Benjamin Mordecai papers

Benjamin Mordecai was born in New York City in 1944. He graduated from Buena Vista University in 1967, and received his Master of Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University in 1968. He was a founder of the Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis and the theater's producing director for eleven years (1971-1982). During his twenty-three year tenure at Yale University (1982-2005), Mordecai was associate dean and chair of the theater management program at the Yale School of Drama, and managing director of the Yale Repertory Theatre (1982 to 1993). Working closely with Yale School of Drama dean and Yale Repertory Theatre artistic director Lloyd Richards and the playwright August Wilson, Mordecai was the only person to have worked on the original productions of all ten plays in Wilson’s cycle of plays about the African-American experience in the 20th century. Under his management, five of August Wilson's plays, as well as plays by Authol Fugard, Lee Blessing, and Eugene O'Neill moved from Yale to Broadway. In 1992, Mordecai founded his own producing and management firm, and was managing partner of Producers Four, a theatrical development and producing company. During his career he was involved in national tours and resident productions in the United States as well as productions in Great Britain, Russia, and Eastern Europe. He was the recipient of numerous awards for productions including three Tony Awards for Fences, The Piano Lesson, and Angels in America; Drama Desk Awards for Fences and The Piano Lesson; and the Olivier Award for Jitney. He also received the Robert Whitehead Award for outstanding commercial producing; two NAACP Theatre Awards; and a Special Achievement Award from the New England Theatre Conference. The Yale Repertory Theatre received a Tony for outstanding regional theatre in 1991, during Mordecai’s tenure as the theater’s managing director. He died in New Haven in 2005.