Hometown: New Albany, Indiana
Education: I’m still working on that part.
Favorite Credits: My sons Thomas, 11, and James, 14.
Why theater?: It’s a compulsion. I’m sure there are easier and more satisfying ways to pass the time.
Tell us about Alone in Triptych?: Three people, alone yet connected, sinking in quicksand at the edge of a cliff: if they move they’ll fall off, if they stay still they’ll be sucked under. It’s a comedy.
What inspired you to direct Alone in Triptych?: Renee Philippi, who wrote and is co-directing the play, as well as a marvelously eccentric and talented company of actors.
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I don’t know how to answer that question. It’s a moving target that changes all the time. However I respond will feel wrong to me a week from now. Anyway, I don’t like to think of myself as an artist – when I’m in that headspace it stifles whatever creative impulses I may have. I work with artists. I respond to what they are doing. I try to help them tell their stories. Watching them struggle to find an unusual, yet authentic way to express themselves is as inspiring as it gets.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Stephen Hawking. I like what he says about being urged towards his numerous breakthroughs by the prospect of an early death.
What show have you recommended to your friends?: Pippin. There is no understandable explanation for how good it is.
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: I can’t tell you the biggest, but "Game of Thrones" is in the top ten.
What’s the most played song on your iPod?: This week it’s “Everything is Awesome,” from the "Lego Movie".
If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: I like solving problems. I think I would make an exceptionally good shoe salesman.
What’s up next?: I’m working with Paul Allman on a new play called Happy Now? and I have to figure out how to qualify for unemployment.