The Shakespeare Theatre Company

Leslie Jacobson

Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance, The George Washington University

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Photograph of Leslie Jacobson, Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance Leslie Jacobson's production of A ...My Name is Alice received a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Musical in 1988. She has been nominated for three Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Direction. She has written scripts for the Helen Hayes Awards Ceremonies and the script for Arena Stage's 40th Anniversary Gala. In 1989, she was selected by the U.S. Senate to write, direct, and produce a play commemorating its bicentennial. Theatres around the country have produced her scripts, and a television script was nominated for a Washington, D.C. Emmy. She received an award from the Dramatists Guild for producing outstanding plays by women at Horizons Theatre, where she is Artistic Director. She is also past president of the League of Washington Theatres. A faculty member at GW since 1977, she assumed the role of Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance in 1995. Spring of 1997, Croak, of the Last Frog, with book by Jacobson and music by distinguished composer Anne LeBaron, premiered at The George Washington University in conjunction with the University's Earth Week activities. Ms. Jacobson directed the world premiere of Richard Rashke's Dear Esther, co-produced by Horizons and The Center Company, and first performed at the U.S. Memorial Holocaust Museum. She has directed numerous world premieres for Horizons and over 20 productions for GW. She inaugurated a residential program on Women and the Arts at the Mt. Vernon Campus of GW this past year. Ms. Jacobson has been a seminar director for the Smithsonian Associates International Theatre Programs for three years.