Revision as of 16:56, 24 November 2014 editZigzig20s (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers192,412 edits →Acting: wikified← Previous edit | Revision as of 16:54, 9 November 2015 edit undoTAnthony (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Page movers, File movers, New page reviewers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers, Template editors853,163 editsm →Writing: Disambiguate links after article move to prevent future confusion with common terms "backstage" and "back stage" using AWBNext edit → | ||
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===Writing=== | ===Writing=== | ||
Barton’s first play Engagement was produced by the Skylight Theatre Company in Los Angeles in 2010,<ref>{{cite web|first=F. Kathleen|last=Foley|title=Theater review: 'Engagement' at the Beverly Hills Playhouse|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/07/engagement-at-the-beverly-hills-playhouse.html|work=|publisher='']''|date=2010-07-30|accessdate=2010-11-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Neal|last=Weaver|title=Engagement - The Katselas Theatre Company at the Beverly Hills Playhouse|url=http://www.backstage.com/bso/reviews-la-theatre/engagement-1004109123.story|work=|publisher='']''|date=2010-08-13|accessdate=2010-11-17}}</ref> and was mounted as well in San Francisco in 2014. His second play, Years To The Day (2013) received significant critical acclaim, with his writing compared to that of Albee, Mamet and George Bernard Shaw.<ref name="PJ Media Review of Years to The Day">{{cite web|last=Simon|first=Roger|title=Years to the Day — A Play the Right Can Stomach|url=http://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2013/04/15/years-to-the-day-a-play-the-right-can-stomach/|work=pjtv.com|publisher='']''|accessdate=16 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="LA Weekly Years to The Day Review">{{cite web|last=Morris|first=Steven Leigh|title=A Pair of Two-Person Shows|url=http://www.laweekly.com/2013-04-25/stage/a-pair-of-two-person-shows-one-starring-comedy-couple-nick-offerman-and-megan-mullaly-lt-em-gt-annapurna-lt-em-gt-and-lt-em-gt-years-to-the-day-lt-em-gt-reviewed/full/|publisher='']''|accessdate=16 May 2013}}</ref> Years to the Day was nominated in writing and acting categories by the LA Drama Critics Circle<ref>{{cite web|title=2013 LADCC Special Award Recipients and Nominees|url=http://ladramacriticscircle.com/2013nominees/|website=http://ladramacriticscircle.com|publisher=LA Drama Critics Circle|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref> and the LA Weekly, and was one of the latter’s Ten Best Plays of 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=10 Best L.A. Plays of 2013|url=http://www.laweekly.com/2013-12-26/stage/best-la-theater-2013/|website=http://www.laweekly.com|publisher=]|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref> It was performed in Paris in October, 2013, and also participated in the 59E59 St. Theatre’s “East To Edinburgh” Festival in June, 2014<ref>{{cite web|title=East to Edinburgh: Years to the Day|url=http://www.nytimes.com/theater/show/223475/East-to-Edinburgh-Years-to-the-Day/overview|website=www.nytimes.com|publisher=]|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref> on its way to a run at the 2014 Edinburgh Theatre Festival.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Davies|first1=Gareth|title=Years to the Day – Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh|url=http://www.thepublicreviews.com/years-to-the-day-pleasance-courtyard-edinburgh/|website=http://www.thepublicreviews.com|publisher=The Public Reviews|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref> Barton’s third play, Disconnection, is slated for its world premiere in January, 2015. | Barton’s first play Engagement was produced by the Skylight Theatre Company in Los Angeles in 2010,<ref>{{cite web|first=F. Kathleen|last=Foley|title=Theater review: 'Engagement' at the Beverly Hills Playhouse|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/07/engagement-at-the-beverly-hills-playhouse.html|work=|publisher='']''|date=2010-07-30|accessdate=2010-11-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Neal|last=Weaver|title=Engagement - The Katselas Theatre Company at the Beverly Hills Playhouse|url=http://www.backstage.com/bso/reviews-la-theatre/engagement-1004109123.story|work=|publisher='']''|date=2010-08-13|accessdate=2010-11-17}}</ref> and was mounted as well in San Francisco in 2014. His second play, Years To The Day (2013) received significant critical acclaim, with his writing compared to that of Albee, Mamet and George Bernard Shaw.