Gift of Apollo: The Autobiography of John D. Mitchell

Vivid tales and anecdotes about the theatre told by John D. Mitchell, founder of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Theatre Arts.

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.