LARRY BIEDERMAN was introduced to Los Angeles with his acclaimed productions of Eric Overmyer’s Dark Rapture starring Nick Offerman at the Evidence Room, and the World Premiere of Crumble by Sheila Callaghan (“Shameless”) at LATC. Both enjoyed extended runs and wide critical praise,
He has directed two premieres of Mickey Birnbaum’s plays. The first, the L.A. premiere of Big Death and Little Death, included a live death metal band at the Road Theatre. The second, a world premiere of Backyard at the Echo Theatre Company, earned Ovation awards for Best Actor and Best Fight Choreography, as well as five Stage Raw Award nominations including Best Direction. Biederman was involved with both plays since directing their first workshop presentations at ASK Theater Projects and the William Inge Theatre Festival, respectively. Other premiere productions include Keith Josef Adkin’s Farewell Miss Cotton at the Black Dahlia, David Rock’s Grand Delusion at the Lost Studio, and Matthew Benjamin and Logan Brown’s Wirehead for the Echo Theatre Company, earning seven LA Weekly Award nominations including Best Direction of a Comedy.
Larry Biederman
including Critics’ Choice from the L.A. Times. In addition to these successful writers of theatre and television, Biederman’s biggest collaborator from the television world has been Winnie Holzman (Wicked, "My So-Called Life"), serving as the on-set coach for her series “Huge” (ABC Family). He also directed Holzman and husband, actor Paul Dooley, on two successful productions of their play Assisted Living, premiering at the Odyssey Theatre in L.A., and then moving east to a run at the George Street Playhouse. He also staged a festival presentation of Stupid Kid by Sharr White (“The Affair”) starring Laurie Metcalf and Tom Irwin and another Sheila Callaghan L.A. premiere of We Are Not These Hands at Rogue Machine Theatre.
Biederman also enjoys the classics, including direction of Moliere’s The Learned Ladies at Theatre of NOTE, and Lillian Hellman’s The Autumn Garden at Antaeus, which earned three more LA Weekly award nominations including Best Revival. In 2009, Biederman took his innovative staging of Schnitzler’s La Ronde to the New York International Fringe Festival where, in addition to critical acclaim, both actors received Best Actor awards for the festival.
Biederman spent seven seasons with San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater, directing and serving in many senior
capacities on the A.C.T. artistic staff, and as Associate Director of their M.F.A. program. Bay Area productions include Peter Barnes’ Red Noses, also a Critic’s Choice and named one of the year's 10 best productions, as well as the acclaimed West Coast premiere of Constance Congdon’s No Mercy which he later remounted for the 24th Street Theatre in Los Angeles.
Between productions, he enjoys the countless collaborations, workshops and readings with L.A.’s great playwrights. His staging of Bryan Davidson’s Death’s Messengers at the MET Theatre earned them two LA Weekly Theater Award nominations for writing and direction. They later collaborated on an adaptation of The Yellow Wallpaper which was presented at the Theatre @ Boston Court.
Biederman teaches directing and acting, both privately and for many reputable training programs throughout the country from the Williamstown Theatre Festival to the Old Globe and locally at Cal State Fullerton where he served three years as their Head of Directing. He has had the privilege of directing great actors during their training years, including Omid Abtahi, Elizabeth Banks, Jim Parsons, and Anika Noni Rose. Starting in 2022, Biederman began teaching master classes in Authenticity and Ambiguity for JMC Academy acting students in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Currently, he is a Professor of Directing at Cal State Northridge.
Biederman lives in Studio City with his wife, Therese and their son, Tyler.
