BIOGRAPHY

Engaged throughout the US in both opera and theater, Pat’s work spans a broad range. He is comfortable with both new works and the classics, directing in various styles from original practices to radical retellings and adaptations.

Pat works regularly in both Opera and Theater. He has been a part of over 15 premieres, most recently A Rey Pamatmat's Thunder Above/Deeps Below for Second Generation in New York. He directed the original production of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s The Mystery Plays (Yale Drama), as well as the critically acclaimed New York premiere of Roberto’s short, horror play Bloody Mary (The Thursday Problem). Pat is probably best known in New York for his downtown premiere of Eric Sander’s notorious play Oblivia (Working Man’s Clothes).  Other premieres include TV writer Aury Wallington’s Virgin of the Vieux Carre (Double Helix ONE Festival), A. Rey Pamatmat’s High/Limbo/High (QUEER@HERE) and New (at Yale). A frequent collaborator with Rey Pamatmat, Pat has also workshopped his new play Beautiful Day at Mabou Mines and Ma-Yi in New York. Other workshops include Kathryn Walat’s Connecticut at New Georges. He has also directed her plays Out of Nothing (The Production Company’s Australia Project I) and Know Dog (in its original production at Yale).

In Opera, Pat is perhaps best known for the critically acclaimed opera/video installation The Dido Project, with the Sybarite Chamber Players. The premiere was a sight specific performance at Samsung Experience at the Shops at Columbus Circle, New York. He has also directed Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Halka (Sarasota Opera), Lucia di Lammermoor and Janácek’s The Diary of One Who Vanished (Aspen Music Festival); La bohème, Transformations, and La finta giardiniera (Maryland Opera Studio), Puccini’s Turandot (Madison Opera), and Cosí fan tutte (Sarasota Opera, University of Michigan). He recently directed Tom Cipullo's opera Lucy at the Kennedy Center (UrbanArias), and is connected to the development of Paul's Case, composed by Gregory Spears with libretto by Kathryn Walat (American Opera Projects). Abroad, he has directed Don Giovanni at the Théâtre Municipal in Castres, France. He is a co-creator of the opera dream seminar/ drömseminarium with music by Ellen Lundquist based on the poetry of Tomas Tranströmer slated to premiere in Sweden in 2012.

Pat has also directed Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet  (Baltimore Shakespeare Festival) in a critically acclaimed original practices approach, and Twelfth Night (Yale School of Drama), adding original Salsa and Tango music to the play.  His work on Mayakovsky’s Vladimir Mayakovsky: A Tragedy (Yale Cabaret) also illustrates Pat’s ability to incorporate original music into a well-established piece. He also directed the premiere of a new adaptation of Calderòn de la Barca’s The Great Magician (Yale) by Alexander Barreto, which included original flamenco music and dance.

Raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Pat has a B.A. from Tufts University, and an MFA in Directing from The Yale School of Drama. After Tufts, he moved to San Francisco where he worked as stage manager at both Intersection for the Arts and Studio Colossal. He spent his summers working first as a technical apprentice, then as a Production Assistant at the Santa Fe Opera. He worked throughout the U.S. as Resident Assistant Director at several opera companies, including The Dallas Opera and The Baltimore Opera, before continuing his studies at Yale. He has assisted such directors as Werner Herzog, John Copley, and Leon Major. Pat has also assisted on the New York premiere of Greenburg’s The Violet Hour on Broadway (Evan Yionoulis, Director), the premiere of David Rabe’s The Black Monk at Yale (Daniel Fish, Director), and the American premieres of the operas Greek by Marc-Antony Turnage, and Powder her Face by Thomas Adès at the Aspen Music Festival (Edward Berkeley, Director).

He has lived in France and traveled extensively in Europe and Latin America. He speaks French and Italian, and has studied, Spanish, Polish and Swahili. Pat is adjunct faculty at the University of Maryland School of Music and is the Director of the Yale Summer Drama program. He is a member in good standing with both AGMA and SDC.