TONYS 2009 Q and A: Best Direction of a Musical Nominee - Diane Paulus

Diane Paulus grew up feeling bad she had missed the 1960s. By age 10, she knew all the songs in Hair by heart, including "Sodomy." Having never seen the show, she had an active fantasy life about what Hair must have been like when it was first created.

Her vibrant and emotional work in bringing "her" Hair to life earned her a 2009 Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of A Musical.

Breaking down the wall between performer and spectator, which is at the heart of Hair, has been a huge inspiration for her work in the theatre: The Donkey Show (Jordan Roth Productions); Kiss Me, Kate (Glimmerglass); Lost Highway (ENO and Young Vic, London); Another Country (Riverside Church); Turandot: Rumble for the Ring (Bay Street Theatre); The Golden Mickeys (Disney Creative Entertainment); Best of Both Worlds (Music-Theatre Group and the Women's Project); The Karaoke Show (Jordan Roth Productions); the Obie-winning Eli's Comin' and Brutal Imagination (Vineyard Theatre); the Pulitzer Prize finalist Running Man and Swimming With Watermelons (MTG and Vineyard). Opera credits: Monteverdi's Orfeo (BAM), Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan Tutte, The Turn of the Screw, L'incoronazione di Poppea and Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (Chicago Opera Theater). Paulus is the Artistic Director of The American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA.

BroadwayWorld spoke to Diane about how she first learned of her Tony nomination, her 'Broadway Baby' past growing up in Manhattan and enjoying the bounty of live theatre and the timeless power of the message of 'Hair'.

BWW: How did you hear about being nominated?

Diane Paulus: You know, I have two little daughters, so I'm up at seven am every morning anyway. I made my daughters breakfast oatmeal, and we sat in front of the television, so it was special treat while we watched it being announced on NY1. They're only four and a half and two, but they know all about Hair, they've seen it and we listen to it at home all the time, so they were cheering every time they heard the word Hair mentioned. It was a great and exciting moment in front of the television!

BWW: This production has struck such a cord with The Audience, it seems it was truly needed.

DP: Hair, I think just shows the power of theatre, there is something so basically, so fundmentally human about people wanting to come together and sit in a theatre and experience this beautiful live art form we are part of, and in a really pure way.

BWW: I read about your growing up being a "Broadway Baby", seeing all the shows in the city, and now here you sit, a Tony nominee for your Broadway debut!

DP: It's trippy, which is a good word for HAIR! I grew up in NY and always went to Broadway shows and dreamed that I'd be a part of this amazing community. Making my Broadway debut with Hair and getting this kind of acknowledgement, this honor is really a kind of a dream come true for me. It's such a great moment to be a part of this community seeing all these actors and directors and everyone nominated. 

BWW: Earlier this year, there was a real energy of "gloom and doom", yet this season is so robust, you become inspired at the wealth, the variety of productions out there this year is a gift.

DP: This is a celebration of Broadway this season, isn't it? You look around and theatre is alive goddamit! There is this feeling of what people want at this moment in time, with the economy and society in crisis, yet there is this feeling of such hope -- they're not as responsive in so many ways yet the theatres are full and it's so affirming about what theatre means.

BWW: A perfect example is Hair, the energy of the music, and your sublime cast, The Audience doesn't want to leave when its done!

DP: When the theatre can burst out of its boundaries and move into something larger there is such power and I think that HAIR does that and speaks to what it means to be alive right now for those who remember the 1960s and are looking back and young people who are 14 and are looking at HAIR like it was written for them yesterday. It's so incredible, because they're seeing a show about something that's not a distant point in american history, it shows them that they can stand up for their country and change the world. 

BWW: And they do see that, I passed by the theatre one night and saw a family of four and the littlest child was clutching an original Broadway cast album of Hair, jumping up and down!

DP: They get to claim the show like their parents or grandparents did, some audience members will come up and say that it was "my mothers favorite show", but now it's a whole new generation saying that in the early 2000's.

BWW: With the upcoming Hair National Tour, the embracing of Hair's message will only grow.

DP: For Hair to be able to continue to bring its message to audiences is very exciting. I'm just so thrilled by it all!

Nominations in 27 competitive categories for the American Theatre Wing's 63rd Annual Antoinette Perry "Tony"® Awards were announced on Tuesday, May 5th by Tony Award Winners Cynthia Nixon and Lin-Manuel Miranda from the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. 

The Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards are bestowed annually on theatre professionals for distinguished achievement. The Tony is one of the most coveted awards in the entertainment industry and the annual telecast is considered one of the most prestigious programs on television.

The American Theatre Wing's 63rd Annual Antoinette Perry "Tony"® Awards will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 7, 2009 (8-11pm, live EST, PT time delay) on the CBS Television Network. For more information visit tonyawards.com.

Click Here to View the Full List of 2009 Tony Nominees!

Directed by Diane Paulus and choreographed by Karole Armitage, HAIR features a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Radoand music by Galt MacDermot. HAIR began preview performances on Friday, March 6 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street, NYC) and opened to unanimous rave reviews on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.

The story of a group of young Americans searching for love and peace during the Vietnam era, HAIR is a timeless portrait of a movement that changed the world. Its groundbreaking rock score paved the way for some of the greatest musicals of our time.

The full cast of HAIR includes Sasha Allen, Ato Blankson-Wood, Steel Burkhardt, Jackie Burns, Briana Carlson-Goodman, Allison Case, Gavin Creel, Lauren Elder, Allison Guinn,Chasten Harmon, Anthony Hollock, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Kaitlin Kiyan, Andrew Kober,Josh Lamon, Megan Lawrence, Caissie Levy, Nicole Lewis, Ryan Link, John Moauro, Darius Nichols, Brandon Pearson, Paris Remillard, Megan Reinking, Bryce Ryness, Michael James Scott, Saycon Sengbloh, Maya Sharpe, Kacie Sheik, Theo Stockman, Will Swenson andTommar Wilson.

HAIR is presented on Broadway by The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director;Andrew D. Hamingson, Executive Director) Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Gary GoddardEntertainment, Kathleen K. Johnson, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Fran KirmserProductions/Jed Bernstein, Marc Frankel, Broadway Across America, Barbara Manocherian/WenCarLar Productions, JK Productions/Terry Schnuck, Andy Sandberg, Jam Theatricals, The Weinstein Company / Norton Herrick, Jujamcyn Theaters, Joey Parnes and by special arrangement with Elizabeth Ireland McCann.