Mark Harelik (Playwright, The Immigrant)
is a writer and actor, a native Texan who grew up in the only Jewish
family in the small town of Hamilton in central Texas, where his two
biographical plays, The Immigrant and The Legacy, take place. In 1991, his play The Immigrant,
a telling of his Jewish grandparents’ immigration to rural Texas and
their first 30 years of life there, was the most widely produced play
in the country. In the immediately preceding and following years, it
was among the most widely produced. It has been seen at nearly every
major regional theater in the country, among them, The Mark Taper Forum
in Los Angeles, The Westwood Playhouse in Los Angeles, Theater Forty in
Los Angeles, A.C.T. in San Francisco, The Denver Center Theater Co.,
The Alley Theater in Houston, and hundreds more theaters in cities and
towns large and small. The Legacy, an autobiographical sequel to The Immigrant, has been produced in Miami, Seattle, San Diego, and by The Globe Theaters in San Diego.
Hank Williams: Lost Highway,
a biographical musical about the life of the country singer Hank
Williams, has been produced by The Mark Taper Forum, The Old Globe
Theater and The Denver Center Theater Co., Manhattan Ensemble Theater,
opening on Broadway in March 2003.
The Immigrant, A New American Musical,
based upon his play, had its premiere at the Denver Center Theater
Company in January 2002, followed by a run at the Coconut Grove in
Miami, followed by a run Off-Broadway. This production at The Colony
Theater is its West Coast premiere.
April, 2008
