Eric Simonson is an American writer and director in theatre, film and opera. He is a member of Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, and the author of plays Lombardi, Fake, Honest, Magic/Bird and Bronx Bombers. He won the 2005 Academy Award for his short documentary A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in 1993 for The Song of Jacob Zulu.
Personal life
Simonson was born in Milwaukee but grew up on a farm in the small town of Eagle. After graduating with a B.A. in Theatre from Lawrence University, he moved to Madison, Wisconsin for a short period, where he worked with the then fledgling Ark Repertory Theatre. He moved to Chicago in 1983, where he helped found Lifeline Theatre, and eventually worked with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He became a member of the theatre's ensemble in 1993. He holds the distinction of being one of only a handful of directors who has received Tony, Emmy and Oscar nominations. Simonson now lives in Los Angeles, but often works throughout the United States. In 2004 he married theatre producer Susan Raab; she died of breast cancer in 2006, aged 37. They had one child. In 2013, Simonson married actress Sue Cremin.
Career
Simonson is the writer of ', which was commissioned by Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and was subsequently produced across the United States. His film ' won the 2005 Academy Award for Short Subject Documentary. That film also received a nomination from the International Documentary Association for Distinguished Achievement. Other recent films include the documentary Studs Terkel: Listening to America and On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom. All three films subsequently aired on HBO/CINEMAX. Other films include Hamlet for Hallmark Entertainment, and the independent feature, Topa Topa Bluffs. Simonson has also written and developed multiple television series for HBO, FX, USA, TNT and STARZ networks. In 2007 he was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He also directed the premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie's opera The Grapes of Wrath at Minnesota Opera in 2007, and, in 2011, the premiere of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell's "Silent Night", which won the Pulitzer Prize in music. Other opera directing credits include the North American premiere of "The Handmaid's Tale." His recent plays, Lombardi/The Only Thing, Carter's Way and Slaughterhouse-Five received premieres in 2008. Honest premiered at Carthage College in 2009 and was then part of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's 5th Annual First Look Repertory of New Work. The Carthage production traveled to the 2010 Kennedy CenterAmerican College Theatre Festival. Simonson's play Lombardi ran on Broadway from October 2010 to May 2011. Simonson's Louder Faster, co-authored with Jeffrey Hatcher, premiered at City Theatre in Pittsburgh in May 2011. His play, Magic/Bird, premiered on Broadway in March 2012. His play, Bronx Bombers, about the New York Yankees, opened Off-Broadway on September 20, 2013 and closed on October 19 in a Primary Stages production. The play opened on Broadway on January 19, 2014, officially on February 6 at the Circle in the Square Theatre, starring Peter Scolari and Tracy Shayne.
