Biography
Granville Wyche Burgess is a playwright, director, producer, lyricist, composer, and teacher with over 25 years' professional experience. His plays and musicals have appeared Off-Broadway and regionally. His teleplays have appeared on PBS and in syndication, and he was a staff writer for the Emmy-nominated soap opera Capitol. He is the author of five screenplays and a book of short stories for children. He has directed or acted in over 50 plays and musicals. His professional memberships include The Dramatists Guild, The Writers Guild of America East, The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, The Screen Actors Guild, Actors Equity Association, The American Federation of Television and Radio Actors, and The Philadelphia Dramatists Center.
Mr. Burgess is President and CEO of the entertainment company EdVenture Networks, Inc., which produces historical programming for youth. With Jonathan Donald, he is co-producer/head writer of the proposed PBS series Dixie Drive-In, co-produced with SC-ETV in South Carolina.
Mr. Burgess was Director of the Walnut Street Theatre School for seven years, and has taught playwriting, screenwriting, directing, and acting at The Wilma Theatre, Widener University, The Academy of Vocal Arts, Trinity College, The University of Central Oklahoma, The Tower Hill School, and Arcadia University, among others.
His produced plays and musicals include The Death of Dracula (commissioned by the Walnut Street Theatre), Play It As It Lies, The Freak: A Play About Edgar Cayce, A Country Carol, Conrack, Glory Road!, Dream..., Everybody's Watching: The Making of the Constitution, On To Oklahoma!, and Whalesong. He has received awards and grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, CBS/Foundation of the Dramatists Guild, The Drama League, The Center for Southern Studies, Circuit Theatre, and Dayton Repertory Theatre.
Mr. Burgess is a 1965 graduate with honors of the Phillips Exeter Academy, a 1969 graduate of Princeton University (magna cum laude in History), and a 1974 M.F.A. graduate in Directing of the Catholic University of America.
