Actors turned creative team members/vice versa?
Actors turned creative team members/vice versa?
BroadwayGirl107
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/26/03
#0Actors turned creative team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/14/06 at 7:35pm
I've been thinking about this for a while. What theatre actors have at some point becomes playwrights, composers, directors, designers, choreographers, producers, etc., and what creative team members have moved into acting? Is there anyone who's done both at once (for example, directing a show he or she is starring in)?
The ones that come to mind off the top of my head are:
Joe Mantello, who was in Angels in America and is now a very successful director.
Michael Arden of Bare who is working on his own musical Easter Rising.
Julie Andrews, who directed a production of The Boyfriend not too long ago.
And, of course Harvey Fierstein.
Who else has done this?
Updated On: 2/14/06 at 07:35 PM
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#1re: Actors turned creaive team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/14/06 at 7:40pm
Walter Bobbie
Wayne Cilento
Jerry Mitchell
Taye Diggs
Updated On: 2/14/06 at 07:40 PM
#2re: Actors turned creaive team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/14/06 at 7:46pmI'd say two of the biggest "preservers" of their teacher's legacies are Baayork Lee and Ann Reinking who have subsequently remounted much of Michael Bennett and Fosse's works.
jasobres
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/9/05
#3re: Actors turned creaive team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/14/06 at 7:53pmWell, you know the old saying, "All I wanna do is direct."
#4re: Actors turned creaive team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/14/06 at 7:55pmRob Marshall, Susan Stroman, Graziella Danielle, Bob Fosse...
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#5re: Actors turned creaive team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/14/06 at 7:57pm
Tommy Tune
Bonnie Walker
Seems to be 99% dancers-turned-choreographers and/or -directors.
#6re: Actors turned creaive team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/14/06 at 7:58pmSo true! And you can add in Michael Bennett.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
BroadwayGirl107
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/26/03
#7re: Actors turned creaive team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/14/06 at 8:01pmI figured it'd be that way, Rath. I guess it's the easiest transition to make.
Billboard Girl
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/18/05
#8re: Actors turned creaive team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/14/06 at 8:06pmJohn Cariani (nominated for a Tony for his role in the Fiddler revival, wrote the recent off-Broadway play almost, maine)
#9re: Actors turned creaive team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/14/06 at 8:58pmJay Reiss, who played Vice Principal Panch in Spelling Bee and also wrote/writes jokes for the show.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
TheaterAddict7652
Broadway Star Joined: 2/7/06
#10re: Actors turned creaive team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/14/06 at 10:48pmEven though he was never in any professional shows, Jonathan Larson originally wanted to be an actor.
professor
Stand-by Joined: 7/3/05
#12re: Actors turned creaive team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/14/06 at 11:54pm
There are tons of examples of people moving between jobs. Here are a few of the top of my head (I'm sure I'm forgetting some):
People who move between acting and writing: Bruce Vilanch, Sam Shepard, Wallace Shawn, Jeff Whitty, Tim Blake Nelson, Chris Durang, Anna Deveare Smith, John Leguizamo, Sarah Jones, Harvey Fierstein, Ossie Davis, David Mamet (began as an actor, and has written several books on acting)
People who move between acting and directing: Orson Welles (back in the 1930s, Welles almost never appeared in a play that he didn't direct), Mike Nichols, Charles Ludlam, Tommy Tune, Joe Mantello (although he seems to have given up acting for directing full time).
#13re: Actors turned creaive team members/vice versa?
Posted: 2/15/06 at 12:10amI wonder if it has anything to do (in the cases of actors turned directors) with wanting more control over the piece they are involved in? After movig from production to production in part after part during their careers, they must have developed some sense of how they would have liked to present the show.
Videos