Sunday Special: Annnd... Curtain! This Fall's Broadway Directors
By: BWW Special Coverage Nov. 30, 2014
A seasoned group of Broadway helmers are bringing magic, drama, history, romance and more to the Great White Way this season.
From SIDE SHOW to A DELICATE BALANCE, from THE ELEPHANT MAN to LOVE LETTERS, these directors have guided their teams from concept to completion. They've overseen the look and feel, the nitty-gritty details, the actors' motivations and movements, and the playwrights' intentions. And all to bring their interpretations to new audiences, new venues and new heights.
Below, BroadwayWorld rounded up this fall's directors for an in-depth look at their careers. Scroll down to learn more!
Pam MacKinnon - A DELICATE BALANCE
MacKinnon won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award and received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for her direction of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She also won an Obie Award and was nominated for Tony and Lucille Lortel Awards for her direction of Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park. Her many Off-Broadway and regional credits include the recent productions of Bruce Norris's The Qualms (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Sarah Treem's When We Were Young and Unafraid (Manhattan Theatre Club), Donald Margulies's Dinner With Friends (Roundabout), Craig Lucas's The Lying Lesson (Atlantic Theater Company), and Horton Foote's Harrison, TX (Primary Stages). She is an alumna of the Drama League, the Women's Project and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Labs, and is an associate artist at the Roundabout, executive board member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and board chair of the NYC downtown company Clubbed Thumb, dedicated to new American plays.
Marianne Elliott - THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN NIGHT-TIME
Elliott is an Associate Director of the National Theatre, where she has directed The Light Princess (National Theatre), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (West End -- Olivier Award), Port, Season's Greetings, Women Beware Women, All's Well That Ends Well, War Horse (West End, New York -- Tony Award & US Tour, Toronto, Australia, European Tour), Mrs Affleck, Harper Regan, Saint Joan (Olivier Award for Best Revival, South Bank Show Award), Therese Raquin and Pillars of the Community (Evening Standard Best Director Award). She was an Associate Director at the Royal Court, where her productions include Stoning Mary, Notes on Falling Leaves, The Sugar Syndrome and Local. Previously she was an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester where she directed Port, Design for Living, Les Blancs, As You Like It, A Woman of No Importance, Nude With Violin, Fast Food, Martin Yesterday, Deep Blue Sea, Mad for It, Poor Superman and I Have Been Here Before. Other theatre credits include Sweet Bird of Youth (Old Vic), Much Ado About Nothing for the RSC, The Little Foxes at the Donmar and Terracotta at Hampstead and Birmingham Rep. Film credits include Alice (her first short film for Ruby Films).
Michael Longhurst - CONSTELLATIONS
Michael directed Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal in his American stage debut at the Roundabout Theatre, New York in Nick Payne's If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet. His Royal Court production of Payne's Constellations starring Golden Globe winner Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall transferred to the West End, winning the Evening Standard Award for Best Play 2012 and receiving four Olivier nominations. Constellations transfers to Broadway, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, late this year. He has developed and directed new plays across the UK including Adam Brace's Stovepipe; a promenade co-production with the National Theatre, which featured in the Sunday Times 'Best Theatre of the Decade' list. Michael is also a recipient of the Jerwood Directors Award at the Young Vic (Dirty Butterfly) and a Fringe First (Guardians). He trained in directing at Mountview after reading Philosophy at Nottingham University. Michael is currently an Associate Director for Nuffield Theatre.
Kimberly Senior - DISGRACED
Senior is a Chicago-based freelance director and the director of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning play DISGRACED by Ayad Akhtar. (Lincoln Center Theatre/LCT3, American Theatre Company). She also directed Akhtar's The Who and The What (Lincoln Center Theatre/LCT3). Chicago credits include: After the Revolution, Madagascar, The Overwhelming, and The Busy World is Hushed (Next Theatre), Hedda Gabler, The Letters (Writers Theatre), 4000 Miles, The Whipping Man (Northlight Theatre), Want, The North Plan(Steppenwolf), Waiting for Lefty (American Blues), Old Times, The Conquest of the South Pole, Uncle Vanya,Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, Fuddy Meers, and Knives in Hens (Strawdog), Cripple of Inishmaan, Bug andThe Pillowman (Redtwist Theatre), Thieves Like Us (The House Theatre), All My Sons and Dolly West's Kitchen(TimeLine Theatre) among others. Regional: The Who and The What (La Jolla Playhouse), Little Gem (City Theatre), Murder on the Nile, A Few Good Men (Peninsula Players), Mauritius (Theatre Squared, Fayetteville, AR). Upcoming: Rapture, Blister Burn (Goodman Theatre), The Diary of Anne Frank (Writers' Theatre), Asher Lev and Inana (TimeLine Theatre) and the upcoming The Who and The What (Victory Gardens Theater). She is also a 2013 Finalist for the SDCF Joe A. Callaway Award and Zelda Fichandler Award. Kimberly is an Artistic Associate at Northlight Theatre, Next Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, and Chicago Dramatists. Her work has received multiple Joseph Jefferson nominations. Kimberly lives in Evanston with her husband, scenic designer, Jack Magaw, and her children, Noah and Delaney. Kimberly is a proud member of SDC.
