Jim Helsinger (Artistic Director) -has directed the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival productions of The Merry Wives of Windsor, Every Christmas Story Ever Told, Crime and Punishment, The Imaginary Invalid, Tartuffe, Antony and Cleopatra, The Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard III, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of the Shrew, The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged), The Curate Shakespeare: As You Like It, and Hamlet.  Other directing credits include The Actor's Theatre of Louisville (A Tuna Christmas and The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr, Abridged), Florida Studio Theatre (Good Evening), Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival (Charley's Aunt, The Imaginary Invalid, The Mystery of Irma Vep), Cape May Stage (Stones in His Pockets, The Big Bang, King Mackerel and the Blues are Running and The Fourposter), The Village Gate, NYC (Circus) and The Brooklyn Project, NY (Dusk). 

As an actor for the Festival, he has performed the title roles in Hamlet, Henry V, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, and Dracula: The Journal of Jonathan Harker .  He has also performed regionally at such theatres as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Northshore Music Theatre, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Riverside Shakespeare Festival, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Nebraska Repertory Theatre, Chiswick Park Theatre and Cape May Stage.  His Off-Broadway credits include The Death and Life of Sherlock Holmes, The Taming of the Shrew and The Contrast.  On TV and film, he has appeared in From the Earth to the Moon, Noah Knows Best, General Reiko on Mortal Kombat and Omar Bendix on Sheena: Queen of the Jungle.  

He is the author of the one man shows Dracula: The Journal of Jonathan Harker; and  Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheu; as well as larger cast productions of The Trial of Joan the Maid; A Christmas Carol, In Five Parts, and Robinson Crusoe. 

Mr. Helsinger is a faculty member of the UCF Theatre Conservatory and has directed UCF productions of The Servant of Two Masters, Noises Off, Lend Me A Tenor, The Importance of Being Earnest, You Can't Take It With You, Ah, Wilderness!, and Blithe Spirit. He is a member of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America (STAA), the National Theatre Conference (NTC), Actor's Equity Association (AEA), the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG), and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA).  He holds a BA from Miami University (Ohio) and an MFA from from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival / University of Alabama - Professional Actor Training Program.

Email:  jimh@shakespearefest.org

                                                                 Last Updated: 05/06/2007                    Copyright Orlando Shakespeare Theater