Newman Plays

Bio

Dr. John Newman is a Professor of theatre at Utah Valley University and the director of the Theatre for Youth & Education (TYE) Center.  He lives with his family in Sandy City, Utah.

Dr. Newman became the first recipient of the Reba R. Robertson Award from the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America.  At UVU, Dr. Newman has directed main season productions including The Secret Garden, Androcles and the Lion, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, The Milk Dragon, Mother Hicks, Once in the Time of Trolls, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo & Juliet, and The Diary of Anne Frank in the Noorda Theatre (renamed the Bastian Theatre).  He has produced or co-produced two touring productions through the UVU TYE Center and directed tour shows Carry On Mr Bowditch, Jack and the Beanstalk, Mama Tomcat’s Flying School, and Mockingbird.

As a playwright, he has adapted scripts for Newbery medalists including Avi, Paul Fleischman, Richard Peck, and Jean Lee Latham. Newman taught and directed at Highland High School for eighteen years, from 1991 to 2010 with a sabbatical to Texas in 1998-99.  He served as Artistic Director of the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts during the 2009-2010 school year.   Newman earned his B.F.A.and M.Ed. from the University of Utah, his M.A. from the University of Texas, and his Ph.D. from New York University.  With Judy Matetzschk-Campbell, he co-authored Tell Your Story: The Plays and Playwriting of Sandra Fenichel Asher.  Dr. Newman chairs the Playwrights In Our Schools Project and served three years on the board of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education. He also wrote Playwriting in Schools: Dramatic Navigation, published by Intellect Books, which received the 2020 AATE Book Award.