Bartlett B. Sher (born March 27, 1959) is an American theatre director. The New York Times has described him as "one of the most original and exciting directors, not only in the American theater but also in the international world of opera". Sher has been nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical as well as a Drama Desk Award for his direction of the 2008 Broadway revival of South Pacific. Early life Sher was born in San Francisco, California, USA, the son of Aird (Stewart) and Joseph Sher. He had six siblings, including a twin brother, Bradley. He was raised Catholic (during his teenage years, he found out that his Lithuanian-born father was Jewish). Sher attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory and later the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He returned to St. Ignatius to teach English and run the theatre program. During the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games he was influenced by the arts programs associated with the Games, particularly by the work of Polish director Tadeusz Kantor. Career Sher served as associate artistic director at Hartford Stage (Hartford, Connecticut) and company director at the Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, Minnesota) where he worked with Garland Wright, who was a mentor as was Robert Woodruff. Sher has directed, taught and led workshops across the country and internationally. He was artistic director at Intiman Theatre in Seattle and in 2008 was named resident director at Lincoln Center Theater in New York City. Intiman Playhouse, Seattle Sher served as artistic director at Intiman Playhouse in Seattle from 2000 to 2010. During 2010 Sher handed over this job to his successor, Kate Whoriskey. (The Intiman cancelled its 2011 season due to financial problems.) His productions at Intiman have included: Nickel and Dimed, a world premiere by Joan Holden based on the book by Barbara Ehrenreich; Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul (British housewife becomes fascinated with Afghanistan); Ingmar Bergman's Nora (adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House ); G. B. Shaw's Arms and the Man; Shakespeare's Cymbeline and Titus Andronicus; Carlo Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters ; Works by Craig Lucas: The Dying Gaul (a funny and tragic story of a grieving Hollywood scriptwriter) The Singing Forest (neurotics and therapists sparring) — world premiere Prayer for My Enemy (dysfunctional family, friendship, war in Iraq) The Light in the Piazza, book by Lucas (a chance meeting in