Chet Walker

Marcia Milgrom Dodge

At the SDCF 2013 Emerging Artist Symposium on Musicals on May 20, 2013, internationally-acclaimed director/choreographers Chet Walker and Marcia Milgrom Dodge shared their expertise of applying a fresh perspective to the revival of a musical subsequent to an iconic production.

Staging Revivals: Marcia Milgrom Dodge and Chet Walker

Marshall Mason

At the SDCF 2013 Emerging Artist Symposium on Plays on June 17, 2013, SDCF hosted legendary director Marshall Mason to speak about his extraordinary collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson and his approach to working with actors.

On collaboration: Marshall Mason

Marianne Weems

Erica Laird

At its 2013 Symposium on Plays, Marianne Weems and Erica Laird of The Builders Association spoke with SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi about the process of creating theatre with heavy use of multi-media elements. Listen as they share the intricacies involved in rehearsing and maintaining a piece when working with both human and non-human counterparts and how to fuse the two symbiotically to create a piece of holistic, organic art. These innovative theatre artists speak to a director’s responsibility when dealing with these mediums and identifying the financial and professional requirements of mounting and sustaining such a visionary art form.

Marianne Weems And Erica Laird: Directing With Technology and Multimedia

Dan Knechtges

At its 2013 Emerging Artist Symposium on Musicals, SDCF hosted Tony-nominated Dan Knechtges ("Lysistrata Jones," "Xanadu," "Spelling Bee") in conversation with Producing Director Ellen Rusconi on his experiences directing and choreographing new musicals. From his theatre experiences while growing up in Cleveland to his transition from performer to director/choreographer, this discussion - peppered with a dash of humor, sentiment, and survival jobs - examines Dan’s process of learning to create musical theatre and launching a career. The conversation explores key tactics when working with stage managers and writers, time management when developing a new work, and elevating taste in the most unlikely yet scrumptious ways.

Directing and Choreographing New Musicals: Dan Knechtges

Robyn Goodman

At its 2013 Emerging Artist Symposium on Musicals, Robyn Goodman, Commercial Producer and Founder of Second Stage Theatre, spoke with SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi about discovering talent and developing new work in today's dynamic theatre climate. Goodman ("Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella," "Avenue Q," "In the Heights," "Altar Boyz") infuses her perspective as an actor turned producer with a well-rounded view of a production from page to stage and everything in between. Listen as she offers insight on keeping up with trending audience interest and younger sensibilities, procuring a strong design team, giving a memorable interview, and recognizing commercial viability in unexpected places.

Discovering Talent and New Work: Robyn Goodman

Steven Hoggett

On July 13, 2013, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation hosted a One-on-One Conversation with acclaimed Director, Choreographer, and Movement Director Steven Hoggett ("Blackwatch", "Peter and the Starcatcher", "Once") discussing his artistic vision, career trajectory, and rehearsal processes. Moderated by Ryan Donovan, the conversation explores Steven’s journey from his beginning as a self-sustaining artist in Wales with Frantic Assembly to his big-budget ventures on Broadway and around the world. Topics discussed include staging musical transitions, budgetary and spatial influences on artistic freedom, the unique aspects of the American theatre industry, and the value of deep collaboration when creating theater.

One on One with Steven Hoggett

Pam MacKinnon

Kathleen Marshall

In a One-on-One Conversation on June 12, 2013, award-winning directors Pam MacKinnon and Kathleen Marshall spoke with SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi about building their artistic careers. Listen as they discuss the nuts and bolts of the rehearsal process, from the Illuminating qualities of auditions and early design meetings to the continuous evolution of a piece as gauged by audience, producers, and associates. This candid conversation offers practical knowledge about creating career inroads, aligning collaborators and continuously developing craft.

One on One with Pam MacKinnon and Kathleen Marshall

A Director's Life: Creative Development and Renewal – On June 18, 2011, SDCF Executive Director Laura Penn moderated a panel at the TCG conference featuring Gil Cates, Curt Columbus, Jeffrey Horowitz, Susan Medak, Madeline Puzo, and Julie Taymor to consider the centrality of the director's role in theatre.

