The primary Stages Off-Broadway Oral history Project

Celebrating the visionaries who created New York's vibrant Off- and Off-Off-Broadway theater.

Dana Ivey

Dana Ivey

Actress
Born on Tuesday, August 12, 1941

Interviewed on: Thursday, November 20, 2014
Location: Primary Stages Offices
Interviewed by: Casey Childs
Interview #19
"The audience for Off-Broadway is ready for anything and appreciates anything that’s a little off or edgy or different….they come to the theatre for that engagement."
Dana Ivey Highlights
Video Length: 5 minutes, 35 seconds
Dana Ivey Interview
Video Length: 1 hour, 41 minutes

Dana Ivey’s Off-Broadway career began when she decided to move to New York City in 1977. Her Off-Broadway debut was as Melanie Garth in QUARTERMAINE’S TERMS (1983). She went on to perform in various Off-Broadway productions, such as: SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (1983), BABY WITH THE BATHWATER (1983), DRIVING MISS DAISY (1987), WENCESLAS SQUARE (1988), HAMLET (1990), KINDERTRANSPORT (1994), TARTUFFE (1999), MRS. WARREN’S PROFESSION (2005), and THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION (2009).  She won an OBIE Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in DRIVING MISS DAISY. Her most recent Off-Broadway credit is THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL (2016) with Red Bull Theater.

Dana Ivey was born in Atlanta, Georgia and grew up going to plays with her mother. She knew that she wanted to be an actress at the age of six. She studied theater at Rollins College and was awarded a Fulbright grant to study drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She performed in many regional productions in Atlanta, Memphis, Hartford, and Canada. She also performed in many Broadway productions, such as: Present Laughter (1982), Heartbreak House (1983), The Last Night of Ballyhoo (1997), The Rivals (2006), Butley (2006), and The Importance of Being Earnest (2011). She was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in January 2008. In October 2013, she was given the John Houseman Award by The Acting Company.  She has been nominated five times for a Tony Award and is currently on the National Council of Actors’ Equity Association.

Mentioned in Interview

George C. Scott, Joseph Papp, George Bernard Shaw, John Patrick Shanley, Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, Irish Repertory Theatre, NYSF/The Public, QUARTERMAINE’S TERMS, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, MRS. WARREN’S PROFESSION, TARTUFFE, KINDERTRANSPORT, HAMLET, BABY WITH THE BATHWATER, DRIVING MISS DAISY, WENCESLAS SQUARE, LOVE LETTERS, BEGGARS IN THE HOUSE OF PLENTY

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