ATW - SDCF Masters of the Stage
Summary: Rare insights into the working process of America's most seminal directors and choreographers are the focus of "Masters of the Stage." This series features more than three decades of priceless One-on-One interviews and panel discussions with theatre's most distinguished luminaries. Listen to these never before broadcast programs and hear the story of the American theater told by those who helped chart its course.
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- Artist: American Theatre Wing and SDCF
- Copyright: © 2005-2010 American Theatre Wing
Podcasts:
A Director's Life: Creative Development and Renewal – On June 18, 2011, SDCF Executive Director Laura Penn moderated a panel at the TCG conference featuring Gil Cates, Curt Columbus, Jeffrey Horowitz, Susan Medak, Madeline Puzo, and Julie Taymor to consider the centrality of the director's role in theatre.
On May 19th, 1999, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation hosted a One-on-One Conversation with Moisés Kaufman, director, playwright, and founder of Tectonic Theater Project, and Mary Overlie, the creator of Viewpoints. Hear these two singular artists discuss theatrical theory and relate it to their work: Kaufman as he creates The Laramie Project with his company, Overlie in developing Viewpoints. This is an insightful conversation between two artists who thrive on exploration and breaking into new forms.
On May 6th, 2013, Oliver Butler of The Debate Society and Jack E. Cummings III of Transport Group spoke with SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi on their experiences simultaneously managing a directing career and theatrical company. The in-depth discussion follows the ebb and flow of two singular directing careers each affected by a loyalty to their own growing theatre companies. Listen as they explore how changing cultural and economic trends affect a theatre company’s ability to sustain itself and the dichotomy that exists when looking for work outside of the company.
On April 8, 2013, Fight Directors Erica Gould and Rick Sordelet spoke with SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi to discuss the responsibilities and roles of theatre’s fight directors. Gain a better understanding of the role of the fight director and the support he or she provides in storytelling on stage.
On January 7, 1987, Artistic Directors Nagle Jackson (of Hartford Stage) and Mark Lamos (of McCarter Theatre) sat down with Mary Robinson to speak about leadership in regional theatre. This focused discussion will enlighten the listener about the art of choosing a season, how your audience can affect play selection, and the work of maintaining a repertory theatre.
On Tuesday, December 4, 2012, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society hosted a panel on women directors and choreographers in Chicago with panelists Rachel Rockwell, Joanie Schultz, Kimberly Senior, and Leigh Silverman, moderated by Michael Halberstam. Together, the panel and the audience strive to answer the question, "How can all of us - our collaborators, theatres, service organizations - support the growth and furtherance of women as directors and choreographers?"
In 1987, SDCF and the Dramatists Guild jointly held a panel discussion exploring the symbiotic and complex relationship between playwright and director. Peter Stone moderates a panel of Playwrights and Directors including Sam Bobrick, Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, David Henry Hwang, Bernet Kellman, Tom Moore, David Rosenak, Gene Saks, and Stephen Tobolowsky.
In 1999, SDCF held a panel about Managing Your Career featuring panelists Steve Bolerjack, Leigh Giroux, Noah Kimerling, Brett Singer and Ross Wisdom to discuss their various areas of expertise – accounting and taxes, legal issues, and publicity for artists – and how to apply their knowledge to better run the business of your professional life to allow you to grow and develop your artistic career.
On Tuesday, December 6, 2011, SDC's Gretchen Michelfeld spoke with sound designers Jill BC Du Boff (Good People, Bill Maher: Victory Begins at Home), Brett Jarvis (Kiki and Herb--Alive on Broadway!, The Donkey Show), and Rob Kaplowitz (Fela!, Pumpgirl) to find out how to work with designers to maximize the creativity and productivity of sound design.
On January 7, 2013, SDCF spoke with Production Managers/Technical Directors David Benken and Martin Pavloff about Understanding Automation: What Every Director Should Know. Whether you are a producer, director, choreographer, actor, designer, or theatre fan, this conversation allows the listener a comprehensive overview of automation in theatre and provides the understanding necessary to maximize your working relationship with your technical director.
At SDCF on December 17, 2012, SDCF hosted a discussion of Theatre for Social Change with guests Erik Ehn and Kamilah Forbes moderated by SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi. Listen in as they discuss their experience in creating theatre to explore social issues and communal events and in founding producing organizations to further this work.
In New York on November 2, 1987, SDCF hosted a talk by Robert Lewis, a founding member of Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, The Group Theatre, and the Actors’ Studio. He speaks with great charisma and dynamism of his experiences in theatre and his view of the evolution of theatre around the world in the 20th century.
On February 27, 1986, SDCF held a conversation on Effective Playwriting with Stephen Porter and Howard Rossen moderated by Stephen Fife, on effective playwriting. In illustrating their points, they use examples of the various techniques of playwrights including Somerset Maugham, David Mamet, Marsha Norman, Pinter, Shaw, Simon and Williams.
On October 1, 1998, SDCF hosted a panel on Downtown Opportunities for Directing and Choreography featuring producers from the vibrant downtown NY theatre scene including John Clancy, Ellie Covan, Kristin Marting, Wendy Rohan, Mark Russell, and David Tyree. These artistic leaders at the head of particularly prolific producing and presenting organizations discuss everything an artist or producer needs to know about working through these organizations. They explain why it is absolutely imperative to visit the space and understand the work of the organization before applying to the organization. They talk about their desire to create communities, and they shed light on the challenges of leading this type of arts organization. This conversation is valuable listening for artists, producers and administrators planning to approach or working within a smaller, vibrant, prolific organization.
On September 25, 1996, James Graves, Associate Director of SDCF, moderated a panel about Directing Opera. Panelists included Lillian Garrett-Groag, Mark Lamos, and Rhoda Levine. With great vibrancy and humor, the panelists consider the challenges of working in foreign countries, methods to navigate working in a foreign language, and the skills and knowledge necessary for theatre artists to work in opera. Most interestingly, their backgrounds are varied: a choreographer (Ms. Levine), a musician and actor (Mr. Lamos), and a multi-lingual director immersed in opera since childhood (Ms. Garrett-Groag). They delve deeply into the Director/Conductor relationship and elucidate the reasons why this is most significant in opera. And they share the thrills of doing new work, including experience developing operas based on the books "Celia", "A Slave," and "Haroun and the Sea of Stories". This honest and open conversation among peers is essential listening for any artist aspiring to direct opera.
