SHELDON PATINKIN is Chair Emeritus of the Theatre Department of Columbia College Chicago, Artistic Consultant to Second City and Steppenwolf Theatre, and Co-Director of the Steppenwolf Theatre Summer Ensemble Workshops.
Among recent directing projects are City on the Make at Columbia, the world premiere of Cormac McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited at the Steppenwolf Garage Theatre, which was then moved to a limited run at the 59E59 Theatre in New York, and to the Galway Arts Festival in Ireland; The Glass Menagerie, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Lonesome West and Absolute Hell for The Gift; Uncle Vanya at Steppenwolf; Long Day’s Journey into Night at the Irish Rep and at the Galway Arts Festival; and Krapp’s Last Tape for the Buckets of Beckett Festival, both starring John Mahoney; as well as concert staging’s of opera scenes and excerpts for the Lyric Opera Center at the Grant Park and Ravinia Festival Concerts.
He received a Jeff Award for directing his Irving Berlin revue Puttin’ on the Ritz, and a special Jeff for his contribution to Chicago theatre. His translation of Brecht’s The Good Person of Setzuan was directed by Frank Galati at the Goodman Theatre. His book The Second City: Backstage at the World’s Greatest Comedy Theater was published by Source Books, and No Legs, No Jokes, No Chance (his textbook on the history of the American musical) was published by Northwestern University Press.