Scott Ellis - THE ELEPHANT MAN and YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU
Ellis is helming two productions on Broadway this season. His Broadway credits include You Can't Take It With You, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Tony nom.), Harvey, Curtains (Tony nom.), The Little Dog Laughed (Drama League nom.), Twelve Angry Men (Tony nom.), The Man Who Had All the Luck, The Rainmaker, 1776 (DD, Tony nom.), She Loves Me (Tony nom.), Picnic (OCC nom.), Company, A Month in the Country, Steel Pier (Tony nom.). Off-Broadway, he has directed Tom Durnin, Gruesome Playground Injuries, Streamers; Good Boys and True; Entertaining Mr. Sloane; The Waverly Gallery, And the World Goes 'Round: (DD, OCC awards); Flora, the Red Menace (DD nom). Ellis has also sat in the director's chair for the TV series "Weeds" (EP), "30 Rock" (Emmy nom., Best Director), "Modern Family," "Two Broke Girls," "Frasier," "The Good Wife". He acts as Roundabout Theatre Company's associate artistic director.
Gary Griffin - HONEYMOON IN VEGAS
Griffin directed the acclaimed premiere of Honeymoon In Vegas at the Paper Mill Playhouse, which is headed to Broadway this season. In New York City, he has directed The Color Purple and The Apple Tree starring Kristin Chenoweth on Broadway as well as seven productions for City Center Encores! series. He also directed The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall and made his New York debut with Beautiful Thing at the Cherry Lane Theatre. He is associate artistic director of Chicago Shakespeare Theatre where he has directed Road Show, Gypsy, Sunday in the Park with George, A Little Night Music, and Pacific Overtures, a production which was remounted at the Donmar Warehouse and received the Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production. At the Stratford Festival of Canada he has directed West Side Story, Evita, Camelot, and currently Antony and Cleopatra. For the Lyric Opera Chicago he has directed The Merry Widow, The Mikado, and Oklahoma. Regionally, he has directed for The Muny in St. Louis, The McCarter, Alliance Theatre, Kansas City Repertory, Signature Theatre, and the Actor's Theatre of Louisville. For his work he has received 10 Joseph Jefferson Awards, Olivier, and Helen Hayes nominations, and most recently, the Artistic Excellence Award from the League of Chicago Theatres.
Jack O'Brien - IT'S ONLY A PLAY
O'Brien has directed Broadway's Macbeth, The Nance, Dead Accounts, Catch Me If You Can, Impressionism, The Coast of Utopia (Tony Award), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Tony nomination), Henry IV (Tony Award), Hairspray (Tony Award), Imaginary Friends, The Invention of Love (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), The Full Monty (Tony nomination), More to Love, Getting Away With Murder, Pride's Crossing, The Little Foxes, Hapgood (Lucille Lortel Award, Best Director), Damn Yankees, Two Shakespearean Actors (Tony nomination), Porgy and Bess (Tony nomination). At the Metropolitan Opera, his work includes Il Trittico. He also helmed Guys and Dolls at Carnegie Hall and Shakespeare in the Park's Much Ado About Nothing. In London, O'Brien has directed Love Never Dies, Hairspray (Olivier nomination), and the National Theatre's His Girl Friday. He was the Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre from 1981 to 2007. He has helmed six movies for PBS's "American Playhouse" and wrote the book Jack Be Nimble.
Joe Mantello - THE LAST SHIP
Mantello's Broadway directing credits include I'll Eat You Last, The Other Place, Dogfight, Other Desert Cities, The Pride, Pal Joey, 9 to 5, November, The Receptionist,The Ritz, Blackbird, Three Days of Rain, The Odd Couple, Glengarry Glen Ross (Tony nomination), Laugh Whore, Assassins (Tony Award), Wicked, Take Me Out (Tony Award), Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, A Man of No Importance, Design for Living, Terrence McNally and Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking for San Francisco Opera, The Vagina Monologues, Bash, Another American: Asking and Telling, Love! Valour! Compassion! (Tony nomination), Proposals, The Mineola Twins and Corpus Christi. As an actor: The Normal Heart (Tony nomination), Angels in America (Tony nomination) and The Baltimore Waltz. Mantello is the recipient of Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Helen Hayes, Clarence Derwent, Obie and Joe A. Callaway Awards. He is a member of Naked Angels and an associate artist at Roundabout Theatre Company.
Gregory Mosher - LOVE LETTERS
Mosher is the former Director of Lincoln Center Theater, Artistic Director of the Goodman Theatre, and the producer or director of nearly 200 plays at those theaters -- on Broadway and in London's West End. His Broadway credits include Lincoln Center's Six Degrees of Separation, Hurlyburly, Sarafina!, Waiting for Godot, James Joyce's The Dead, Swimming to Cambodia, Monster in a Box, Speed-the-Plow, Freak, Anything Goes, Mulebone and Our Town, as well as A Streetcar Named Desire, A View from the Bridge, The Championship Season and more. He also directed and produced the premieres of 23 of David Mamet's plays, beginning with American Buffalo in 1975; Glengarry Glen Ross took the Pulitzer thanks to Mosher's Broadway production.
