David Zak

David Zak has won 7 Jeff Awards in Chicago, including four for Directing (Animal Farm, Dr. Sex, Parade, Pope Joan), two for writing (The Hiroshima Project, The Count of Monte Cristo) and a special Jeff for “Fostering Diversity in Chicago Theater.” He has directed in London (The Irish Curse), Seoul (Dollhouse, Fanta Stick, The Ghost’s Cookbook), Dublin (Oh, Holy Allen Ginsberg, At The Flash), Boston (Sin: A Cardinal Deposed), Los Angeles (Dr. Sex, At The Flash) and New York (Marlowe and Poseidon: An Upside Down Musical). He is Executive Director of Pride Films and Plays, Chicago, and Artistic Director of Summer Pride Fest at Chandler (VT). His productions of the American Premieres of Jerry Springer - The Opera and Sir Peter Hall’s Animal Farm were named Best Musical, as were his production of Parade, Pope Joan, and Dennis DeYoung’s Hunchback of Notre Dame. He has recent projects throughout Chicagoland have ranged from one-man shows (At the Flash) to epics with a cast of 100 (Evita). His most recent Chicago production, the world premiere of Under A Rainbow Flag, earned five Jeff Nominations, including Best Musical and Best Director. Recent projects included developmental work on the screenplay and stage play version of The Bachelors, the world premiere of Directions for Restoring the Apparently Dead, and Sochi: Three Short Plays About Gay Athletes. He was Artistic Director of Bailiwick Repertory for 27 years, and is an educator and journalist, and was inducted into the City of Chicago’s Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2013.