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BIOGRAPHY Born in Newton, Massachusetts , United States , Taymor's interest in Theatre took root early in her life. At the age of Seven , she was already drawing her sister into stagings of children's stories for her parents. By the age of Nine , she became entranced with the Boston Children's Theatre and became involved with them. In high school, she became interested in international travel, and made trips to both Sri Lanka and India with the Experiment In International Living . Being the youngest member of theatre groups became common, as she joined Julie Portman's Theatre Workshop of Boston at the age of 15. Yearning for a more in depth approach to her work, Taymor went to Paris to study with L'Ecole de Mime Jacques Lecoq . During her studies there, she became exposed to Mime which helped in the development of her physical sensibilities. Although in 1970 Taymor enrolled in Oberlin College in Ohio , she sought experience with Joseph Chaikin's Open Theatre and other companies and studied through correspondence. Hearing that director Herbert Blau would be moving to Oberlin, she returned there and auditioned successfully, becoming, once again, the youngest member of a troupe. In 1973 Taymor attended a summer program of the American Society for Eastern Arts in Seattle. The instructors were performers of Indonesian Topeng masked dance-drama and Wayang Kulit shadow puppetry. This would prove to have a great effect on Taymor in later years. Taymor graduated from Oberlin College, with a major in mythology and folklore, in 1974. After her college years, Taymor used a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study pre-Bunraku puppetry on the island of Awaji, Japan in order to learn more about experimental theatre, puppetry, and visually oriented theatre. She resides in New York City with her partner of over 20 years, Elliot Goldenthal . ACHIEVEMENTS Taymor's greatest acclaim as a director for the stage has come from the popular musical '' The Lion King '', a 1997 adaptation of the Animated Film Of That Name . Taymor received two Tony Award s for her work on ''The Lion King'', one for Direction and one for Costume Design, making her the first woman to receive a Tony award for directing a musical. Taymor has transitioned from stage to screen in recent years, directing the films '' nominations and winning in two of the six categories (Best Makeup and Best Original Score). For the Metropolitan Opera during the 2005/2006 season, Taymor directed a successful production of '' The Magic Flute ''. It was revised for the 2006/2007 season and, in addition to full-length performances, was adapted for a 100-minute version over the Holiday season to appeal to children. That version of the opera was the first of a series of NCM Fathom ''Live on the Big Screen'' presentations of MET operas downloaded via satellite to movie theatres across North America and parts of Europe for the 2006/2007 season. In June 2006, Taymor directed the opera ''Grendel'' for Los Angeles Opera which was also presented as part of the Summer 2006 Lincoln Center Festival in New York City . Taymor's most recent work has been as director of the film '' Across The Universe '', a 1960s love story set to the music of the Beatles , and starring Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood . Unhappy with Taymor's cut of the film, Revolution Studios recut the film to generate a shorter version (among other changes) without Taymor's consent. It would seem that a compromise was eventually reached, and the film is now slated for release in September 2007. WORK ON BROADWAY
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