<ref name="PJ Media Review of Years to The Day">{{cite web|last=Simon|first=Roger|title=Years to the Day — A Play the Right Can Stomach|url=http://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2013/04/15/years-to-the-day-a-play-the-right-can-stomach/|work=pjtv.com|publisher='']''|accessdate=16 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="LA Weekly Years to The Day Review">{{cite web|last=Morris|first=Steven Leigh|title=A Pair of Two-Person Shows|url=http://www.laweekly.com/2013-04-25/stage/a-pair-of-two-person-shows-one-starring-comedy-couple-nick-offerman-and-megan-mullaly-lt-em-gt-annapurna-lt-em-gt-and-lt-em-gt-years-to-the-day-lt-em-gt-reviewed/full/|publisher='']''|accessdate=16 May 2013}}</ref> Years to the Day was nominated in writing and acting categories by the LA Drama Critics Circle<ref>{{cite web|title=2013 LADCC Special Award Recipients and Nominees|url=http://ladramacriticscircle.com/2013nominees/|website=http://ladramacriticscircle.com|publisher=LA Drama Critics Circle|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref> and the LA Weekly, and was one of the latter’s Ten Best Plays of 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=10 Best L.A. Plays of 2013|url=http://www.laweekly.com/2013-12-26/stage/best-la-theater-2013/|website=http://www.laweekly.com|publisher=]|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref> It was performed in Paris in October, 2013, and also participated in the 59E59 St. Theatre’s “East To Edinburgh” Festival in June, 2014<ref>{{cite web|title=East to Edinburgh: Years to the Day|url=http://www.nytimes.com/theater/show/223475/East-to-Edinburgh-Years-to-the-Day/overview|website=www.nytimes.com|publisher=]|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref> on its way to a run at the 2014 Edinburgh Theatre Festival.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Davies|first1=Gareth|title=Years to the Day – Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh|url=http://www.thepublicreviews.com/years-to-the-day-pleasance-courtyard-edinburgh/|website=http://www.thepublicreviews.com|publisher=The Public Reviews|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref> Barton’s third play, Disconnection, is slated for its world premiere in January, 2015. | ||
===Directing=== | ===Directing=== |
Revision as of 16:54, 9 November 2015
Allen Barton (born May 18, 1968) is an American writer/director, acting teacher, classical pianist, and political commentator. He is known primarily for his longtime association with the Beverly Hills Playhouse, the renowned Los Angeles-based acting school, and for his work on PJ Media's internet television service, PJTV, where he was host of The Front Page from 2008 through 2012. His older brother, Fred Barton, is a New York-based pianist and composer. His father, David K. Barton, is a world-renowned radar-systems engineer. His cousin was the legendary jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond.
Career
Acting
After graduating from Harvard University in 1990, Barton relocated to Los Angeles and began his studies as an actor at the Beverly Hills Playhouse (BHP). Over the next 20 years, he completed apprenticeships as a director and teacher under Milton Katselas, BHP's founder. Simultaneously with his artistic training, he began working part-time for BHP in 1993, rapidly ascending to become CFO in 1997 and then the school's youngest ever CEO in 2003. He began teaching for BHP in 2002, had a class under his own name in 2005, and taught alongside Katselas starting in 2007 up until Katselas' death in October 2008. Katselas bequeathed majority ownership to Barton, who still teaches at the school and oversees its operation, including expansion to both New York and San Francisco. Barton also maintains a blog for the BHP called The Study and Pursuit of Acting.
Writing
Barton’s first play Engagement was produced by the Skylight Theatre Company in Los Angeles in 2010, and was mounted as well in San Francisco in 2014. His second play, Years To The Day (2013) received significant critical acclaim, with his writing compared to that of Albee, Mamet and George Bernard Shaw. Years to the Day was nominated in writing and acting categories by the LA Drama Critics Circle and the LA Weekly, and was one of the latter’s Ten Best Plays of 2013. It was performed in Paris in October, 2013, and also participated in the 59E59 St. Theatre’s “East To Edinburgh” Festival in June, 2014 on its way to a run at the 2014 Edinburgh Theatre Festival. Barton’s third play, Disconnection, is slated for its world premiere in January, 2015.
