About Michael Mayer (director)
Michael Mayer (born June 27, 1960) is an American director, playwright, and producer. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in 2007 for directing Spring Awakening. == Early life and education == Mayer was born in Bethesda, Maryland, to Jewish parents Joseph Emanuel “Jerry” (1933-2024), a labor attorney and Louise Mayer (née Levinson; 1936-2017). For his bar mitzvah, he asked his parents for a movie camera and received a Super 8 single lens with a zoom. His first film was a dramatization of "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia". After graduating from Charles W. Woodward High School, he studied at the University of Wisconsin before transferring to study acting at New York University (NYU)'s Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned an MFA in Theater in 1983. == Career == Mayer began performing onstage in New York City, performing in plays such as Tony Kushner's A Bright Room Called Day, but by 1990 had turned his efforts to directing, working as a freelancer while also teaching at NYU, the Lincoln Center Theater Institute, and the Juilliard School. He also served as an assistant director for Kushner's Hydriotaphia. === Theatre === In 2007, Mayer won his first Tony Award for his direction of the musical adaptation of Spring Awakening (2006), which also won the award for Best Musical. He was nominated for the 2002 Tony for his direction of Thoroughly Modern Millie, which he then directed on London's West End.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.