Christopher McElroen Headshot

Christopher McElroen

Get Christopher McElroen Email Alerts

Be the first to get news, photos, videos & more.

Christopher McElroen BIO

Christopher McElroen is a New York based Producer and Director. He co-founded the Classical Theatre of Harlem and served as the organizations Executive Director from 1999 – 2009 where he produced forty-one productions yielding 18 AUDELCO Awards, 6 OBIE Awards, 2 Lucille Lortel Awards, a Drama Desk Award and CTH being named "1 of 8 theatres in America to Watch" by the Drama League. Christopher has directed over thirty professional productions including four world premieres, The Cherry Orchard with Wendell Pierce and Earle Hyman, an original adaptation of Richard Wright's novel Native Son, Marat/Sade with T. Ryder Smith and The Blacks: A Clown Show, which received four 2003 OBIE Awards and was named one of the ten best Off-Broadway productions of 2003 by The New York Times. Alongside visual artist Paul Chan and Creative Time, Christopher co-produced and directed Waiting for Godot in New Orleans, a community development through the arts initiative that staged Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot outdoors in the Lower Ninth Ward and Gentilly communities of post-Katrina New Orleans. The New York Times listed the project as one of the top ten national art events of 2007. The archives from the production have been acquired into the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and will be on exhibit at MOMA through September 2011. He had the honor of directing the world-premiere of 51st (dream) State, the final work of poet, musician and activist Sekou Sundiata. 51st (dream) State was a multimedia exploration of American Empire that premiered in New York at The Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival before touring internationally. In addition, Christopher has directed or guest lectured at Stanford University, Duke University, Purdue University, New York University, Dartmouth College, The Contemporary Arts Center Boston, The Walker Arts Center and The Museum of Modern Art, among others. He is currently working with Oscar nominee Oren Jacoby and The Ralph Ellison Estate on the world premiere stage adaptation of Ellison's prolific novel Invisible Man.

Christopher McElroen Productions

 
[West End, 2023]
Director
 
[Off-Broadway, 2010]
Producer
 
[Off-Broadway, 2009]
Director
 
[Off-Broadway, 2007]
Executive Director
 
[Off-Broadway, 2007]
Director
 
[Off-Broadway, 2006]
Executive Director
 
[Off-Broadway, 2006]
Director
Executive Director
Founder
 
[Off-Broadway, 2006]
Executive Director
Founder
 
[Off-Broadway, 2005]
Founder/Executive Director
 
[Off-Broadway, 2005]
Director
 
[Off-Broadway, 2003]
Director
Executive Director
Founder

Christopher McElroen Awards and Nominations


winner
Helen Hayes Awards - 2013 - Outstanding Director, Resident Play

Christopher McElroenInvisible Man

Christopher McElroen Videos

Christopher McElroen News


TimeLine Theatre Closes 2024-25 Season With DHABA ON DEVON AVENUE


TimeLine Theatre Company has announced details for the world premiere of Dhaba on Devon Avenue by Madhuri Shekar, directed by Chay Yew and presented in a co-production with Writers Theatre.

Timeline Theatre Company Announces FALSETTOS And More For 2024-25 Season


TimeLine Theatre Company has announced a 28th season that offers a scope unprecedented in the company’s history.

DEBATE: BALDWIN VS BUCKLEY Returns to the UK For Black History Month


DEBATE: BALDWIN VS BUCKLEY returns to the UK with performances at Bristol Old Vic and The Cambridge Union as part of Black History Month. Learn more about the upcoming performances here!

DEBATE: BALDWIN VS BUCKLEY to Conclude Five-Borough NYC Tour in May


 Following a 5-week run at Stone Nest in London’s West End, the american vicarious's Five-Borough NYC Tour of Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley will conclude with two performances on May 13 at the Bronx River Art Center.

Review: DEBATE: BALDWIN VS BUCKLEY, Stone Nest


Taut and razor-sharp verbatim adaptation of a famous debate from the 60s is entertaining and enlightening

DEBATE: BALDWIN VS BUCKLEY to Have UK Premiere & Embark on 5-Borough New York Tour


the american vicarious will present the UK Premiere along with additional details for its Five-Borough NYC Tour of their production of Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley, a staging of the historic clash between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr.

DEBATE: BALDWIN VS BUCKLEY Comes to Stone Nest


Christopher McElroen directs the UK premiere of the critically acclaimed off-Broadway show, Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley - a powerful and thought-provoking verbatim staging of the historic clash between author and activist James Baldwin and conservative, political commentator William F. Buckley Jr.

