Mel Shapiro is a director, playwright, and a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.. His directing credits include Broadway production of Two Gentleman of Verona (winner of a Tony and NY Drama Critics Award for Best Musical) original off-Broadway production of The House of Blue Leaves (winner of the NY Drama Critics Award for Best American Play), and Vaclav Havel's The Increased Difficulty of Concentration for Lincoln Center Repertory (winner of an Obie for Best Foreign Play). His recent work includes direction of John Guare's Marco Polo Sings a Solo at the Signature Theater and Taming of the Shrew for the New York Shakespeare Festival.