A Director's Life

Moises Kaufman

Mary Overlie

On May 19th, 1999, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation hosted a One-on-One Conversation with Moisés Kaufman, director, playwright, and founder of Tectonic Theater Project, and Mary Overlie, the creator of Viewpoints.  Hear these two singular artists discuss theatrical theory and relate it to their work: Kaufman as he creates The Laramie Project with his company, Overlie in developing Viewpoints. This is an insightful conversation between two artists who thrive on exploration and breaking into new forms.

Moises Kaufman and Mary Overlie

On May 6th, 2013, Oliver Butler of The Debate Society and Jack E. Cummings III of Transport Group spoke with SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi on their experiences simultaneously managing a directing career and theatrical company. The in-depth discussion follows the ebb and flow of two singular directing careers each affected by a loyalty to their own growing theatre companies. Listen as they explore how changing cultural and economic trends affect a theatre company’s ability to sustain itself and the dichotomy that exists when looking for work outside of the company.

Director/Founder

Rare insights into the working process of America's most seminal directors and choreographers are the focus of "Masters of the Stage." This series features more than three decades of priceless One-on-One interviews and panel discussions with theatre's most distinguished luminaries. Listen to these never before broadcast programs and hear the story of the American theater told by those who helped chart its course.

ATW - SDCF Masters of the Stage

In 2001, five directors in the "Directing Shakespeare Symposium" sat down with moderator and set designer Ming Cho Lee for a unique experiment regarding the relationship between director and designers, specifically concerning a Shakespearean text. A mock first production meeting was held for an imaginary staging of "A Winter's Tale," with the designers being told to end the meeting with the inspiration to go home, pick up a pencil, and not need to talk with the director for the next two weeks. They discussed many crucial aspects of the first few stages in the artistic process, such as their initial emotional responses to the text, how to establish the physical world of the play, and how to visually develop the inner conflict within a character through technical elements. Other topics discussed include: working with new or unfamiliar designers, starting points for collaboration and inspiration, and the positives and negatives of labeling Shakespearean plays as "comedy" or "drama". This group of talented directors delving deep into a complex Shakespearean text is an hour of discussion that should not be missed.

Directing Shakespeare: The Nature of Design

Hal Prince

At its 2002 Symposium, Director of Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, Joe Miloscia, welcomed everyone to the symposium and introduced then Executive Director of SSDC Barbara Hauptman. Barbara introduced the two speakers: V.P. and Managing Director of The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation Rob Marx who moderated a talk with accomplished director and producer Hal Prince. The conversation focused on Hal's personal take on the making of new musicals and the fostering of new talent. Topics covered include the importance of mentorship, artistic process, how the relationship between producers and directors has changed, and what institutions are supporting the development of new musicals. This conversation with a true master gives incredible insight into the history and current innovation in musical theatre.

2002 Symposium: Hal Prince

Mark Lamos

In June of 2000, Hartford Stage's longtime Artistic Director Mark Lamos sat down with the SDCF for a One-on-One interview.  In this conversation Lamos speaks candidly about a recent production of  Edward II for A.C.T, his early career and his tenure at Hartford Stage, and the art and craft of directing for opera.

Graciela Daniele

On October 10, 1993 Graciela Daniele was interviewed by SDCFoundation Board Member Frank Ventura at ArtsConnection. In this conversation, Ms. Daniele discusses her life in the arts as a series of transitions. She covers the totality of her career to date, remarking on her evolution from ballerina to musical theatre performer to assistant to director/choreographer. She speaks fondly of former mentors and past productions and candidly articulates her point of view on where American theatre is heading.

In 2001, Michael Lupu, senior dramaturg for the Guthrie Theatre, provided directors at the "Directing Shakespeare Symposium" with a brief lesson he called "Shakespeare 101."  In this twenty-minute discussion Lupu talks about audience expectations in the Elizabethan period, the history of Shakespeare's company "Lord Chamberlain's Men," and how the shifting of Shakespeare's theatre midway through his career may have affected his writing.  Lupu enlists the help of designer Ming Cho Lee to explain the type of theatre in which Shakespeare was working, and how the intimate, single-room performance space of the Globe Theatre shaped almost every moment in Shakespeare's work. Other topics discussed include: Shakespeare's plays coming from the stage to the page and not vice versa, "A Winter's Tale" being published after Shakespeare's death, and the place of a poet in the theatre.  This brief but incredibly thorough overview is a great recap for Shakespeare fans and a perfect introduction for those just getting started.

