10/27/2024
Michael Yavnieli began directing theatre in 2019, and HALF LIFE OF MARIE CURIE represents his seventh stage play as director, and first production at Footlighters. In 2019, Michael helmed productions of James McLure’s companion comedies LAUNDRY & BOURBON + LONE STAR, in Los Angeles and San Francisco; then I AM MY OWN WIFE, DINNER WITH FRIENDS, and C**K for Crimson Square Theatre Company in Los Angeles, receiving positive reviews for all, and garnering mention (for C**K) as one of Medium.com’s Top Ten LA Theatre Productions of 2019. Then, in 2022, he produced and directed David Ives’ ALL IN THE TIMING + MERE MORTALS, which starred Patrick Warburton, at the Zephyr Theatre. This past year, he directed Aegis Theatre Company’s production of Scott Organ’s romantic dramedy, PHOENIX, at the Broadwater Black Box. Yavnieli is also an actor, having appeared in over thirty television and film productions and over forty theatrical productions in his three decade professional career. Some highlights include the critically acclaimed YEARS TO THE DAY for Skylight Theatre Company, for which Yavnieli earned nominations for Best Actor from LA Drama Critics Circle and Best Two Person Ensemble from StageRaw. Yavnieli performed it over 100 times, in six different cities on two continents. Also noteworthy was being directed three different times by Emmy Award winner and former DGA President, the legendary Gene Reynolds, for Camelot Artists; and a production of TRACERS by John DiFusco at Hermosa Beach Playhouse (directed by John Drouillard), in which he collaborated with the author as well as famed veteran (and subject of the biopic BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY) Ron Kovic. Yavnieli has had the pleasure of acting with such luminaries as Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Toni Collette, Jared Harris, Steve Martin, Greg Kinnear, James Cromwell, Keifer Sutherland, Jennifer Garner, Christian Slater, Virginia Madsen, Cynthia Nixon, John Leguizamo, Doris Roberts, and many others, and having been directed by the likes of Nancy Meyers, Sam Raimi, Allen Coulter, Craig Gillespie, Ken Olin, JJ Abrams, and more. He is the founding teacher of MY Acting Studios, and studied his craft for many years at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.
