Stafford Arima

Stafford Arima (he/him) is an award-winning director for stage and screen.

With 25+ years of experience in the global entertainment industry, he became the first Asian Canadian to direct a musical on Broadway when Allegiance opened at the Longacre Theatre, starring George Takei and Lea Salonga. Arima directed the West End premiere of Ragtime, earning 8 Olivier Award nominations, including Best Director.

Arima is currently the Artistic Director at Theatre Calgary where he has helmed a number of productions since 2017 including Forgiveness, Mary and Max, The Secret Garden, A Christmas Carol, and Billy Elliot. Arima has also shepherded new musical development at the Toronto Fringe Festival, New York Musical Theatre Festival, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, and New York Stage and Film.

Selected New York credits include: Altar Boyz (Best Musical, Outer Critics Circle Award), Carrie (Best Musical Revival, Off-Broadway Alliance Awards), Ragtime 25th Anniversary Concert, The Secret Garden: In Concert, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, bare, Two Class Acts, and Saturday Night. Arima was the Associate Director for the Broadway productions of Seussical and A Class Act.

Regional credits include: Bhangin’ It (La Jolla Playhouse), Poster Boy (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Dial M For Murder (The Old Globe), Guys and Dolls (Goodspeed Musicals), The New World (Bucks County Playhouse), and Candide (San Francisco Symphony). He has also staged The Secret Garden and Allegiance in Tokyo.

Born and raised in Toronto, he is a graduate of York University, where he was the recipient of the Dean’s Prize for Excellence in Creative Work. He also serves as a faculty member for Broadway Dreams, and former adjunct and Granada Artist in Residence at the University of California, Davis.

He is a founding Board member of the Canadian Guild of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and a proud member of SDC and CAEA.

Learn more at StaffordArima.com.