Bruce wrote and directed the feature film, “Jack and His Friends”, starring Sam Rockwell, Judy Reyes, and Allen Garfield, which was released theatrically by Arrow Entertainment. “Jack...” was the inaugural selection of the First Look Festival in Tribeca, and was an official selection of the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain.
Most recently, Bruce directed Workshop alumni Amy Witting's play, “The Goldfish Diaries”, at the Gene Frankel Theatre. “The Goldfish Diaries” was adapted from an earlier one act version, also directed by Bruce, along with 3 other one acts by Amy under the title, “American Spirits”, at the Gene Frankel in 2006. Also that year, Bruce directed “The Wall” and “Tickets Please” at the Gene Frankel, as well as 4 one act plays by Shel Silverstein entitled “Two Hookers and a Dead Pony”.
In 2005, Bruce directed “The Visitor”, “Telling the Leaves”, and “A Rearrangement of Matter”, in “Clearing”, the most recent Workshop showcase at the Sande Shurin Theatre. In 2004, in collaboration with choreographer and former student, Valerie Norman, and utilizing seven students from the Workshop, Bruce directed “?” at WAX in Brooklyn. Earlier in the year, Bruce directed his play “How Do You Feel?” and “War Prayers”, featured in “Precipice”, the Workshop showcase production at the Sande Shurin Theatre. In 2003, Bruce directed the American premiere of “The Retreat” at the Pantheon Theatre in New York City. Earlier that year, he directed two one act productions, “The Trouble with Barney”, and “Kansas”, featured in “Aftermath”, the 2003 offering of 7 one act plays performed by his workshop, again at the Sande Shurin. The prior season, Bruce directed 5 of the one act productions featured in “Playing With Chaos”, the 2002 evening of 7 one act plays performed by his workshop at the Red Room Theatre on the Lower East Side. In 2001, his acclaimed production of “Seducing Said”, was a finalist in the NYC Strawberry Festival of short plays. The season before, he directed “Second Coming” at the Bank Street Theatre. Off-Broadway, Bruce directed “Haven”, by Joel Gross, and “House” for the EST Marathon. Also at EST, Bruce directed a workshop production of “Daniella's Panties”, by Tom Gallagher. In Los Angeles, Bruce repeated his directorial effort of “Haven”, where it received two DramaLogue awards. Also in Los Angeles, he directed “Head On”, by Elizabeth Dewberry at Theatre Geo, “Traffic Jam” at the Complex Theatre, and “Martial Arts Madness”, a multi-media stage extravaganza filmed live for television, which he also co-wrote and produced. “Martial Arts Madness” was later syndicated for television. Among Bruce's writing, his play, “How Do You Feel?” was a finalist in the Actors Theatre of Louisville Great American Play Contest. Additionally, Bruce worked in Los Angeles as a screenwriter for RaStar, Columbia Pictures, and Gareth Wigan. As an actor, Bruce co-starred with John Travolta in “Saturday Night Fever”, Lloyd Bridges in “The Great Wallendas”, Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette and Dianne Wiest in “The Wall”, and with John Heard and Susan Blakely in “Will There Really Be A Morning?”. He also was a contract player in the CBS soap “Love of Life”, and guest starred in numerous episodic television series, most recently “Law & Order”, and as a recurring character on “LA LAW”. He has also performed Off-Broadway at the Public Theatre and WPA. In early 1997, Bruce began the Workshop with six students, one night a week. Now entering its 12th year, the Workshop has grown to five classes a week — lit by the brilliance of his students. In addition to the Workshop, Bruce serves on the faculty at Columbia University in the MFA program for Film Studies. Top of page |
