Podcast appearances and mentions of Susan H Schulman

This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by award-winning musical theatre star Barbara Barsky, one of the most outstanding musical theatre talents in this country. She

In the Season 3 Premeire Russell sits down with UNCG's musical theatre professor and director Erin Speer as they discuss the similarities as well as differences between directing musical theatre compared to theatre itself and the impact it has on artists and audiences alike.Brought to you by Real Creative Heart. Like, Review, Share & Subscribe.Erin Farrell Speer – Erin is a musical theatre director, educator and filmmaker. She serves as an Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre and Director of Undergraduate Studies – School of Theatre at UNC Greensboro. She earned her MFA in Directing for the Musical Theatre from Penn State where she studied under the mentorship of veteran Broadway director, Susan H. Schulman. Erin is also a proud graduate of The University of Michigan, holding a BFA in Acting. Erin made her Broadway debut in 2018 serving as the Assistant to Tony winning director Christopher Ashley on Escape to Margaritaville, the Jimmy Buffett musical. She also served in that capacity on the pre-Broadway tour. She made her off-Broadway debut in 2022 as the Associate Director for Hoagy Carmichael's Stardust Road at the York Theatre. Originally from Los Angeles, California, Erin's creative work has taken her all around the United States. Regionally, Erin has worked at Center Theatre Group/the Mark Taper Forum, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Heritage Repertory Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre and the North Carolina Theatre among others. In 2022, Erin directed both The Spongebob Musical and The Scarlet Pimpernel. In Spring of 2023, she will direct The Bridges of Madison County at Elon University and Rock of Ages at UNCG. Favorite Direction credits include: The Spongebob Musical, Pippin, American Idiot, Sweet Charity, and many, many more.

