John J. Wooten

John J. Wooten: John is the Producing Artistic Director of Premiere Stages, where he has produced and directed numerous premieres of new plays, including American Theatre Critics Association honorees The Beautiful Dark, The Good Counselor and Follow Me to Nellie's. He is also the Director of Arts Programming for Kean University, supervising theatre management and programming operations for all professional arts venues on campus. New Jersey Premieres he has directed and at Premiere and elsewhere include Skeleton Crew, Soldier's Heart, Rabbit Hole, Snakebit, Boy Gets Girl, and Shmulnik's Waltz. Plays he has authored have been produced commercially Off-Broadway, internationally and in regional theaters across America. Published plays include: Trophies, Dramatists Play Service; Humbug, Samuel French; The Role of Della, Playscripts, Inc; and Kiss the Bride, Dramatic Publishing Company. John wrote the screenplays for The Role of Della (Toronto, Ft. Lauderdale, Cleveland and DC Film Festivals) and Cat in the Pan (Montreal Film Festival). Awards: NJSCA Playwriting Fellowship, a Playwriting Nomination from the American Theatre Critics Association, a 2014 NJ Family & Children's Services' Champion for Children Award, and for his work with Premiere - the 2015 Award of Excellence from the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and the 2017 NJ Cultural Access Leadership Award. John teaches Playwriting and Acting as a Profession at Kean. He is married to actress, Andrea Bianchi and they have one son.