Born: November 8, 1950 at Long Branch, NJ
James Fisher, Professor of Theater at Wabash College, joined the Wabash faculty in 1978. A 1973 graduate of Monmouth College (NJ) in Speech and Theater, Fisher earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in Theater (Acting/Directing) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1976.
Fisher was named McLain/McTurnan/Arnold Research Scholar at Wabash for 1999-2000, which provides him an opportunity to complete Before the Theory: The Early Productions of Edward Gordon Craig (1900-1906), a book on Craig's productions of Dido and Aeneas, The Masque of Love, Acis and Galatea, Bethlehem, For Sword and Song, The Viking at Helgeland, Much Ado About Nothing, Venice Preserved, and Rosmersholm. Fisher was previously named the McLain/McTurnan/Arnold Research Scholar in 1987-88. During that semester-long leave of absence, he completed a book entitled The Theater of Yesterday and Tomorrow: Commedia dell'arte on the Modern Stage (Lampeter, Wales and Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1992. ISBN 0-7734-9529-0. 424 pp. illus.), a study of the influence of the 16th century Italian street theater, commedia dell'arte, on early twentieth century theater artists, particularly Luigi Pirandello, Edward Gordon Craig, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Jacques Copeau, and Max Reinhardt. Another book, Beyond the Theory: The Early Production of Edward Gordon Craig (1900-1906) will also be published by Mellen. Fisher has also published Al Jolson. ABio-Bibliography (Westport, CT and London: Greenwood Press, 1994. ISBN0-313-28620-5), Spencer Tracy. A Bio-Bibliography (Westport, CT and London: Greenwood Press, 1994. ISBN 0-313-28727-9), and Eddie Cantor. A Bio- Bibliography (Westport, CT and London: Greenwood Press, 1997. ISBN0-313-29556-5). Also for Greenwood Press, Fisher is working on Research and Production Sourcebooks on Eugene O'Neill and Stephen Sondheim. He recently completed The Theatre of Tony Kushner. Living Past Hope, a book on Kushner's plays published by Routledge in 2001. Fisher has also been the recipient of a Research Award from The Society for Theatre Research (London) in 1992, and he was named a Public Humanities Fellow by the Indiana Humanities Council in 1991.
Fisher has published articles, book reviews, and theater reviews in many journals and periodicals including Theatre Research International, Popular Music and Society, On-Stage Studies, The Drama Review, Theater, Theatre Journal, New Theatre Quarterly, Studies in American Drama, Theatre History Studies, New England Theatre Journal, Mime News, Theatrephile, Theatre Three, Theatre Studies, The Eugene O'Neill Review, The ARSC Journal, The Tennessee Williams Newsletter, Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, The Annual of Bernard Shaw Studies, Mississippi Quarterly, Comparative Drama, Modern Drama, Theater Week, Theatre Design and Technology, Indiana Magazine of History, and The Shakespeare Bulletin. He currently serves as Book Review Editor of the Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism and edits The Puppetry Yearbook. In 1990, he curated an exhibition, "The History of Clowning from Commedia dell'arte to the Present," for the Actors Theatre of Louisville "Classics in Context" Festival.
In 1997, Fisher was named "Indiana Theatre Person of theYear" for 1996 by the Indiana Theatre Association, an award given to "particular individuals who have contributed to the cooperative development of theatre at all levels within the state of Indiana." He was also named Six-Month Fellow by the Newberry Library for 1992-93. At the Newberry, he co-taught a seminar course, "The Dialogue With Progress," and guided students in research projects while pursuing his own research interests.
