Tony Vezner

Biography

Tony Vezner is a professor of Theatre at Concordia University Irvine, where he has directed more than 85 productions across professional, community, and university stages. His Concordia directing credits include Metamorphoses, Hamlet, Reckless, Pride and Prejudice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and his original adaptation of Ten Days in a Madhouse. He received the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival Excellence in Education Award in 2011.

Before joining Concordia in 2007, Tony served in several prominent artistic leadership roles. He was co-artistic director of Circle Theatre in Chicago, artistic director of the Theatre of Western Springs, and producing artistic director of New American Theater (Equity SPT 7), where his work included Around the World in 80 Days, Bad Dates, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. His Chicago-area directing credits span productions such as Anna Karenina, The Tempest, Tartuffe, and American Buffalo. Locally, he has also directed for the Chance Theater.

Tony led Concordia’s professional Looseleaf Theatre Co. (Equity, Guest Artist) as producing artistic director, directing productions including Twelfth Night, As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, and Two Gentlemen of Verona.

His teaching career extends globally. He served on Concordia’s Around the World Semester—first as a visiting professor in 2014, then full-time faculty in 2016—teaching in 10 countries over 20 weeks. In 2018, he was a visiting professor of acting at the Huace Film Academy at Zhejiang University of Media and Communications in Hangzhou, China.

Tony and his family attend Hepatha Lutheran Church in Anaheim Hills.