Harlem Stage Announces Spring 2023 Programming Featuring THE VICKSBURG PROJECT World Premiere & More


Harlem Stage has announced full programming for Spring 2023, continuing its Black Arts Movement: Examined series examining the 1960s/70s cultural movement led by Black artists, activists, and intellectuals.

Gene Gillette Performs in Greece in ARTAUD/VAN GOGH, Now Playing!


Broadway actor Gene Gillette is in Greece exclusively to perform the theatrical monologue 'Artaud/Van Gogh' under the direction of Ioli Andreadi in the Basement of the Art Theater “Karolos Koun” in Athens.

DEBATE: BALDWIN VS BUCKLEY Starring Teagle F. Bougere & Eric T. Miller to be Presented at Queens Theatre


Queens Theater will present Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley from the american vicarious. Adapted and directed by Founding Artistic Director Christopher McElroen, this staging of the historic clash between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr. will take place on November 11 at 8pm and 12 at 3pm & 8pm.

The American Vicarious' DEBATE: BALDWIN VS BUCKLEY to Tour All Five NYC Boroughs


the american vicarious will present a Five-Borough NYC Tour (5BT) of their critically acclaimed production of Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley, a staging of the historic clash between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr.

Harlem Stage Presents Gerald Clayton's PIEDMONT BLUES: A SEARCH FOR SALVATION This Month


Harlem Stage will present six-time GRAMMY-nominated pianist, composer, and bandleader Gerald Clayton and his multidisciplinary project, Piedmont Blues: A Search for Salvation.

The American Vicarious to Present SHOOTING CELEBRITIES


the american vicarious will present the world premiere of Shooting Celebrities by John Ransom Phillips, a multidisciplinary artist equally celebrated for his painting and writing. The production stars Julia Watt as Mary Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln, and Gene Gillette as Mathew Brady, America’s first celebrity photographer. 

Sunday Morning Michael Dale: Baldwin Debates Buckley, The Brontës Rock Out and Billy Porter Revises The Life


Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley is an extraordinary recreation of A 1965 televised debate, Glass Town is a fun rock concert with a Bronte band, The Life gets reworked for Encores! and an O'Neill drama involving Andrew Jackson may be seen differently today.

DEBATE: BALDWIN VS BUCKLEY With Broadway's Teagle F. Bougere Comes to the A.R.T./New York South Oxford Space


the american vicarious will present Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley, a staging of the historic clash between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr. Adapted and directed by Founding Artistic Director Christopher McElroen, the production stars Teagle F. Bougere (Broadway's The Tempest with Patrick Stewart, A Raisin In The Sun with Phylicia Rashad, and Ivo van Hove's The Crucible) as Baldwin and Eric T. Miller (Mope at the Ensemble Studio Theater) as Buckley with Spencer Hamp. Charlie O'Rourke, and Oliver Shirley.

Harlem Stage Announces 2022 Spring Season


Harlem Stage, the legendary uptown performing arts venue led by Patricia Cruz (artistic director and CEO), announced its new spring 2022 season of live performance (music, theater, dance) and digital programming, curated with multidisciplinary artist Carl Hancock Rux, who recently joined the organization as associate artistic director/curator-in-residence.

Performance Installation NEGATIVE LIBERTY/POSITIVE LIBERTY Premieres in March


The american vicarious and The Invisible Dog Arts Center will present the world premiere of Negative Liberty / Positive Liberty, a socially distanced performance installation exploring famed British philosopher Isaiah Berlin's historic 1958 lecture/essay: Two Concepts of Liberty: Negative & Positive.

DEBATE: BALDWIN VS BUCKLEY Now Available For Free Streaming


the american vicarious in collaboration with BRIC present DEBATE: Baldwin vs Buckley, a staging of the historic clash between James Baldwin and William F Buckley Jr. featuring Teagle F. Bougere (Baldwin) and Eric T. Miller (Buckley).

BRIC and the American Vicarious Present Live Staging of DEBATE: BALDWIN VS BUCKLEY


BRIC and the american vicarious, are pleased to announce, DEBATE: Baldwin vs Buckley. For three consecutive nights, the american vicarious will restage the historic 1965 debate between intellectual heavyweights James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr., echoing the original question: 'Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?'

Christopher McElroen FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What awards has Christopher McElroen been nominated for?

Christopher McElroen has been nominated for the Outstanding Director, Resident Play award at the Helen Hayes Awards for the show Invisible Man.

What awards has Christopher McElroen won?

Christopher McElroen has won the Outstanding Director, Resident Play award at the Helen Hayes Awards for "Invisible Man."

Get Christopher McElroen Email Alerts

Be the first to get news, photos, videos & more.

Videos