WEST SIDE STORY COMPOSER: Leonard Bernstein LYRICIST: Stephen Sondheim BOOK: Arthur Laurents SOURCE: William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet (1595) DIRECTOR: Jerome Robbins CHOREOGRAPHER: Jerome Robbins PRINCIPLE CAST: Larry Kert (Tony), Carol Lawrence (Maria), Chita Rivera (Anita) OPENING DATE: Sep 26, 1957 CLOSING DATE: Jun 27, 1959 PERFORMANCES: 732 SYNOPSIS: Romeo and Juliet is now set amongst to the turf warfare of 1950s New York City, as two rival gangs, The Sharks and The Jets, compete for dominance. The gangs are forced to confront their own mortality when Tony, the leader of the Jets, falls in love with Maria, the sister of the leader of the Sharks.   Jennifer Delac outlines the ways Jerome Robbins' work on West Side Story established a new model in which the director and choreographer could serve uniquely as an auteur. The chapter breaks down key plot points in the Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim musical which are conveyed through dance and traces the influence the show had on later dance-centric musicals by the likes of Bob Fosse, Tommy Tune, and Susan Stroman.  Jennifer Delac- A graduate from Fordham University (Lincoln Center) with a BA in Theatre, Jennifer is now pursuing her MFA in Directing at the Pennsylvania State University under the mentorship of Susan H. Schulman. She has directed, choreographed, and stage managed in NYC and regionally throughout the United States. Select credits include: Diana (Directing Intern, Broadway), The Beast in the Jungle (as Assistant to the Director to Susan Stroman, Vineyard Theatre), Song From the Uproar (AD, LA Opera/BMP), The Wong Kids (Choreographer/ASM, Ma-Yi Theatre), Disenchanted (Director/Choreographer, Festival 56), and Mr. Burns (Choreographer/Assoc. Director, Fordham). Carla Mirabal Rodríguez (she/her) is a Boston based actor, director, and producer originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico and is thrilled to be working with Central Square Theater! She has worked with theatre companies such as Boston Playwrights' Theatre, Company One, Teatro Chelsea, and is the Artistic Assistant at The Huntington. Recent credits include Macbeth (Malcolm, Newton Theatre Co.), Temporary (Director, Teatro Chelsea's A-Típico New Play Festival), and Romeo + Juliet (AD/understudy, Apollinaire Theatre Co. and Teatro Chelsea). She holds a BA in Theatre Performance from Northeastern University. www.CarlaMirabalRodriguez.com Caridad Svich- Caridad Svich received a 2012 OBIE Award for Lifetime Achievement in the theatre, a 2012 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and NNPN rolling world premiere for Guapa, and the 2011 American Theatre Critics Association Primus Prize for her play The House of the Spirits, based Isabel Allende's novel. Her play Red Bike received an NNPN rolling world premiere, and her play Ushuaia Blue will premiere at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in 2021. Her most recent book is on Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Routledge, 2019). SOURCES West Side Story: The Jets and The Sharks and the Making of a Classic by Richard Barrios, published by Running Press (2020) Something's Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination by Misha Berson, published by Applause Books (2011) A Place for Us: West Side Story and New York by Julia L. Foulkes, published by University of Chicago Press (2016) Mainly on Directing: Gypsy, West Side Story and Other Musicals by Arthur Laurens, published by Knopf (2009) West Side Story: Cultural Perspectives of an American Musical by Elizabeth Wells, published by Scarecrow Press (2010) The Making of West Side Story by Keith Garebian, published by ECW Press (1995) Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins by Amanda Vaill, published by Broadway Books (2008) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anyone who has beat out Heart and Soul on the piano, fell in love with the soundtrack to “Sleepless in Seattle” or can remember Ray Charles singing Georgia on My Mind is familiar with Hoagy Carmichael’s music. His song Stardust has been recorded over 2000 times and was selected for inclusion in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in 2004. For the last six years, Carmichael’s son Hoagy Bix, Tony-nominated director Susan H. Schulman, and choreographer Michael Lichtefeld have been developing a new musical featuring songs from Carmichael’s catalog called STARDUST ROAD. Hear what they have to say about that, Hoagy Carmichael's legacy, and more.  https://rduonstage.com/2019/10/20/podcast-transcript-the-birth-of-the-new-musical-stardust-road-with-hoagy-bix-carmichael-tony-nominee-susan-h-schulman-and-michael-lichtefeld/ (To read a transcript of this episode, click here.) About the Guests Hoagy Bix Carmichael is a film, television, and theatrical producer. He worked as assistant director for Hecht Hill Lancaster of such films as “The Rabbit Trap” (Universal Pictures), “Elmer Gantry” (Columbia Pictures), and ”Separate Tables” (Columbia Pictures). While at WGBH/TV in Boston, he co-produced many productions including “On Being Black,” “The Music Shop” and “The Advocates” for PBS. He was the managing director/producer for “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Mr. Carmichael co-manages the Hoagy Carmichael music catalog, and was the Artistic Producer of the “Hoagy Carmichael Centennial Celebration.” A founding member of AmSong, Inc., an advocacy organization for American songwriters, Carmichael served as its president for three years. https://www.hoagy.com/ (https://www.hoagy.com/) Susan H. Schulman’s Broadway credits include the Tony Award-winning musical THE SECRET GARDEN as well as its highly successful national tour, the revival of SWEENEY TODD at the Circle in the Square, for which she received a Tony Award nomination, the revival of THE SOUND OF MUSIC (Tony nomination for Outstanding Revival) and LITTLE WOMEN, the musical and its successful national tour. For her direction of the highly acclaimed musical VIOLET, winner of The New York Drama Critic’s Circle Award for Best Musical, Schulman received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Director. She received an Obie Award for directing MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG at the York Theatre a production which also received the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival, as well as several Outer Critics and Drama Desk nominations. For the prestigious Stratford Festival of Canada, she has directed nine productions and her many regional and national tour productions are SUNSET BOULEVARD with Petula Clark and the premiere of HEARTLAND. Schulman is a member of the executive board of SDC, a graduate of the Yale Drama School, Hofstra University, and New York’s famed High School of Performing Arts. Michael Lichtefeld choreographed six Broadway musicals including, LITTLE WOMEN, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, THE SECRET GARDEN, GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES and LAUGHING ROOM ONLY. He worked off-Broadway choreographing eight musicals and 10 national/international tours. For the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, he choreographed nine musicals and directed/choreographed SOUTH PACIFIC and MY ONE AND ONLY. He has also been nominated for the Drama Desk Award and three outer Critics’ Circle Awards. This summer he will travel to Australia for the 25th Anniversary remount of THE SECRET GARDEN with Susan H. Schulman. Connect with RDU on Stage Facebook – @rduonstage Twitter – @rduonstage Instagram – @rduonstage Web http://www.rduonstage.com/ (www.rduonstage.com) Support this podcast

The Secret Garden. Little Women. Violet. The revivals of Sweeney Todd and The Sound of Music. All that, and many more, were directed by Susan H. Schulman, one of the very first female directors of musical theatre. At a time when women were rejected from Yale's graduate directing program, and told to become actresses not directors, Susan triumphed in New York, and abroad! Susan pulls back the curtain on her career to discuss how she got a bunch of hog farmers into The Hot Box, what was the genesis of her acclaimed revival of Sweeney Todd , and why she slept everyday outside the offices of a producer! Also, Susan shines the spotlight on Hugh Wheeler, Sutton Foster, and Stephen Sondheim! Become a sponsor of Behind The Curtain and get early access to interviews, private playlists, and advance knowledge of future guests so you can ask the legends your own questions. Go to: http://bit.ly/2i7nWC4

