SDCF Podcast Series

Evren Odcikin, Founder of Maia Directors, sits with M. Graham Smith to discuss career and craft of working in regional theaters.

At its 2011 Emerging Artists Symposium, SDCF hosted a panel moderated by Ellen Rusconi and featuring established freelance theater artists Jeremy Dobrish, Sarah Maxfield, Daniel Talbott, and Wendy Seyb. Topics cover the career trajectories of these established freelance artists from start to the current moment, the term "emerging" versus "established" artist, how they got jobs at the start of their career vs. how they get jobs now, agents, what constitutes a successful collaboration, and everyday steps early career artists can take to further their career. This conversation is an inspiring window into how to get started and sustain a career as a working artist. Originally recorded - June 6, 2011. Running Time - 59:16 © 2011 SDCF

Gene Saks: In January of 1987, SDCF brought one of Broadway's most beloved directors to New Dramatists for a conversation about comedy. Collaborators are quoted as saying "I would like to be surgically attached to his hip" and "I wouldn't mind if I never worked with another director again". In this 90 minute interview, you'll learn how Tony Award winner Gene Saks has engineered a career as one the most respected directors in American theatre. He is known for his understanding and protection of the actor's process, stemming from years as a performer on Broadway. Moreover, he is known for the rapport he develops with his casts. In this interview Saks admits that his relationships begin during casting where he looks for actors that he can "fall in love with", albeit for a limited period of time. He also looks for intelligence, and acknowledges that intelligence and a sense of humor go hand in hand. The discussion covers personal relationships with both Neil Simon and Simon's plays. He confronts what has changed about the nature of comedic entertainment as he explains that the world has become "more serious, today". He illuminates his process and his manner of "over-directing" in the early stages of a production, only to later trim down the stage business as a sculptor would excess. He talks of the humoristic mentality and maintains that he is not a director of comedy at all; rather, that he approaches all stories, serious or humorous, with an eye toward conveying its message through the vehicle of comedy. Originally recorded - January 29, 1987. Running Time - 1:11:09 ©1987 SDCF

We are excited to bring you this podcast series, Choreographers in Conversation. This series will allow choreographers to interview other choreographers whose work excites them as a way to learn more about their craft and preserve the stories of these exciting artists in our industry. In this episode, Maria Torres, Director/Choreographer/SDCF Trustee interviews Director/Choreographer, Jerry Mitchell to learn more about his career, what brought him to the theatre, the work that he is passionate about, the current state of our industry, and what he hopes for the future.

Jerry Mitchell:

Jerry Mitchell (Director/Choreographer, Kinky Boots) made his Broadway and West End debuts as Director/Choreographer of Legally Blonde, which won the Olivier Award for Best Musical. He was also nominated for both the Tony® and Drama Desk Awards for his choreography for Legally Blonde, as well as the Drama Desk Award for his direction. A Tony® winner for his dazzling choreography created for the first revival of La Cage Aux Folles, Jerry was also nominated for that Award for choreographing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hairspray, Never Gonna Dance, and The Full Monty. For Broadway, Jerry also choreographed Catch Me If You Can, and revivals of Charlie Brown, Rocky Horror Show, and Gypsy (starring Bernadette Peters), and for Off-Broadway and film, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Jeffrey. Other film work includes In & Out, Camp, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and Scent of a Woman. Twenty years ago, Jerry conceived and created Broadway Bares, a comedy burlesque show performed annually for the charity Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Jerry proudly serves as a Board member of BC/EFA and annually as the Executive Producer of Broadway Bares, with a book, website and satellite productions in Las Vegas and London. Cumulative fundraising efforts have resulted in more than $10 million raised for the charity. Next up: directing and choreographing The Honeymooners on Broadway.

Maria Torres:

Maria Torres’ extensive career as director, choreographer, instructor, and Producer began as a critically acclaimed performer, contributing choreography while performing in the film Dance, with the six-time Tony-nominated Broadway musical Swing and Me!. Torres was nominated for a 2018 Ovation Award for Best Choreography for Luis Valdes’ Zoot Suit, is a Lucille Lortel & Carbonell nominee of Four Guys named Jose’, The Donkey Show and Celia, the musical based on the life of the late Cuban singer Celia Cruz. Torres received accolades as Associate Choreographer for the Broadway & Touring productions of On Your Feet, the Oscar-nominated film Enchanted, the musical film Idlewild, the showcase for the Tony Award-winning In The Heights, and as a resident choreographer for So You Think You Can Dance. Torres also co-conceived, choreographed, and directed the Magic Of Salsa Kingdom and Off-Broadway hit Latin Heat.

Recently, she directed and choreographed the new musical Havana Music Hall, Sol of El Barrio, and served as dance consultant for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical on Broadway. Torres is an Artist in Residence at The Rosetta LeNoire Amas Musical Theater, Trustee of Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), a proud executive board member of the Stage Directors, and Choreographers Society, and the League of Professional Theatre Women. Her life is documented in the Dance Oral History Project at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

This episode was recorded at a live event sponsored by both the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and Stage Directors UK on February 24, 2019 in London. The event was the first ever SDC-SDUK member gathering, and the conversation, featured artistic directors Jeremy Herrin and Pam MacKinnon. It was moderated by SDUK Executive Director, Thomas Hescott.