The Great Directors

[esparza 333]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 1:14pm

As a performer and a theatregoer I have really noticed how the brilliance of a show is up to the director completely. For example Bartlett Sher's work on South Pacific was fantastic since he brought back the hard issues and made them light and combined witty humor and amazing staging to go along with it. He inspired takes on characters that were out of ordinary and in the end almost each character had made a statement about something. Same with greats such as Hal Prince and Arthur Laurents. Also when you are doing a classic musicals like King and I or My Fair Lady you need do justice to their amazing scores but also take some of their flaws and reinvent them so they are witty and just different. Also I had the honor of working with Lonny Price on Camelot which was amazing because though some did not like it. He reinvented the piece and made it once again witty and modern. At the first rehearsal he explained how this piece was so relevant to our times and how we should make a statement about how King Arthur's idea of a round table and piece is needed in the world right now. I do not know if you guys knew this but I was told to portray Tom of Warwick as an iraqi boy. I learned an iraqi/british accent on the first day of rehearsals with a dialect coach. This was to adapt to modern times. So as you see amazing director really transform shows and put a mark on these productions. This is why I think revivals were so successful this past season.


So here is too these great directors.

please share your experiences with shows that transformed.

[esparza 333]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 1:04am

bump

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 1:07am

Bartlett Sher is a creeper.

but I do enjoy Jack O'Brien. he is a funny dude.

is that what you were looking for? I have trouble understanding.... sometimes...

[walkedthroughmany]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 3:48am

Bartlett Sher is a creeper.

How so?

[Weez]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 5:28am

Michael Boyd and Michael Grandage can do anything and I'll be right there supporting them. I love them both heartily, and despite "Michael" not being a regal name, I'm willing to hold it as a possibility for my hypothetical fourth son in honour of these two gents (a paltry honour, as I've decided to have dogs rather than children, but seeing as I have the "king" theme going, it's lses inconsiderable than it may seem).

[Gary Indiana]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 9:00am

In 1998, there was a production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center in Nyack, NY that was set in South Africa during the apartheid. Jesus was supposed to remind the audience of Nelson Mandela, and the set and costumes used the symbol that was used during the time, which is almost identical to a swastika. It was an amazing production starring Billy Porter and Emily Skinner, and directed by Gordon Greenberg. I've seen several different productions of JCS, including the most recent broadway revival, and this was by far my favorite. It was the first show I ever saw that made me feel blown away by the creativity of the director.