Sammi Cannold Joins The WHY I'LL NEVER MAKE IT Podcast For Its Season Finale

Assistant Director Sammi Cannold (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) has been spending time in London and Seoul during this pandemic, seeing first-hand how theater has survived and at times thrived despite shutdowns and surges in case numbers.

In the first of a two-part conversation with podcast host Patrick Oliver Jones, Cannold shares her observations of South Korean successes like Cats and Phantom of the Opera and the steps Andrew Lloyd Webber has taken to bring their ideas and innovations to London theater. She maintains a hopeful and collaborative attitude when it comes to theater prospects here in America, while Jones points a few fingers specifically at the Broadway League and Actors Equity Association, pushing them to do more in getting theater back on its feet again.

Listen below!

When it comes to her own work, though, Cannold has learned a great deal from her time with award-winning directors like Rachel Chavkin (Great Comet) and Diane Paulus (Finding Neverland). She was named to the 2019 Forbes List of 30 Under 30 and singled out for being the youngest female director in American Repertory Theater history when she helmed the premier of Celine Song's Endlings last year. That immersive production included a 4,100-gallon aquarium with actors diving in and out of it.

In the second part of their conversation, Cannold reveals that the 2012 revival of Evita is what inspired her to become a director in the first place. (Jones was understudy for Juan Perón in the national tour of that Broadway production.) "Any meeting I took where they would ask, 'What musical would you like to direct?' I would say Evita, because I was just so excited about this musical and this history." And she got her chance with the City Center Gala production a year ago, which came together in just 10 days of rehearsal. Cannold goes on to talk about her other inventive productions of Ragtime on Ellis Island and Violet on an actual moving bus.

Listen to Parts One and Two of this season finale.

Sammi Cannold is a director whose theater credits also include Allegory (La Jolla Playhouse WOW). She has served as an Artistic Fellow at A.R.T., a member of Cirque du Soleil's Creative Cognoscenti, and a Sundance Institute Fellow as well as developed work with Playwrights Realm, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, New York Stage and Film, Cirque du Soleil, and Nickelodeon. She holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.A. from Harvard University.

Why I'll Never Make It is a weekly theater podcast hosted by actor Patrick Oliver Jones and features conversations with fellow creatives about the realities of a career in the arts. Previous guests include associate director David Ruttura (School of Rock), artistic director Erin Cronican (The Seeing Place Theatre), and Off-Broadway director Jessica Holt (Female Beginner). Find these episodes and more at whyillnevermakeit.com.

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