Directing Shakespeare: Shakespeare's Theatre

On April 2, 2012, SDCF invited entertainment attorney Elliot Brown to speak about securing theatrical adaptation rights with SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi. Brown gives animated examples of when adaptation rights are and are not necessary. He sheds light on how to start the process of engaging an attorney when interested in creating a piece of theater from an article, book, or film and he walks through what the concerns are of the rights-holder. Brown also speaks about standard arrangements, translation, and public domain. This is an engaging dialogue about the do's and don'ts of adaptation.

Adaptation Rights

George C. Wolfe

On April 18th, 1994 collaborator and colleague Hope Clarke sat down to interview writer-director George C. Wolfe.  In this post-"Jelly" pre-"Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk" interview, Mr. Wolfe discusses his origins as an artist, the difficulty and fulfillment of writing and directing, his experience running the New York Shakespeare Festival and the future of his career.

Jason Moore

Directors rarely get the opportunity to spend time and share ideas in a room with other directors. This new one-on-one conversation series was conceived by director Thomas Kail to give himself, and his peers, an opportunity to do just that.  This series of conversations explores topics that stretch from finding the spark in their work, making a life as a director, and how they landed on this side of the table.  Each director's vision is distinct, and their way of working is their own, but this series also addresses all they have in common beyond the shared title.In June 2011, Thomas Kail sat in conversation with Jason Moore at Moore's apartment in Manhattan.  Topics range from developing a new musical to the process of transferring Off-Broadway productions to Broadway without losing the immediacy of the initial production.  They also address the challenge of maintaining longer running productions to ensure they consistently feel vibrant and fresh.

Directors rarely get the opportunity to spend time and share ideas in a room with other directors. This new one-on-one conversation series was conceived by director Thomas Kail to give himself, and his peers, an opportunity to do just that.  This series of conversations explores topics that stretch from finding the spark in their work, making a life as a director, and how they landed on this side of the table.  Each director's vision is distinct, and their way of working is their own, but this series also addresses all they have in common beyond the shared <a href="http://title.In" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">title.In</a> June 2011, Thomas Kail sat in conversation with Jason Moore at Moore's apartment in Manhattan.  Topics range from developing a new musical to the process of transferring Off-Broadway productions to Broadway without losing the immediacy of the initial production.  They also address the challenge of maintaining longer running productions to ensure they consistently feel vibrant and fresh.

In Conversation With... Jason Moore

On Monday, June 27th, 2011, SDC's Gretchen Michelfeld talked to veteran scenic designers Rachel Hauck (The Public, BAM, The Vineyard, South Coast Rep, Eugene O'Neill Resident Set Designer) and Nick Francone (Prospect Theater Company, SPF, Six Figures, New Georges, E.S.T., Santa Fe Opera, assistant on Wicked and Opera) about their experiences collaborating with a variety of directors. They discussed aspects of successful production meetings, dealing with repertory sets, the strangest designs they have made, and offer advice to young directors. This is an enlightening discussion on the successes and struggles in the lives of professional scenic designers.

2011 DCN: Scenic Designers

On April 28, 2001, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation invited Arthur Bartow, Artistic Director of the Drama Department at NYU Tisch, to moderate a conversation between Michael Lupu, Senior Dramaturg at the Guthrie Theater; Mark Bly, Associate Artistic Director of Yale Rep; Louis Scheeder of Classical Studio NYU Tisch; and freelance director Daniel Fish about working on Shakespeare. This discussion gives great insight into the role of dramaturgs in assisting directors; their visions of a successful dramaturg; and how dramaturgs work with the text. This program is the second half of the conversation.

Directing Shakespeare: What's It All About Willy Part 2

Moisés Kaufman

In July 2011, Thomas Kail sat in conversation with Moisés Kaufman at the SDC offices.  In this exchange, Thomas and Moises traverse career beginnings, varying paths of directors, and the struggles involved with telling stories rooted in historical events on stage.

