Michel Hausmann

Michel Hausmann is a Venezuelan-born theater director and producer. He is the co-founder and artistic director of Palo de Agua, a leading Venezuelan theater production company. Hausmann's Off Broadway credits include the New York Premiere of Black Milk by Vassily Sigarev at East 13th Street Theater Stage and the New York premiere of The Color Of Desire, by Pulitzer Prize–winning author Nilo Cruz at the Repertorio Español. In Venezuela he directed the world premiere of “Los Navegaos,” the last play by renowned Venezuelan playwright Isaac Chocrón, as well as directing and co- translating the productions of Fiddler on the Roof, The Producers (musical) and Jesus Christ Superstar among others. With Moisés Kaufman, he co-directed the Venezuelan premiere of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde.

Conflicts with the Venezuelan government

During Hausmann's 2009 production of Fiddler on the Roof, The Orquestra Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho, funded in its entirety by the Venezuelan government, left the production two weeks before the opening, citing that its participation on a "Jewish play" would threaten the funding they receive from the Venezuelan government, a vocal foe of Israel.[1] Such move was condemned by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Anti Defamation League[2] as well as other Venezuelan newspapers like El Universal.

During the 2010 production of Jesus Christ Superstar, a sponsorship deal was reached with RIM (makers of Blackberry) and the government telephone carrier company Movilnet after RIM. "According to consular documents released on WikiLeaks, Waterloo-based Research In Motion offered $300,000 (U.S.) to sponsor a production of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar in early 2010 in Venezuela’s capital city, Caracas. Associated with the deal was RIM’s local telecommunications partner, government-owned Movilnet. In the WikiLeaks notes, the show’s director, Michel Hausmann, complains that, three weeks before opening night, the telecom partners added a clause to the agreement. They insisted that the theatre, “could not purchase advertising—even with its own resources — in media which had not been approved by RIM and Movilnet.” The banned media outlets, critical of the Chavez regime, “could also not serve as co-sponsors of the musical. In a meeting, which included representatives from RIM and Movilnet, Hausmann and producer Yair Rosemberg refused to comply".[3] The production went ahead without the sponsorship deal. Hausmann and Rosenberg went public with this information and as retaliation the show was attacked with tear gas by masked assailants. "Cecilia García Arocha, director of the university, told the Nacional that the tear-gas incident was a continuation of a spate of violent incidents targeting the university. Hausmann, going a step further, refers to this attack as an example of government intimidation rampant in Venezuela against all theatre groups who are branded "enemies of the revolution" because they seek to maintain their autonomy".[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Venezuela: “Fiddler on the Roof Despite Chávez”", Simon Wiesenthal Center
  2. ↑ "Chavez's Venezuela: The Jewish Community Under Threat, Anti-Defamation League
  3. ↑ "Sponsorship deal by RIM shows perils of global business", The Star
  4. ↑ "Forging Connections in a Fragmented Hemisphere, Controversy in Caracas", Theatre Communications Group
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