Jerry Mitchell, JoAnn M. Hunter, James Lapine & More to Join TRY IT LIKE THIS Fundraiser for SDCF

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation has revealed the initial slate of directors and choreographers for Try It Like This: Directors and Choreographers Take the Stage, an evening of performances on Monday October 16, 2023 at 54 Below in New York City. Try It Like This is a one-night-only fundraiser that turns the spotlight on some of the theatre’s finest directors and choreographers performing together and alongside the stars they’ve helped to shine.

Announced performers include award-winning directors and choreographers Mark Brokaw (How I Learned to Drive), Jeff Calhoun (Newsies!), Sammi Cannold (How to Dance in Ohio), JoAnn M. Hunter (Bad Cinderella), James Lapine & Sarna Lapine (Sunday in the Park with George), Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots), and SDC Foundation President Seema Sueko. Additional performers will be announced.

Tickets are now available for the event, which will begin with cocktails at 7:00pm prior to the 7:30pm performance, when dinner will be served. For more information about Try It Like This and to purchase seats, visit www.sdcfoundation.org. 

The show will be directed by Jerry Mitchell, produced by Paige Price, and musical direction will be by  Rick Hip-Flores. The scriptwriters for the show are Sarah Saltzberg (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) and David Rossmer (The Griswolds' Broadway Vacation).

Proceeds from the event will benefit programs of Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, whose mission is to support directors and choreographers throughout all phases of their careers. Highlights of the SDCF’s programming includes professional development programs for emerging and early career directors, the Lloyd Richards New Futures Residency for mid-career BIPOC artists, The Barbara Whitman Award, the Gordon Davidson Award, an Emergency Assistance Fund, and public programming including panel conversations and podcasts featuring industry leaders.

About Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation

Founded in 1965, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) is the only service organization in the U.S. with a sole focus of providing resources to directors and choreographers. Our mission is to celebrate, develop, and support professional stage directors and choreographers throughout every phase of their careers. We work to build a theatrical community that reflects the cultural, racial, and gender diversity of our nation by creating opportunities for artists of all backgrounds to bring their full, authentic selves to their work as creative leaders in the theatre. Directors and choreographers create work for the public that activates our humanity through this communal form of storytelling. www.sdcfoundation.org