In Conversation With... Moisés Kaufman

Susan Stroman

In January of 1994, Susan Stroman sat down for an hour-long discussion of her career as a choreographer. She talks about working on "Crazy For You", "Kiss of the Spider Woman", and "Show Boat", noting how bad experiences are necessary to make the good ones what they are. Other topics include working with a cast of 73 actors, working with director Hal Prince, movie musicals and the lack of copyright protection for choreography. For wonderful advice and great stories from a five-time Tony-winning director and choreographer, listen now!

On May 25th, 2011, SDC's Gretchen Michelfeld spoke with three Broadway Production Stage Managers about their experiences. Stage Managers Jill Cordle (Jerusalem), Heather Cousens (Spring Awakening), and Ira Mont (Arcadia) give advice to early career directors on time management, speak to building trust and collaboration, and discuss the smartest things they've seen directors do. They offer first-hand knowledge on the relationship between directors and stage managers.

2011 DCN: Broadway Stage Managers' Secrets Revealed

Jerry Zaks

Gene Saks

As part of the SDCF's "Directing Comedy: A Serious Business" symposium in April of 2000, the Foundation was privileged to host two master directors of comic plays and musicals for an in-depth discussion on the craft of directing comedy. Gene Saks and Jerry Zaks offered marvelous insights and expertise from their long and illustrious careers. This discussion features commentary on the stars with whom they've worked, collaboration with their favorite playwrights and what it takes to get a laugh.

Gene Saks and Jerry Zaks

On April 28, 2001, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation invited NYU voice and dialect coach Deborah Hecht, Juilliard Chairman of Voice and Speech Ralph Zito, director Mark Lamos, actor Oni Faida Lampley, and actor Boris McGiver for a conversation about the importance of text work. Louis Scheeder, Director and Founder of Classical Studio at NYU Tisch moderates. Topics include speech interpretation, the process of making stylistic choices, and the necessities of physical endurance.

Directing Shakespeare: Working The Text

In July 2011, Thomas Kail sat in conversation with Susan Stroman in her office in Manhattan.  They discuss her early exposure to the theatre and her impulse to pursue directing and choreographing professionally.  The conversation also includes the importance of creating one's own opportunities, the unique aspects of touring productions, and the necessity of deep collaboration when creating theater.

In Conversation With... Susan Stroman

John Hirsch

In October of 1984, Hungarian-Canadian director John Hirsch, who directed classical theatre for thirty-two years and served as Artistic Director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival from 1981-1985, sat down with Richard Harden for a ninety-minute roundtable discussion. He talks about the definition of classical theatre, which he defines as plays which survive the test of time and speak to audiences of all ages, and classicists, who submerge themselves in a single subject. Hirsch and Harden discuss Shakespeare, Chekhov, and the ecology of playwriting in which playwrights must know the classics to write new ones. The industry struggles they address, including financial accessibility and lack of importance outside of the arts world, bear a striking resemblance to those facing the theatre world over twenty-five years later. For an insightful exploration of classical theatre or to recall a time when an expensive Broadway ticket cost "only" $45, listen to this interview!

On April 29, 2001 members of a Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation panel simulated a first casting session of "The Winter's Tale". The discussion is moderated by Artistic Producer of the Joseph Papp Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival Rosemarie Tichler and featured Casting Directors Stuart Howard and Jordan Thaler.

Directing Shakespeare: Casting - It's A Bear

Joe Mantello

Directors rarely get the opportunity to spend time and share ideas in a room with other directors. This new one-on-one conversation series was conceived by director Thomas Kail to give himself, and his peers, an opportunity to do just that.  This series of conversations explores topics that stretch from finding the spark in their work, making a life as a director, and how they landed on this side of the table.  Each director's vision is distinct, and their way of working is their own, but this series also addresses all they have in common beyond the shared title.  In June 2011, Thomas Kail sat in conversation with Joe Mantello backstage at the Golden Theater.  From Mantello's dressing room, their conversation traces his arc from actor to director and back, and the responsibility of taking risks to continue to evolve throughout a career.

In Conversation With... Joe Mantello

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