Whitman is the daughter of investment advisor Martin J. Whitman, namesake of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. She has two brothers: James Whitman, a professor at Yale Law School, and Thomas Whitman, a professor of music at Swarthmore College. Her aunt is judge Phyllis W. Beck, who served on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and was married to the University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist Aaron Beck. Her cousin is psychologist Judith S. Beck, who co-founded the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy.
Whitman attended the Dalton School and graduated from the Elizabeth Seeger School. She attended Bennington College and graduated from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 1988 and received an MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts in 2005.
Whitman is a former theater actress who made her Broadway debut producing A Raisin in the Sun (2004). She has won multiple Tony and Drama League Awards for producing Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Fun Home, Red, Angels in America, and The Humans.
In 2021, Whitman endowed the Barbara Whitman Award to support a female, trans or non-binary early-career stage director. She sits on the Board of Governors and the executive committee of the The Broadway League.
Barbara WhitmanThe Humans
Barbara Whitman, Fun Home
Barbara Whitman, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Barbara Whitman, Next to Normal
Barbara Whitman, 33 Variations
Barbara Whitman, Mary Stuart
Barbara Whitman, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Barbara Whitman, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Barbara Whitman, A Raisin in the Sun
Barbara Whitman has been nominated for several Tony Awards, including Best Play for The Humans, Best Musical for Fun Home, Best Revival of a Musical for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Best Musical for Next to Normal, Best Play for 33 Variations, Best Revival of a Play for Mary Stuart, Best Musical for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Best Musical for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Best Revival of a Play for A Raisin in the Sun.
Barbara Whitman has won the Tony Award for Best Play for The Humans, Best Musical for Fun Home, and Best Revival of a Musical for Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
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