Biography

A graduate and founding member of Robert Brustein's Yale Repertory Company, Roger went on to direct and act for Joe Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival, and also London's Royal Court Theatre, Dublin's Abbey Theatre, Edinburgh Festival, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, La Mama, Roundabout, Juilliard Opera, Los Angeles Theatre Center, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, O'Neill Playwrights Conference, Folger Shakespeare Group, Great Lakes Theatre Festival, PBS, Metromedia and BBC-TV, and National Public Radio. Elected to Notable Names in American Theatre, Roger has directed in London, New York and international festival premieres by Tennessee Williams, Sam Shepard, David Hare, Michael Weller, John Guare, Terrence McNally, Lanford Wilson, Israel Horowitz, Jean-Claude van Itallie, Megan Terry and William Saroyan. He has directed John Lithgow, John Travolta, James Earl Jones, James Woods, Tovah Feldshuh, Samuel L. Jackson, Dick Shawn and Judith Ivey to name but a few. Roger has directed plays and taught all aspects of communications in India, Pakistan, Iran, Nigeria, South Africa and throughout Europe for the U.S.I.A. and U.S. State Department. In the United States he has taught at UCLA, Columbia University, Yale University, N.Y.U., Juilliard, Brooklyn College. Roger is the founding artistic director for both The Simon Studio (since 1978) in New York City and the Los Angeles Theatre Center Classical Theatre Lab (since 1990). Roger was awarded an NEA grant as producing director of National Public Radio's Simon Studio Presents (also on XM Sirius cable radio and Time Warner Public Access TV). As an actor he recently played a role based on Hank Greenberg of AIG in Oliver Stone's Wall Street2 opposite Michael Douglas and played the lead roles in the critically acclaimed indie feature The Sublet, in the film short Jimmy's Cafe (Newport Beach Film Festival) and currently co-produces, directs and acts in The Simon Studio and Sarah Levine Simon's musical web series Bread Today.