THEATRE

Harry M. Bagdasian, freelance writer/director

extensive background staging special events in  large & small venues with casts from 3 to 350

experience working with celebrities, politicians, military personnel, children, and horses

a successful team leader and team player

PROFESSIONAL THEATRE

(selected credits)

●Founder, Producer, and Artistic Director of New Playwrights’ Theatre, Washington, DC’s premiere new play producing professional theatre company with a clear mission “To foster the creation and development of new plays and musicals for the American Theatre”; 1972 - 1984

Produced John Guare’s “Lydie Breeze” winning three Helen Hayes Awards out of five nominations

Provided learning/training environment for budding theatre directors such as Molly Smith, James Nicola, E. Lloyd Rose and actors such as Yeardley Smith, Marsha Gay Harden, and award winning playwrights such as Ernie Joselovitz and Mark Stein

Produced 75 world premiere or “second step” productions and over 200 readings of works-in-progress

Directed musicals and plays in full production as well as dozens of readings of new plays by playwrights from across the country

Co-Produced six major fund-raising special events at the Kennedy Center Lab Theatre, the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theatre, and the National Building Museum

Co-managed the purchase and transformation of a non-theatrical 1900-era building in Washington, DC into a 120-seat theatrical performance space.  It is now known as The Church Street Theatre and is still in use today.

Produced three “Dramathons” which entailed 24 plays in 53 hours of non-stop performance that were broadcast, in part, over WGMS FM as a fund-raising event involving close to 100 actors, directors, technicians and volunteers

Associate Producer with Joseph Papp of the New York Shakespeare Festival’s production of, Ernest Joselovitz’ HAGAR’S CHILDREN; 1977

Helen Hayes Awards -- producer, director and writer for the Inaugural Helen Hayes Awards, at the National Theatre, Washington, DC; 1985, founding member, Board of Directors

Kennedy Center Fund For New American Plays -- script reader 1987 to 1993, 1995, & 1997 to 2002

Washington Theatre Awards Society – founding member, Board of Directors

League of Washington Theatres -- founding member, Board of Directors

National Endowment for the Arts - consultant, designed 1986 playwriting fellowship program also conducted site visits, evaluating over 50 regional theatres across the US from 1977 to 1986

THEATRE - TEACHING

Teaching Comedy Writing and Performing – 1995-2013 in “Comedy Club” after school programs in Montgomery County Public Schools (working with middle and high school students.)

President, The Comedy Academy, 2008-2013 - a nonprofit educational organization that fostered budding comedy writers and performers by providing writing workshops and performing opportunities through afterschool and out of school programs in public and private school settings, and in community venues. The Comedy Academy enabled its students, young and old alike, to use comedy to explore contemporary issues relevant to their lives

Guest Lecturer on Theatre & Playwriting, 1976-present – Gallaudet College, Georgetown University,  George Washington University, Emerson College, George Mason University, University of Maryland, Montgomery College, Catholic University, Ingram School for the Arts (Hagerstown, MD)

Playwriting -- New Playwrights’ Theatre School; Washington, DC, 1975-1983

Playwriting -- (weekly after school seminar); Ellington School for the Arts, Wash. DC 1982-1983

THEATRE - PUBLISHED PLAYS

Samuel French “Love By The Numbers” a romantic comedy (with Ernest Joselovitz) 1994 - several productions by community theatre groups including United States Army Entertainment (Fort Polk, LA)

Dramatic Publishing "Journey To The World's Edge - A Folk Tale In The Irish Tradition" (with Ernest Joselovitz) 2007 – has had over100 performances across the U.S. and Canada

Dramatic Publishing “Capture The Moon” (with Ernest Joselovitz) 2001 (large cast, expanded version published 2007) Multiple productions by schools and theatres for youth

Close to 50,000 books sold - Meriwether Publishing LTD, Contemporary Drama Services (CDS) - 16 comic sketch anthologies from 1996 to the present – written singularly and with collaborators - material published by CDS has been leased by over 4000 schools in the US, Canada, Australia, and other countries  

Student-Written Comic Sketch Anthologies - comic material created by students I mentored has been published in two anthologies by CDS since 2009 and subsequently produced by schools in USA & Canada

THEATRE – PRODUCTIONS

(selected credits)

*Award Winner* CARRYING ON (one-act)2013 Hurricane Season Festival of New Plays and Playwriting Competition - Eclectic Company Theatre Los Angeles

2012 Capital Fringe Festival, Studio Theater  – a new comedy HEHEE! OR “WHAT? IT’S NOT GLEE?” (with Liam Brennan)

2010 Capital Fringe Festival, Warehouse Theatre - FRESH FROM THE FUNNY FARM – LOCAL LAUGHS (23 acts of satire & ridicule) - two hours of comedy sketches by H. Bagdasian, and other writers

*Award Winner* CARRYING ON (one-act) Henrico Theatre Company, Richmond, VA, 2003 – CARRYING ON also received Honorable Mention 2002 Kernodle New Play Competition

*Award Winner* Source Theatre, Washington, DC; 1993 – SHARON’S PLAY

Ceder Lane Stage, Rockville, MD - 2005 – CARRYING ON

New England Actor's Theatre, New Haven CT, 2000 - SNAPS, PARTS I & II

COMMISSIONS - THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES

(selected credits)

Imagination Stage, Deaf Access Program, Bethesda, MD, - JOURNEY TO THE WORLD'S EDGE - A FOLK TALE IN THE IRISH TRADITION (with Ernest Joselovitz), Jan/Feb 2007 – multiple productions followed including 18 schools in the United States and Canada

Imagination Stage, Deaf Access Program, Bethesda, MD, Jan/Feb 2006 - CAPTURE THE MOON (large cast version) (with Ernest Joselovitz)

Cincinnati Playhouse In The Park, school tour, Ohio and Indiana, Fall, 2000 - CAPTURE THE MOON

Imagination Stage, Bethesda, MD (commissioned) June 1998 (10 wk run) - CAPTURE THE MOON – several subsequent productions since 2000 to present

THEATRE - PLAY READINGS 1972 - 2012

Kennedy Center 2012 Page To Stage Festival, Wash. DC; Charter Theatre Co., Wash., DC; Round House Theatre, Silver Spring, MD; New England Actors Theatre, New Haven, CT; Source, New Playwrights’ and Arena Stage, Washington, DC; Fells Point Corner & Vagabond Theatres, Baltimore, MD

CURRENT EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Directing, writing and producing arena-size touring and non-touring productions for U.S. Military Branches – Spirit of America for U.S. Army, Dedication of World War II Memorial, National Tribute to Korean War Veterans, 2000-2012

Directing, writing and producing special events, award shows and celebrity gala presentations

President, The Comedy Academy, Inc. – a nonprofit educational organization that seeks to enable its students, young and old alike, to use comedy to explore contemporary issues relevant to their lives, 2008-present

Teaching comedy writing/comedy performance, The Comedy Academy, Inc. for Montgomery County Public Schools, 1976-present