An openly gay, African-American director (mostly of TV), Paris Barclay originally harbored dreams of creating projects for the stage. While an undergraduate at Harvard University, he wrote some 16 musicals as well as contributing to the annual Hasty Pudding Theatricals productions. Moving to NYC to pursue his dream, he studied under Stephen Sondheim and Charles Strouse at the ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop. He eventually saw his show "Almost a Man", adapted from a Richard Wright story, produced Off-Broadway.Having conquered substance abuse problems, Barclay landed a stint working in
