Tony Taccone

Tony Taccone (born July 4, 1951) is an American theater director, and the former artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California.

Early life Tony Taccone was born on July 4, 1951, in Queens, New York, to an Italian-American father and a Puerto Rican mother. They encouraged their children to go into the arts; their daughter became a photographer, and both sons found careers in theater. |source=American Theater magazineWhen Richard E.T. White became artistic director of the Eureka Theatre, a converted warehouse in San Francisco's Mission District, he invited Taccone along. In 1981, White left and Taccone replaced him as the artistic director. Despite the growth, they required $1.3 million in order to stay afloat, and talks began that the repertory could not sustain its artists with growing families. where he has staged more than 35 shows, including the world premieres of Continental Divide and Culture Clash in AmeriCCa. He has collaborated with Kushner on six projects.

Playbill recently asserted that "Tony Taccone may very well be the most prominent artistic director in America right now." During his tenure, Berkeley Rep has emerged as the source of many important Broadway shows, including Green Day's American Idiot, Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking, Sarah Jones' Bridge & Tunnel, and Passing Strange. Two of Taccone’s recent shows also transferred to London: Continental Divide played the Barbican in 2004, and Tiny Kushner played the Tricycle Theatre in 2010.

Taccone made his playwriting debut in May 2011 with his solo show for Rita Moreno and followed this up with his show Ghost Light at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2011, which he co-created with Jonathan Moscone.

Taccone directed the original musical Kiss My Aztec, which he co-wrote with John Leguizamo (score by Benjamin Velez and David Kamp). It was developed at the Public Theater in 2018 and premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theater and La Jolla Playhouse in 2019, where it received critical acclaim.

In 2019, Taccone ended his 33 year tenure as Artistic Director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, handing the position over to Johanna Pfaelzer.

Personal life You can have a healthy, happy life and still be indelibly connected to the deeper sorrow of the world. You don't need to create personal trauma to experience darkness. In fact, in some rarefied theological schools of thought, one could argue the opposite. Taccone's children include Jorma Taccone, (a member of the sketch-comedy troupe the Lonely Island and a former writer for Saturday Night Live) and Asa Taccone, a musician and sometimes collaborator with his brother.

Theater credits Honour, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Continental Divide, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Surface Transit, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Cloud Nine, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Homebody/Kabul, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Culture Clash in AmeriCCa, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director The Oresteia, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Ravenshead, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Pentecost, Slavs!, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Endgame/Act Without Words, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Volpone, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director The Convict’s Return, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Major Barbara, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Serious Money, Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Waiting for Godot - director Othello, Oregon Shakespeare Festival - director Pentecost, Oregon Shakespeare Festival - director Coriolanus, Oregon Shakespeare Festival - director The Cure at Troy, Oregon Shakespeare Festival - director The Birthday Party and Execution of Justice, Berkeley Repertory Theatre Waiting for Godot (1989) - director Angels in America, Parts One and Two, Mark Taper Forum (1992) - director Brundibar (2006), New Victory Theater - director Zorro in Hell (2006) - director Wishful Drinking (2008), Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director Taking Over, (2009) - director Kiss My Aztec, (2019), Berkeley Repertory Theatre - director