Daniel Henning

Daniel Henning is the founder and Artistic Director/Producer of The Blank Theatre Company in Hollywood. He recently won the 2007 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Director for The Blank's The Wild Party. His most recent project is his debut as playwright: Dickie & Babe: The Truth About Leopold & Loeb, which received critical and audience acclaim. He conceived and directed the world premiere Michael John LaChiusa musical Hotel C'est l'Amour, directed The Blank's critically acclaimed Lobster Alice, starring Noah Wyle & Nicholas Brendon (LA Weekly Award, LA Drama Critics Circle Award), and the West Coast Premiere of Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe's The Wild Party (LA Drama Critic's Circle Award "Best Production", BackStage West Garland Award "Best Production" and 17 other awards). He made his Lincoln Center directorial debut with The Girly Show with Michael John LaChiusa. Henning directed the World Premiere of Mark Saltzman's Mr. Shaw Goes To Hollywood at the Laguna Playhouse and created the star-studded benefit What A Pair! for the UCLA Breast Center featuring female duets from Broadway musicals (with Megan Mulally, Sally Kellerman, Ann Magnuson, Marni Nixon, Deborah Harry, Jean Smart, Lea Thompson & Rita Wilson.) He was honored with an NAACP Theatre Award nomination for "Best Director-Musical" for his work on The Blank's musical First Lady Suite and was nominated for an Ovation Award for "Best Director of a Musical" for The Cradle Will Rock(LA Weekly Award for "Musical of the Year"). On The Blank's Mainstage he has also directed: the Jazz Age version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the first Los Angeles revival of As Is, Fill In The Blank(an evening of comedies by David Ives), George Furth's Precious Sons(revised by Furth and Henning) starring Nora Dunn & Gregory Jbara (BackStage West Garland Award for "Best Director"), The Why starring Noah Wyle & James Marsters (Ovation nomination), Hello Again(Ovation Award, 3 Garland Awards) with Susan Egan, Marcia Strassman & Richard Kline, Breaking the Code with Dennis Christopher & Jeremy Sisto (LADCC Award - "Outstanding Production"), the Los Angeles premiere of Chess with Marcia Mitzman Gaven & Douglas Sills (2 LADCC Awards, 2 Ovation Awards), a film noir version of Loot, and Sky's End, a musical with book, music, and lyrics by an 18-year-old writer/composer. Henning is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and Circle in the Square Theatre School. He was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.