Men Stand on Shoulders

John D. Mitchell is Co-Founder and President of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Theatre Arts. As author, stage director, and actor, Dr. Mitchell under the aegis of IASTA, has presented twenty-two productions directed by internationally famous master artists. Dr. Mitchell speaks seven languages, two of them Asian. He translated and produced off-Broadway Phedre, Butterfly Dream, Gladiators Thirty Millions and House of Fools. He is the author of The Red Pear Garden, Wild Board Forest, Theatre: The Search for Style, and Macbeth Unjinxed (based on John Blatchley's production of Macbeth). He also translated Verlaine's poems Femmes/Hombres. In collaboration with Donald Chang, he translated and adapted the Peking Opera, The Fox Cat Substituted for the Crown Prince, he was a contributor to Appreciating the Nine Five, and he co-authored the musical Live Life to the Hilt. He has produced and narrated twenty-five films on the humanities and aspects of international theatre styles. From 1944 to 1948 Dr. Mitchell was co-director of the Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts for The American Broadcasting Company. He lives in New York City, is married, and has two sons and a daughter.