bloemfontein, Republic of South Africa), in 1990, with Engelhardt attending.
THE FIR TREE and ANDROCLES AND THE LION are carried in the catalogue of the Dramatic Publishing Company. LET FREEDOM RING, a play commissioned by the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, was published by Coach House Press.
Additionally, Mr. Engelhardt has developed atmosphere entertainment and live spectaculars for Disneyland and Walt Disney World, the Ice Capades, Caesar’s Hotel (Atlantic City), and New York’s Radio City Music Hall. He has conceived attractions for theme parks proposed for Hawaii and England, and has scripted tours and industrial shows for such companies as Dole, Delta Airlines, and Coldwell Banker.