Creatives playing cast

Sherie Rene Scott

Mel Brooks

Barbra Streisand



(Didnt know if you were only looking at bway)

Updated On: 12/27/19 at 01:13 PM

Yes I know, I should've been clear in meaning any COMBINATION of the three.

Tracy Letts is goin to be in the cast of his new play The Minuets that opens up in the spring at The Cort.

The role of "director" wasn't yet as clearly defined as it is today, but a century ago, George M. Cohan wrote, directed, produced and starred in his own musicals--often and highly successfully.

More recently--in the early to mid-1960s--Anthony Newley wrote (with Leslie Bricusse), directed and starred in STOP THE WORLD, I WANT TO GET OFF and THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT, THE SMELL OF THE CROWD in the West End and on Broadway

In 1983, Tommy Tune (with co-stager Thommie Walsh), directed, choreographed and starred in MY ONE AND ONLY. Per IBDB, the credits didn't mention a "director"; instead, Tune and Walsh were credited jointly with "staging" and (second credit) "choreography". But I think it was clear Tune was directing as well as choreographing (with Walsh's collaboration--I don't mean to minimize the latter's contribution).

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "What are some examples of writers directing and/or performing in their own work? Obviously we know Lin-Manuel Miranda and Sara Bareilles have done it, but what other examples can you think of?

Has anyone acted, written, and directed a show all at once?

Is doing this normally a successful outing?"

Noel Coward wrote, directed and starred in some of his plays.

George S. Kaufman co-wrote, directed and played a small role in ONCE IN A LIFETIME.

As for writing/performing, this is extremely common. Aside from the ones already mentioned, a few of the recent examples include: Larry David, Sting, Harvey Fierstein, Nia Vardalos, Shaina Taub, Halley Feiffer, Kate Hammill, Grace McLean, The Bengsons, Ngozi Anyanwu, Amy Staats, David Cale, and many more.

As for writers/directors, this isn't as common, but you do see it. Some examples I can think of off-hand include Enda Walsh, Simon Stone, Richard Nelson, Emma Rice (of Kneehigh), John Patrick Shanley, Alan Ayckbourn, Robert O'Hara, Claire Van Kampen, Jason Robert Brown.

The rarest combination, I think, is acting/directing, mostly because I think it's the most difficult to do well onstage. It's done relatively often in film, but it seems to be much more difficult to do in theatre. Kenneth Branagh has acted in his own productions quite a lot, both onstage and on screen, but he does it much to the detriment of the quality of his performances, in my opinion. Eric Tucker, of Bedlam Theatre Company, also always acts in his own productions. And Fiasco's Ben Steinfeld and Noah Brody also frequently co-directed and act in their productions.

Gerome Ragni and James Rado played Berger and Claude in the original Broadway cast of Hair. (With an assist from Joe Donovan to provide the O'Horgan-isms that had already become a staple of the show, they also directed the Toronto production, though they did not appear in it.)

Tim Rice frequently played Pharaoh in the earliest productions of Joseph, and also played the Narrator (a male role before they discovered Laurie Beechman and her successors belting the hell out of it was way cooler) on a studio recording in the late Seventies. (He also played one of the priests -- and was the guy counting the 39 lashes -- on the concept recording of JCS.)

Sticking to that same team, ALW frequently played on early recordings of his early work (and contributed background vocals to the JCS album), which I know is not quite the same thing, but close enough.

Stephen Sondheim had a famous one-line cameo on the original cast recording of Gypsy as Rose's dad (something to do with the salary of the actor playing it being too prohibitive under cast recording conditions to make it worth calling him in for a single line).

Paul Scott Goodman appeared as -- more or less -- himself (the character was called "The Writer," but it was basically him) in the NYTW production of Bright Lights, Big City, a role that was later excised from the show and does not appear in the licensed version. (To hear people tell it in reviews and in Elizabeth L. Wollman's book The Theater Will Rock, it doesn't really sound like the character served much of a purpose anyway.)

Updated On: 12/29/19 at 08:49 AM

David Cromer directed and played the Stage Manager in the off-Broadway production of Our Town.















Stew wrote the book, music, lyrics, orchestrations, and played the lead in Passing Strange, a full decade before Dave Malloy did the same stunt with Great Comet.

Alex Kulak2 said: "David Cromer directed and played the Stage Manager in the off-Broadway production of Our Town.”




That’s fascinating! I love the idea of the Director playing the Stage Manager. And I bet David Cramer did a great job.

I’d love to hear more examples of directors performing in their own productions, as I think it’s far more rare, and far more interesting (in terms of the level of difficulty, and the varied results) than writer/performer.

We can go on for days naming examples of writers performing in their own shows. Like I said above, it’s pretty common.

JBroadway said: "Alex Kulak2 said: "David Cromer directed and played the Stage Manager in the off-Broadway production of Our Town.”




That’s fascinating! I love the idea of the Director playing the Stage Manager. And I bet David Cramer did a great job.

You bet right!

Sam Shepard directed some of his own plays in NY. Kicking A Dead Horse, Simpatico, and the original productions of A Lie of the Mind and Fool For Love. He and co-author Patti Smith also appeared together in the original production of their Cowboy Mouth. I am not sure if this counts, but he also starred in the film version of Fool for Love, which was directed by Robert Altman.

Wallace Shawn has appeared in most of his plays in NY, although he has never directed them.

Updated On: 12/30/19 at 07:47 AM