Fisher has directed many Wabash College productions, including Mister Roberts by Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan, The Notebook of Trigorin by Tennessee Williams (freely adapted from Anton Chekhov's The Sea Gull), Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas, Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner, Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet, Tartuffe by Molière, The Battle of Shallowford by Ed Simpson, Breaking the Code by Hugh Whitemore, Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo, Biloxi Blues by Neil Simon, Bus Stop by William Inge, Tom Jones -adapted from Henry Fielding's novel by David Rogers, A Half-Remembered Dream - an original verse drama about pioneer woman Narcissa Whitman, written by poet Tam Neville, Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw, The School for Wives by Molière, The Miser by Molière, Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, The Mandrake by Niccolo Machiavelli, True West by Sam Shepard, Agamemnon by Aeschylus, Antigone by Sophocles, Pseudolus by Plautus, A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neill, The Wager by Mark Medoff, The Runner Stumbles by Milan Stitt, Aurelie's Waltz by Arthur Schnitzler, The Crimson Bird - an original chamber opera written by two Wabash colleagues: Fredric Enenbach and Richard Strawn, and his own play The Bogus Bride, based on the characters and traditions of commedia dell'arte.
Fisher served as Chair of the Theater Department at Wabash from1980-1991 and 1995-1997, and has frequently chaired the college's convocations program, The Visiting Artists Series. He has also served on virtually every significant committee at Wabash College, including the Academic Policy Committee, the Budget Committee, the Teaching and Learning Committee, the Lecture Series Planning Committee, and numerous others.
Fisher has had extensive professional experience in the theater. He was Resident Director (1977-78) of the West Side Theater (Knoxville, TN) where he directed and acted in a wide array of plays including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams), Sleuth by Peter Shaffer, Bus Stop by William Inge, God's Favorite by Neil Simon, The Sunshine Boys by Neil Simon, South Pacific by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Joshua Logan, and Annie Get Your Gun by Irving Berlin, Herbert Fields, and Dorothy Fields. He also served as Director (1975-77) of the Barn Theater (Greensboro, NC), where he staged and acted in numerous productions including Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas, Annie Get Your Gun by Irving Berlin, Herbert Fields, and Dorothy Fields, God's Favorite by Neil Simon, and Frankenstein- adapted by Tim Kelly from the Mary Shelley novel. Fisher has had many years of experience in summer stock, serving as Director and Actor(1971-75) at the Parkway Playhouse (Burnsville, NC), appearing in productions of Life With Father by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, Ah, Wilderness! by Eugene O'Neill, 1776 by Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards, I Remember Mama by John Van Druten, My Fair Lady by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, You Can't Take It With You by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, among others. More recently, he has been Guest Director and Playwright-in-Residence (1981-83, 1986) of the Theater-by-the-Grove (Indiana, PA), directing California Suite by Neil Simon), Bus Stop by William Inge), Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward, A Thurber Carnival by James Thurber, and The Rainmaker by L. Richard Nash, and Associate Director (1979-80) of the Guggenheim Summer Theater (West Long Branch, NJ), directing Same Time, Next Year by Bernard Slade, Last of the Red Hot Lovers by Neil Simon, God's Favorite by Neil Simon, and the premiere production of Meir Ribalow's Shrunken Heads, along with playing leading roles in Godís Favorite by Neil Simon, Accidents are Human by Manuel Van Loggem, The Boy Friend by Sandy Wilson, and Shenandoah by Peter Udell. Fisher has also appeared in leading roles in The Prisoner of Second Avenue by Neil Simon, Hughie by Eugene OíNeill, Talley's Folly by Lanford Wilson, The Sunshine Boys by Neil Simon, California Suite by Neil Simon, That Championship Season by Jason Miller, The Great Magician by Lawrence Carra, R.U.R.. by Karel Capek, among many others.
Fisher holds memberships in the Association of Theatre in Higher Education, Theatre Library Association, International Federation for Theatre Research, Indiana Theatre Association, American Film Institute, and Alpha Psi Omega, the national honorary theater fraternity, of which he was recently named National Business Manager and Editor of the organizationís annual publication, Playbill. He won a Medallion of Achievement for Excellence from the American College Theater Festival in1974.
A native of West Long Branch, New Jersey, he married actress/artist Dana Kay Warner on February 5, 1977. They have two children: Daniel Clarkson Fisher (b. 1979) and Anna Kathleen Fisher (b. 1980).
