Hometown: Kokomo, IN
Education: Masters - Michigan State Univ.
Favorite Credits: As Director: Mother/Son By Jeffrey Solomon (Original Production); The Ethics Of Rav Hymie Goldfarb By Robin Goldfin; The Telltale Heart By Danny Ashkenasi. As Actor: King Lear (American Bard); Nixon's Nixon (Virginia Premier Theatre); Barrier Island (Mtworks); Over 20 Shows With Metropolitan Playhouse Including: American Clock, The Return Of Peter Grimm, The Easiest Way, Salem, And The Streets Of New York
Why theater?: I fell in love with it in junior high school and never looked back. I like a lot of the performing arts: music, film, TV, etc., but theatre, to me, is the most immediate rush.
Tell us about Suddenly, A Knock at the Door: Robin Goldfin's adaptation of stories by the great Etgar Keret - coupled with Oren Neiman's soundscape score - is our attempt to bring the brilliant story-telling of Keret's imagination to a wider audience through theatre. There are many ways to create theatre: from plot, spectacle, character.... I've always been attracted to story. This piece gives me/us the chance to put stories on stage in an (hopefully) entertaining manner while giving gifted performers the chance to strut their stuff and have a great time doing it.
What inspired you to direct Suddenly, A Knock at the Door?: I had enjoyed working with Robin before, so when he and Oren came to me with the idea of putting one of the stories on its feet in a short-play festival at AND I said "Yes" -- an easy no-brainer. Then as the project expanded to 8 stories I just kept saying "Yes" - and eventually a whole lot more! We've been working on this for four years. I can't wait for an audience to tell us if we've done it right.
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: All kinds: Musicals, Classics, High Drama and Low Comedy. If the artists involved have something to say, I'll listen. Unless it bores me. The worst thing that can happen in the theatre is for the audience to get bored. That's unforgivable. I admit I don't understand some experimental stuff. If I have no idea why I'm supposed to be watching after 10 minutes, I totally tune out. I'm a sucker for emotional honesty - unless it becomes masturbatory. There are a great many actors whose work I really admire, both contemporary and no longer living. If you want names off the top of my head: Zachary Quinto, Peter Sellars, Alec Guiness, Kevin Spacey, both Bridges brothers, Danny Burstein, Dan Radcliffe (!), Kathleen Chalfont, Ms. Streep, Alison Janney, Kevin Bacon, Sean Penn, Jeff Daniels, John Dossett -- I could go on for pages. There are some companies and directors I'll go to no matter what they're working on. I love a love story. And companies the National Theatre of Scotland (BLACK WATCH DOWN) and the original Circle Rep with Lanford Wilson and Marshall Mason.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: See any of the living actors in the previous answer. And I'd like to be directed by Joe Mantello, Rebecca Taylor, Diane Paulus. I'd like to work with Tina Howe, David Hare, Charles Busch....
What show have you recommended to your friends?: Currently on B'way: the revivals of The Color Purple and Fiddler. Beautiful, Aladdin, Something Rotten, Tuck Everlasting, Fun Home. Anything by MCC. Fully Committed.
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Kevin Spacey, in a lighter mood. "b.s at the b.o."
If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: The originals: The Glass Menagerie, The Lion In Winter, A Funny Thing Happened At The Way To The Forum...
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Jamocha almond fudge ice cream
If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: Unhappy? Looking my age? Fat and in the Midwest? Retired.
What’s up next?: Rest. Then a little travel - nowhere specific - just getting away. Then auditioning. I need to act in something again before I direct again.
For more on Suddenly, A Knock at the Door, visit http://theaterforthenewcity.net/suddenlyaknockatthedoor.html