John Rando - ON THE TOWN
Rando has directed Broadway's A Christmas Story, The Wedding Singer, Urinetown (2002 Tony and OCC Award, Directing), A Thousand Clowns, The Dinner Party. City Center Encores!: Little Me, Superman, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Damn Yankees, On The Town, Face The Music, Of Thee I Sing, Pajama Game, Do Re Mi, Strike Up The Band. His off-Broadway credits include All In The Timing, Primary Stages (2012 Obie Award, Directing); The Heir Apparent, Classic Stage Company; The Toxic Avenger. He has also helmed productions at Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Class Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Acting Company, among others. Regional credits include: American Conservatory Theater, Alley Theater, Geffen Playhouse, Old Globe Theater, and On The Town at Barrington Stage Company. He is the Drama League Directing Fellow at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and received the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award.
Sam Gold - THE REAL THING
Gold has directed Roundabout's Picnic, Look Back in Anger (Lortel nomination for Outstanding Direction); Tigers be Still. Broadway: Seminar (Golden Theater; also Ahmanson, L.A.). Recent: Fun Home (Public Theater); Uncle Vanya (Soho Rep.); The Realistic Joneses (Yale Rep., CT Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Director); The Big Meal (Playwrights, Lortel Award for Outstanding Director); We Live Here (MTC); A Doll's House (Williamstown); August: Osage County (Old Globe, SD Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Direction); Kin (Playwrights Horizons); The Coward (LCT3); Dusk Rings a Bell (Atlantic); Circle Mirror Transformation (Playwrights Horizons; Drama Desk nomination, OBIE Award for Outstanding Direction); The Aliens (Rattlestick, OBIE Award for Outstanding Direction); and Jollyship the Whiz-Bang (Ars Nova/Under the Radar Festival). He is a graduate of the Juilliard Directing Program and is also a NYTW Usual Suspect, Drama League Directing Fellow, recipient of the Princess Grace Award, and Resident Director at Roundabout Theater Company.
Ian Rickson - THE RIVER
Rickson was Artistic Director at the Royal Court from 1998 to 2006, during which time he directed Krapp's Last Tape, The Winterling, Alice Trilogy, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, Fallout, The Night Heron, Boy Gets Girl, Mouth to Mouth (also in the West End), Dublin Carol, The Weir (also in the West End and on Broadway), The Lights, Pale Horse and Mojo (also at the Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago), Ashes & Sand, Some Voices and Killers. His last production for the Royal Court, The Seagull, transferred to Broadway. Other theatre includes Mojo revival (West End), Old Times (West End), The River (Royal Court), Hamlet (Young Vic), Jerusalem (Royal Court, West End and Broadway), Betrayal (Comedy Theatre), The Children's Hour (Comedy Theatre), The Hothouse and The Day I Stood Still (NT), Parlour Song (Almeida), Hedda Gabler (Roundabout Theatre, New York), The House of Yes (Gate) and Me & My Friend (Chichester Festival Theatre). His film work includes Fallout, Krapp's Last Tape and The Clear Road Ahead.
Bill Condon - SIDE SHOW
Condon is a celebrated film director and screenwriter known for directing actors to critically-acclaimed performances. His adaptation of the Broadway smash Dreamgirls won two Academy Awards and three Golden Globes, including Best Picture - Musical or Comedy. Condon directed from his own screenplay and was nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award. Condon also wrote and directed Kinsey, for which he won the 2005 Best Director Award from the British Directors Guild. He also wrote and directed Gods and Monsters, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and wrote the screenplay for the big-screen version of the musical Chicago, for which he received a second Oscar nomination. Most recently, Condon directed The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Parts 1 and 2, The Fifth Estate and the upcoming Mr. Holmes, which reunites him with Ian McKellen and Laura Linney. Condon currently serves on the Boards of Film Independent as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Anna D. Shapiro - THIS IS OUR YOUTH
Shapiro most recently directed the Broadway revival of Of Mice and Men. Her previous New York credits include the Broadway productions of The Motherfucker with the Hat (Tony Award nomination), August: Osage County (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards); and the off-Broadway productions of Bruce Norris's Domesticated (Lincoln Center Theater) and The Pain and the Itch (Playwrights Horizons). She is an ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theatre, where she directed The Motherfucker with the Hat,A Parallelogram (also at the Mark Taper Forum), Up, The Crucible, The Unmentionables (also at the Yale Rep), I Never Sang for My Father, The Drawer Boy, Side Man (also in Ireland, Australia, and Vail, Colorado), Three Days of Rain, and the world premieres of The Pain and the Itch, Man From Nebraska, The Infidel, and August: Osage County, among others. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and Columbia College, as well as a two-time recipient of the Princess Grace Award (in 1996 and 2010). She is a full-time professor in Northwestern University's Department of Theatre, where she has served as the Director of its Graduate MFA Directing Program since 2002.
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