Robert McQueen

Bio for Robert McQueen

Director, dramaturge and teacher, Robert McQueen, has worked across the United States,
Canada and internationally.

Theatre production includes FALSETTOS and CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, for which Robert was nominated in the Outstanding Direction of a Play or Musical category at Toronto’s Dora Mavor Moore awards as well as productions of Adam Guettel’s THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA and Strauss’s final operatic composition CAPRICCIO which he directed for Pacific Opera, Victoria.

Internationally, Robert’s latest work includes direction and dramaturgy of the a new
music theatre piece entitled WHERE ELEPHANTS WEEP, which had it’s world
premiere at the Chenla Theatre, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Along with an orchestra
comprised of Cambodian traditional and contemporary musicians, this production
brought together a company of actors, singers and dancers from Cambodia and North
America. The material was developed and rehearsed both in Phnom Penh and New York
City. The production was filmed by the Cambodian Television Network and was aired to
2 million viewers nation wide in that country.
In 2009 Robert directed a Tokyo based creative team and acting company in a Japanese
language production of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical CAROUSEL at the Galaxy
Theatre in Tokyo.

Recent opera productions include Vancouver Opera’s THE MAGIC FLUTE for which
Robert served as director and dramaturge as well as creating the libretto adaptation. The
project, developed over a three year period, was a collaboration between a 15 member
creative team of Canadian Aboriginal and non-Native visual artists and theatre makers.
This production will be remounted by Vancouver Opera in their 2013 season,
Additional opera production: LA BOHEME for the Canadian Opera Company,
TURANDOT and IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA for Arizona Opera as well as Associate
Direction on FAUST for Cincinnati Opera.

In the commercial theatre Robert was the Associate Director for the Broadway and
national touring productions of MAMMA MIA and recently directed the Mexico City
Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires productions. Additionally, he was Associate to Harold Prince for the national tour of SHOWBOAT.

Regionally, in North America, Robert’s directing assignments have included productions
of: I AM MY OWN WIFE, AS YOU LIKE IT, THE CRADLE WILL ROCK, HAIR
and PAL JOEY.

As a dramaturge Robert has worked on the development of new musicals and operas in both Canada and the US for companies including The O’Neill Centre, Vancouver Opera and the Canadian Opera.
At the invitation of the NGO Cambodian Living Arts Robert returned last Fall to Phnom Penh to lead a workshop in the development of a new production of the traditional performance discipline called Lakhon Yike. This past July , Robert led a developmental workshop of WHEN THE SUN COMES OUT, a new opera by Leslie Uyeda and Rachel Rose.

Up-coming theatre projects include: MAN OF LA MANCHA for The Stratford Festival, Canada and ARIADNE AUF NAXOS for Pacific Opera Victoria.

On-going: Robert is the Director of NoteWorthy - the musical theatre development program of Acting Up Stage Theatre Company, in Toronto, Canada.