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James D. Brubaker, who was a producer on some of the most popular films of comedians Eddie Murphy and Jim Carrey as well as the high-profile astronaut drama The Right Stuff, died today at his home in Beverly Hills of complications from a series of strokes. He was 85.

Launching his Hollywood career as a Teamster driving horses to John Wayne movie locations in Mexico, Brubaker was closely associated with the Rocky film franchise, serving as a driver on the first installment in 1976, a production manager on Rocky II in 1979, and Associate Producer on the third in 1982. He then exec produced Rocky IV in 1985.

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Frank Galati, the Tony Award-winning director of Broadway’s The Grapes of Wrath and nominee for Ragtime, died Monday night. He was 79.

A cause of death was not immediately available.

Galati, who was an associate director at Chicago’s famed Goodman Theatre from 1986 to 2008 and a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company since 1985, was Oscar-nominated, along with co-writer Lawrence Kasdan, for the 1988 screenplay adaptation of Anne Tyler’s novel The Accidental Tourist.

Galati’s 1990 stage adaptation of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath won the Tony Award for Best Play; Galati also won the award that year for Best Direction. The acclaimed production, which debuted at Steppenwolf before transferring to Broadway, starred Gary Sinise, Terry Kinney, and Lois Smith in Tony-nominated performances.

“Frank had a profound impact on Steppenwolf, and all of us, over the years,” said Steppenwolf’s co-artistic directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis in a joint statement.

Asolo Repertory Theatre will presentthe world premiere of Knoxville, a new musical by Frank Galati, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, opening April 10 with previews starting April 3. The musical reunites the Tony Award-winning creative team behind Broadway's Ragtime 1998. Frank Galati, an Asolo Rep associate artist, also directs the production, which will run through April 25. The world premiere of Knoxville is made possible by a generous grant from The Roy Cockrum Foundation.

Asolo Repertory Theatre will proudly present the world premiere of Knoxville in spring 2020. This moving and innovative musical will feature lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty and will be adapted and directed by Frank Galati, reuniting the dynamic Tony Award-winning creative team behind Ragtime, one of the most beloved musicals of all time. Knoxville is based on James Agee's Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiographical novel A Death in the Family and based, in part, on the play All The Way Home by Tad Mosel.

John Kander and the late Fred Ebb’s final musical, “The Visit,” has been circling Broadway for over a decade, and if it took this long to get it right, then the wait for “The Visit,” which opened Thursday at the Lyceum Theatre in New York, is well worth it. Some judicious cutting of the musical has taken place since its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre in 2001, and the creative team has finally found the right director in John Doyle, who eschews the romantic realism of Frank Galati’s original staging to give “The Visit” precisely what it needs: a.

Previews are underway for Steppenwolf Theatre Company's U.S. premiere production of The Herd, a deftly comic play by Olivier Award-winning actor Rory Kinnear and directed by ensemble member and Tony Award-winning director Frank Galati. The Herd opens on April 12, 2015, and runs through June 7, 2015 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre 1650 N Halsted St. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below...

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the U.S. premiere production of The Herd, a deftly comic play by Rory Kinnear. Directed by ensemble member and Tony Award-winning director Frank Galati, the cast features ensemble members Francis Guinan, John Mahoney, Molly Regan and Lois Smith with Cliff Chamberlain and Audrey Francis. The Herd premiered at London's Bush Theatre in 2013. The Herd begins previews tonight, April 2, 2015 Opening night is April 12, 2015 Press performances are April 11 at 3pm and April 14 at 730pm and runs through June 7, 2015 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre 1650 N Halsted St.

Rehearsals are underway for Steppenwolf Theatre Company's U.S. premiere production of The Herd, a deftly comic play by Olivier Award-winning actor Rory Kinnear and directed by ensemble member and Tony Award-winning director Frank Galati. The cast features ensemble members Francis Guinan as Ian, John Mahoney as Brian, Molly Regan as Carol and Lois Smith as Patricia with Cliff Chamberlain as Mark and Audrey Francis as Claire. The Herd begins previews April 2, 2015 Opening night is April 12, 2015 Press performances are April 11 at 3pm and April 14 at 730pm and runs through June 7, 2015 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre 1650 N Halsted St. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal below...

Steppenwolf Theatre Company announces the full cast for the U.S. premiere production of The Herd, a deftly comic play by Rory Kinnear. Directed by ensemble member and Tony Award-winning director Frank Galati, the cast features ensemble members Francis Guinan, John Mahoney, Molly Regan and Lois Smith with Cliff Chamberlain and Audrey Francis. The Herd premiered at London's Bush Theatre in 2013.