Directing
As a director, Barton has helmed the following Los Angeles stage productions: About Faith (2001), I Make You Laughing (2004), Pink Dot (2005), Burn This (2006), The Last Five Years (2007), Rabbit Hole (2008), The Real Thing (2009), Engagement (2010), and Project X presentations of The Heidi Chronicles (2012) and Oleanna (2013).
Piano
As a classical pianist, Barton studied with Seth Kimmelman at New England Conservatory, and in Los Angeles with Bernardo Segall, Deborah Aitken and Mario Feninger. He was a prize-winner in the 2002 Los Angeles Liszt Society Competition, and has performed annual recitals in Los Angeles, New York, Boston and the New England area. He has recorded five compact discs, Debut Recital, 2, 3, 4, and 5, all available at cdbaby.com, the iTunes Store, and various other online distribution outlets. In 2010 he was made a Steinway Artist.
Political commentary
In 2008 Barton was hired by the online television service, PJTV of PJ Media. Barton hosted the popular show, The Front Page, a weekly collection of interviews with commentators from Investors Business Daily, the Ayn Rand Institute, as well as experts on politics, polling, economics and culture. In 2010 he interviewed Congressman Tom McClintock regarding the upcoming 2010 midterm elections and the state of the Obama presidency. The show was cancelled at the end of 2012 when PJTV moved to its Next Generation programming featuring former congressman Allen West.
Personal life
Allen Barton grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts and has an A.B. from Harvard University, where he studied Russian & Soviet Studies, and was a VP for the Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
Barton married Tiffany Yu in 2003, and they have three children.
In the mid-late 1990s, Barton was associated with Scientology, and acted in many of their in-house films under the Golden Era Productions banner. His last course completion was in 2000, and he appears to have had no activity with the group since then. In 2012, he became more of an outspoken critic, as he took on the movement's "disconnection" policy, which affected Milton Katselas during his life and came to interfere with Barton's own relationship with his piano teacher Mario Feninger. He was interviewed in 2012 for Lawrence Wright's book about Scientology, "Going Clear."
References
- "Front Page with Allen Barton". PJ Media. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
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(help) - Doug, Gavel. "Barton family reunion = class reunion". The Harvard University Gazette. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
- Foley, F. Kathleen (2010-07-30). "Theater review: 'Engagement' at the Beverly Hills Playhouse". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-17.
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(help) - Weaver, Neal (2010-08-13). "Engagement - The Katselas Theatre Company at the Beverly Hills Playhouse". Backstage. Retrieved 2010-11-17.
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(help) - Simon, Roger. "Years to the Day — A Play the Right Can Stomach". pjtv.com. Pajamas Media. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
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(help) - Morris, Steven Leigh. "A Pair of Two-Person Shows". LA Weekly. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
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(help) - "2013 LADCC Special Award Recipients and Nominees". http://ladramacriticscircle.com. LA Drama Critics Circle. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
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(help)|website=
- "10 Best L.A. Plays of 2013". http://www.laweekly.com. LA Weekly. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
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(help)|website=
- "East to Edinburgh: Years to the Day". www.nytimes.com. New York Times. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
- Davies, Gareth. "Years to the Day – Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh". http://www.thepublicreviews.com. The Public Reviews. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
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: External link in
(help)|website=
- Mitchell, Colin. "Critique of the Week – Runner Up". Bitter Lemons. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- "Steinway Artists". Steinway. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
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(help) - Oppenheimer, Mark (July 15, 2007). "Something happened". New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
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(help) - "Truth About Scientology"
- Ortega, Tony. "Milton Katselas Pleads With Scientology After Grant Cardone's Attack: A Church Jihad?". The Village Voice. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
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(help) - Ortega, Tony. "Scientology's "Disconnection" Policy: Music Lovers, This One Will Break Your Heart". tonyortega.com. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
External links
- Official website
- Beverly Hills Playhouse - Allen Barton's Teacher Page
- Study and Pursuit of Acting by Allen Barton