Cultural Ambassador Ronald Rand to Bring Harold Clurman In LET IT BE ART! To Athens

International Cultural Ambassador Ronald Rand recently performing at Colombo's Elphinstone Theatre, Nairobi's National Theatre in The Kenya International Theater Festival, and in Iceland, will perform as Harold Clurman, the "Elder Statesman of the American Theatre" in his critically-acclaimed solo play, LET IT BE ART! approaching his 25th year of world tours, on October 19th at the Aula Theatre in Athens, Greece during the Global Arts Education Summit of the World Alliance for Arts in Education (WAAE), at the School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University.

Ronald Rand's transformational performance has received standing ovations in three celebrated Off-Broadway productions, in 26 countries across five continents, in twenty states, five tours throughout India, representing the US in the Theatre Olympics, and at over a hundred theaters, universities, colleges, art centers, and festivals world-wide.

Audiences are taken on an unforgettable journey, traveling to New York City and Paris and around the world, witnessing the creation of America's greatest acting company, The Group Theatre, meeting many of the vibrant luminaries of the 20th century including Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg, Clifford Odets, Aaron Copland, Constantin Stanislavsky, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Edmond Jones, Marlon Brando, Katharine Hepburn, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

One-hundred-year-old President Jimmy Carter wrote in 1980: "Harold Clurman was known as a 'True Man of the Theatre.' Harold Clurman founded The Group Theatre and shared it with millions of Americans. He brought to America a world of new knowledge. I am pleased to join in honoring the director, critic, teacher, spirit of the American Theatre - Harold Clurman."

Harold Clurman has been called "the most influential figure in the history of 20th century American Theatre." One of America's great directors, he co-founded The Group Theatre with Lee Strasberg and Cheryl Crawford. Clurman embodied the passion and fervor of an entire generation!

Clurman was the award-winning director of forty of the most important plays in Broadway history, including the original Broadway productions of A MEMBER OF THE WEDDING with Julie Harris and Ethel Waters, BUS STOP with Kim Stanley and Elaine Stritch, A TOUCH OF THE POET with Helen Hayes, Eric Portman, and Kim Stanley, Clifford Odets' AWAKE AND SING, PARADISE LOST, and GOLDEN BOY, WALTZ OF The Toreadors with Sir Ralph Richardson, TIGER AT THE GATES with Sir Michael Redgrave, INCIDENT AT VICHY with Joseph Wiseman, Joseph Wiseman and Roy Scheider, THE COLD WIND AND THE WARM, and Rodgers and Hammerstein's PIPE DREAM. He also directed Marlon Brando in TRUCKLINE CAFÉ, TIGER AT THE GATES with Sir Michael Redgrave, the national tour of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE with Uta Hagen and Anthony Quinn, MONTSERRAT at Israel's Habimah Theatre, LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT with Roy Scheider in Tokyo, and THE ICEMAN COMETH with Japan's Kumo Theatre Company.

He authored several books including "The Fervent Years" about The Group Theatre, "On Directing," "Ibsen," and his autobiography, "All People are Famous." Clurman's writings can be found in "The Collected Works of Harold Clurman, and Ronald Rand's "The Soul of the American Actor" Newspaper. He was considered America's pre-eminent theater critic, and was the drama critic for "The Nation" and "The New Republic". Harold Clurman received the Donaldson Award, Tony Award nominations, the first George Jean Nathan Award for Writing, and France's Legion d'Honneur.

Rand is an acclaimed stage and film/TV Actor, starring in several plays Off-Broadway including JULIUS CAESAR with Richard Dreyfuss, Rene Auberjonois, Thomas Hulce, and George Rose, MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM, PERFECT CRIME, and across America as the Stage Manager in OUR TOWN, Captain Keller in THE MIRACLE WORKER, and Polonius in HAMLET. He has appeared in over 200 films and television shows including QUIZ SHOW with Ralph Fiennes and Paul Scofield directed by Robert Redford, A MARRIAGE: STIEGLITZ AND O'KEEFE with Christopher Plummer and Jane Alexander, FAMILY BUSINESS with Sean Connery and Dustin Hoffman, HOMELESS with Yoko Ono, IN & OUT with Kevin Kline, LAW AND ORDER, ANOTHER WORLD, ONE LIFE TO LIVE, and SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.

Rand is the librettist of IBSEN, the first opera ever written about Henrik Ibsen's final days, with composer Harmut von Lieres.

Founder and Publisher of "The Soul of the American Actor" Newspaper, in its 26th year, Rand is the author of three books, "Solo Transformation on Stage", Acting Teachers of America" and "CREATE!" which includes over 130 interviews and 100 artworks including Carol Burnett, Phylicia Rashad, Chita Rivera, F. Murray Abraham, Kelsey Grammer, Tommy Tune, Bill T. Jones, Brian Cox, Christopher Plummer, Harold Prince, Michael Pressman, Paul Tazewell, Lucie Arnaz, Laurence Luckinbill, Ben Vereen, Edward Albee, Eli Wallach, Marian Seldes, Eve Ensler, Nicole Ansari, Alec Baldwin, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Jeanine Tesori, Charles Strouse, Chaka Khan, Jacques D'Amboise, Stephen Henderson, Arthur Laurents, John Patrick Shanley, Luise Rainer, Michael Frayn, Anne Bogart, Budd Schulberg, Graciela Daniele, Katherine Dunham, Robert Lepage, and Robert Wilson.

An internationally-renowned director, Rand's production of the hit comedy, LUV, starring Zana Marjanovic, lead of Angelina Jolie's film, IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY, ran for eight sold-out years in Bosnian at Sarajevo's prestigious Chamber Theatre 55, and traveled across Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia, and Montenegro, winning awards at many festivals.

He also directed Thornton Wilder's OUR TOWN in Spanish in Paysandu, Uruguay, and he conceived and directed a site-specific production, LIVING ROOTS at the University of Patras in Greek.

Rand will also teach his acclaimed "Art of Transformation" Master Acting Workshop Series, highlighting Constantin Stanislavsky 's acting chart, "Method of Physical Actions" at the School of Theatre Studies of the National and Kapodistrian University in Athens.

As a Master Acting Teacher and Guest Professor, Rand has taught for over thirty-five years at over a hundred universities, colleges, acting academies and acting schools around the world in 26 countries, and was an Adjunct Professor of Theater at Pace University, University of North Alabama, and Northern Illinois University.

Ronald Rand has received four Fulbright Awards from the US State Department and The Fulbright Program. Most recently, he taught for six weeks as a Fulbright Specialist Scholar-Guest Professor at the University of Patras through the support of Fulbright Greece. He was also sent around the world to Bosnia & Herzegovina, Uruguay and Malaysia as a Fulbright Specialist Scholar-Guest Professor.

According to Rand, "I'm honored to be able to continue bringing Harold Clurman alive, who was considered "the theatrical conscience of America for fifty years", in my solo play, LET IT BE ART! I believe in creating a great friendship and communication between countries through the art of storytelling - and the healing and transformative power of Clurman's story-telling in LET IT BE ART! has the capacity to reawaken the deepest essential part of our natures - to be kinder, more compassionate human beings to one another."

 

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