ERIC KARSON - LEGITIMATE THEATRE

As a professional performer, director, producer or supervising board of directors member, he has been involved in theatrical stage productions for the past 40 years covering a wide spectrum of literary material and styles of production for over 100 plays including classics, musicals, comedies, dramas, children's and avant-garde theatre.

Prior to his film career as a director, writer, producer, cinematographer and occasionally an actor in motion pictures, he worked in theater exclusively for ten years as a director and actor. Some of the title roles Karson portrayed included Robin Hood, Aladdin and Romeo. He portrayed the role of Lucky in "Waiting for Godot" at the ART Repertory Company at age 19. He portrayed Mercutio in the Robert Ellenstein production of "Romeo and Juliet." Just prior to beginning his career as a film director he was given special permission to produce "Viet Rock" by Megan Terry and an avant-garde musical production, that was an extraction from the Lawrence Ferlinghetti book of poetry "A Coney Island of the Mind", which he also directed. Both shows created a sensation on the Los Angeles experimental theatrical scene.

At age sixteen Eric was placed in an apprentice program for theater after declaring his interest in theater to his writer father and actress mother. During the program of learning he filled every crew position required for production and selected performances. This included 52 productions over a four-year period, including 9 Shakespearean classics and standards such as "I Remember Momma"; Comedies "The Seven Year Itch"; Dramas included "The Glass Menagerie" and "Inherit the Wind"; Musicals included "On The Town" and "Call Me Madam."

As a performer his experience includes a summer at the Hollywood High School special program for the Performing Arts during which he portrayed characters ranging from Caesar in Shakespeare's "Anthony and Cleopatra" to the singing and dancing role of Will in the musical "Oklahoma."

From 1982 through 2002 Mr. Karson served as a board member of the Los Angeles Repertoire Company. During his involvement this company distinguished itself as a premiere theatrical company in Los Angeles which mounted on average four productions per year. These shows generally received positive reviews and encompassed theatrical styles from classic Shakespeare and Shaw to musicals such as Steven Sondheim's "Assassins" produced at the Los Angeles Cultural Center. The company also created shows such as "One Too One" for children, which toured the schools throughout greater Los Angeles. The last production of the company while Mr. Karson was on the board was Shakespeare's "King Lear."

Formal education includes PLT apprentice theatre program, Hollywood High School Performing Arts, and a degree in Fine Arts and Professional Studies from California State University Northridge in Los Angeles. Major in Dramatic Arts, Minor in Speech, Education and History.

Call Me Madam ~ The Solid Gold Cadillac ~ Duet For Two Hands ~ The Plain Princess ~ My Three Angles ~ The Seven Year Itch ~ Johnny Belinda ~ His And Hers ~ At War With The Army ~ The Women ~ The Remarkable Mister Pennypacker ~ The Teahouse Of The August Moon ~ Macbeth ~ Much Ado About Nothing ~ Julius Caesar ~ The Mikado ~ Anniversary Waltz ~ Witness For The Prosecution ~ Arsenic And Old Lace ~ A Streetcar Named Desire ~ Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter ~ The Crucible ~ Life With Father ~ The Wizard Of Oz ~ On The Town ~ Othello ~ The Taming Of The Screw ~ Twelfth Night ~ Oklahoma ~ Out Of This World ~ Strange Bedfellows ~ A Hat Full Of Rain ~ Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs ~ Bus Stop ~ Susan Slept Here ~ Child Of The Morning ~ Inherit The Wind ~ King Lear ~ Henry IV part I ~ No Time For Sergeants ~ The Tender Trap ~ The Mousetrap ~ The Rivals ~ Aladdin ~ Visit To A Small Planet ~ The Glass Menagerie ~ The Diary Of Anne Frank ~ the Sleeping Prince ~ Sunrise At Campobello ~ The Rainmaker ~ The Little Princess ~ You Can't Take It With You ~ I Remember Mama ~ Romeo And Juliet ~ The Tempest ~ Henry V ~ Waiting For Godot ~ Who Was That Lady I Saw You With ~ The Desperate Hours ~ The Matchmaker ~ Elizabeth The Queen ~ Robin Hood ~ The Cain Mutiny Court Marshall ~ The Happiest Millionaire ~ Come Back Little Sheba ~ Green Grow The Lilacs ~ Towards Zero ~ Once More With Feeling ~ Richard III ~ The Merchant Of Venice ~ Fashion ~ Auntie Mame ~ The Marriage-Go-Round ~ Operation Mad Ball ~ Peter Pan ~ The Nutcracker ~ Cat On A Hot Tin Roof ~ The Kid From Brooklyn ~ Look Homeward Angel ~ Diabolique ~ Ah, Wilderness ~ Viet Rock ~ A Coney Island Of The Mind ~ Man And Superman ~