American Conservatory Theater A.C.T. kicks off its 2013-14 season with passionate and patriotic fireworks with the West Coast premiere of Tony Award-winning director Frank Galati's triumphant new staging of the musical 1776. A.C.T.'s production of 1776 runs September 11-October 6, 2013, at The Geary Theater 415 Geary Street, San Francisco. Tickets starting at 20, and are on sale now and may be purchased online at act-sf.org or by calling 415.749.2228. Check out a sneak peek below...

American Conservatory Theater A.C.T. kicks off its 2013-14 season with passionate and patriotic fireworks with the West Coast premiere of Tony Award-winning director Frank Galati's triumphant new staging of the musical 1776. A.C.T.'s production of 1776 runs September 11-October 6, 2013, at The Geary Theater 415 Geary Street, San Francisco. Tickets starting at 20, and are on sale now and may be purchased online at act-sf.org or by calling 415.749.2228. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below...

Steppenwolf Theatre Company continues its 2008-2009 season, an exploration of the imagination, with The Tempest by William Shakespeare, directed by ensemble member Tina Landau - playing March 26 - May 31, 2009 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. The Tempest features ensemble members Alana Arenas, K. Todd Freeman, Frank Galati, Jon Michael Hill, Tim Hopper, James Vincent Meredith, Yasen Peyankov, Lois Smith (March 26 - May 10) and Alan Wilder with Eric James Casady, Miles Fletcher, Stephen Louis Grush, Mike Nussbaum (May 12 - 31) Emma Rosenthal and Craig Spidle.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company continues its 2008-2009 season, an exploration of the imagination, with The Tempest by William Shakespeare, directed by ensemble member Tina Landau ? playing March 26 ? May 31, 2009 in Steppenwolf?s Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. The Tempest features ensemble members Alana Arenas, K. Todd Freeman, Frank Galati, Jon Michael Hill, Tim Hopper, James Vincent Meredith, Yasen Peyankov, Lois Smith and Alan Wilder with Eric James Casady, Miles Fletcher, Stephen Louis Grush, Emma Rosenthal and Craig Spidle. The press performance is Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 3:00 p.m.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company continues its 2008-2009 season, an exploration of the imagination, with The Tempest by William Shakespeare, directed by ensemble member Tina Landau - playing March 26 - May 31, 2009 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. The Tempest features ensemble members Alana Arenas, K. Todd Freeman, Frank Galati, Jon Michael Hill, Tim Hopper, James Vincent Meredith, Yasen Peyankov, Lois Smith and Alan Wilder with Eric James Casady, Miles Fletcher, Stephen Louis Grush, Emma Rosenthal and Craig Spidle. The press performance is Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 3:00 p.m.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company continues its 2008-2009 season, an exploration of the imagination, with The Tempest by William Shakespeare, directed by ensemble member Tina Landau - playing March 26 - May 31, 2009 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. The Tempest features ensemble members Alana Arenas, K. Todd Freeman, Frank Galati, Jon Michael Hill, Tim Hopper, James Vincent Meredith, Yasen Peyankov, Lois Smith and Alan Wilder with Eric James Casady, Miles Fletcher, Stephen Louis Grush, Emma Rosenthal and Craig Spidle. The press performance is Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 3:00 p.m.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company continues its 2008-2009 season, an exploration of the imagination, with The Tempest by William Shakespeare, directed by ensemble member Tina Landau - playing March 26 - May 31, 2009 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. The Tempest features ensemble members Alana Arenas, K. Todd Freeman, Frank Galati, Jon Michael Hill, Tim Hopper, James Vincent Meredith, Yasen Peyankov, Lois Smith andAlan Wilder with Eric James Casady, Miles Fletcher, Stephen Louis Grush, Emma Rosenthal and Craig Spidle.The press performance is Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 3:00 p.m.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is excited to announce its 2009-2010 Subscription Season, exploring the theme of belief. Season subscriptions go on-sale to the public on Tuesday, February 3 at 11 a.m. Steppenwolf ensemble members currently confirmed for the 2009-2010 Season include: Alana Arenas, Kate Arrington, Ian Barford, Frank Galati, Jon Michael Hill, Francis Guinan, Tina Landau, Tracy Letts, Amy Morton, William Petersen, Rondi Reed, Anna D. Shapiro, Eric Simonson and Alan Wilder. Additional casting to be announced.

In her job as casting director for Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Erica Daniels not only plays matchmaker -- coming up with just the right actor to embody a particular character -- she also acts as a sort of theatrical den mother. "You're dealing with people with emotional needs, creative needs and wants; you're massaging a lot of personalities," says Daniels, who -- apart from the passing intern or apprentice -- constitutes the theatre's entire casting department. It's no small job. In the case of a large-cast play making its world premiere -- Tracy Letts' Pulitzer- and Tony-winning August: Osage County, for instance -- the stakes would seem particularly high. After all, the actor who first enacts a role could set the standard for future incarnations. The re-imagining of a classic drama, meanwhile, presents its own casting challenges. This fall, Daniels worked with director Tina Landau on William Shakespeare's The Tempest.