Philip Grecian
Philip Grecian started in show business at the age of four as a ventriloquist and puppeteer, became an actor and director as he got older, and then a playwright. Since the beginning of the 21st century, he has made his full time living as a playwright. His authorized stage adaptation of the film A CHRISTMAS STORY ("You'll shoot your eye out, kid!") has approximately 100 professional and amateur productions annually. His stage adaptation of IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE was commissioned by the Arts Club, a professional company in Vancouver, where it ran for several years during the Christmas season. It has since been produced multiple times by North American professional theatres, while his staged radio version of the same story has been broadcast on radio and television nationally.
Grecian is an alumnus of The Creede Repertory Theatre, a professional company in Colorado, as an actor, and continues to maintain a connection with Creede, which has produced several of his plays and has featured him as a returning guest performer.
In well over 300 productions he has played countless roles, toured 4 states for 3 months as Androcles in “Androcles and the Lion,” and toured off and on for forty years in his one man “Mark Twain on Tour.”
As a director he has helmed over 100 plays and musicals.
In addition to his theatre work, he has written and directed film, video and audio productions, earning well over 150 local, regional and national awards. He has been Emmy-nominated six times for his nationally distributed televised radio dramas, winning in 2010 for DRACULA.
His television work has earned five International Hermes Awards, and two National Telly Awards, among others.
Other works, most of which are published by Dramatic Publishing Company, include THE DRAGON OF NITT and THE LION AND THE LYRE (both translated and performed in Russia); the authorized stage production of IN HIS STEPS, a drama; LITTLE PILLS, a farce; TOBY SAVES THE FARM, a musical salute to tent shows; and a translation of Mozart’s opera, THE MAGIC FLUTE. His televised radio scripts include: TWISTED TALES OF POE, WEREWOLF OF THE BAYOU, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (Emmy nomination),THE BLOOD COUNTESS, DRACULA (Emmy), CALL OF THE MUMMY (Emmy nomination), GHOSTS OF THE ELYSIAN ARMS, MIDNIGHT TALES IN SHADOW WOOD (Emmy nomination), FRANKENSTEIN (Emmy nomination), and others, all of which have been distributed around North America through PBS stations.
His work has been produced at The Cleveland Play House; The Arts Club in Vancouver; The Actors Theatre of Louisville; Geva Theatre Center, Rochester, NY; Orlando Repertory Theatre; The San Jose Repertory Theatre; Theatre Orangeville, Ontario; Theatre IV, Richmond; Theatre New Brunswick; Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; Pioneer Theatre Company, Utah; Manitoba Theatre Centre; Portland Center Stage; and Syracuse Stage, among others.