2002 Symposium: Magic To Do: The Writer Director Relationship: At its 2002 Musical Theatre Symposium, SDCF hosted a panel on the writer-director relationship featuring Urinetown composer/lyricist Greg Kotis, The Wild Party composer Andrew Lippa and director Gabriel Barre, Violet composer Jeanine Tesori, bookwriter/lyricist Brian Crawley and director Susan H. Schulman, Side Show director Robert Longbottom, Jelly's Last Jam lyricist Susan Birkenhead, and tick, tick...BOOM! and Bat Boy director Scott Schwartz, moderated by Manhattan Theatre Club Musical Theatre Program director Clifford Lee Johnson. The panelists discuss the formation of their writer-director relationship on each of these shows: how the initial connection and trust happened, the barriers they had to overcome, and working on an unfinished show with a living writer vs. one who has already passed. The conversation is followed by a lively Q&A session about new musical development programs, the director's role in the development of a musical and how to know when a relationship doesn't work. Filled with many humorous stories, this panel offers great insight into this vital relationship as told by some of today's top Broadway talent. Originally recorded - June 1, 2002. Running Time - 1:25:38 © 2002 SDCF

2002 Symposium: It's Not Where You Start: In June 2002, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation hosted a panel discussion on how Broadway directors and choreographers got their starts as part of its 3-day Musical Theatre Symposium. The panelists are Susan H. Schulman, Jeff Calhoun, David Warren, Scott Schwartz, Larry Fuller, Lynne Taylor-Corbett and Gabriel Barre. Some fell into their careers by accident while others had it planned all along, and their stories range from years of performing summer stock to meeting Tommy Tune. This conversation is filled with humorous and touching anecdotes featuring Richard Maltby, Carol Haney and Trevor Nunn, among others. The panelists impart valuable advice to emerging professionals, and the Pittsburgh dance class-to-Broadway stories of these successful directors and choreographers will inspire any theatre artist with hopes of the Great White Way. Originally recorded - June 1, 2002. Running Time - 1:19:58 © 2002 SDCF

Susan H. Schulman: In March of 1994, not long after the close of her hit Broadway production of The Secret Garden, Susan H. Schulman sat down with Director Melvin Bernhardt to discuss her life in the theatre. Ms. Schulman walks a captivated audience of early-career Directors and Choreographers through her career to date, spanning neighborhood shows on her family's Brooklyn stoop as a small girl through her most recent Broadway production. We learn that it all began for her in the garage studio of 'Miss Harriet's School of Ballet' in Brooklyn, leading her to matriculate as the (self-labeled) "worst dancer in the class" at New York's prestigious High School of the Performing Arts. Her directing career stemmed from years as a performer at Hofstra University as an undergraduate. After being told that women could not apply to the Yale School of Drama graduate directing program, Susan attended Yale as a playwright for her graduate studies and kept directing none the less. This yearn to direct at any costs won her productions first in Buffalo, then at the Equity Library Theatre in New York, and then a season of musicals at the Civic Light Opera house in Pittsburgh. Susan explains how she came to direct musical theatre so masterfully and on such a grand scale, while not initially being able to read music. Her method understanding the music: taking children's piano lessons. Equally impressive are the unlikely circumstances under which she moved her York Theatre company production of Sweeney Todd from a school gym to a Broadway home at Circle in the Square Theatre. This 90 minute interview continues with insights on the collaborative process, Susan's opinions on the American Musical, and advice to the young theatre makers in attendance. It is a conversation not to be missed by any artist interested in the work ethic necessary to make it to Broadway.Originally recorded - March 14, 1994. Running Time - 1:18:41 ©1994 SDCF

At its 2002 Musical Theatre Symposium, SDCF hosted a panel on the writer-director relationship featuring "Urinetown" composer/lyricist Greg Kotis, "The Wild Party" composer Andrew Lippa and director Gabriel Barre, "Violet" composer Jeanine Tesori, bookwriter/lyricist Brian Crawley and director Susan H. Schulman, "Side Show" director Robert Longbottom, "Jelly's Last Jam" lyricist Susan Birkenhead, and "tick, tick...BOOM!" and "Bat Boy" director Scott Schwartz, moderated by Manhattan Theatre Club Musical Theatre Program director Clifford Lee Johnson. The panelists discuss the formation of their writer-director relationship on each of these shows: how the initial connection and trust happened, the barriers they had to overcome, and working on an unfinished show with a living writer vs one who has already passed. The conversation is followed by a lively Q&A session about new musical development programs, the director's role in the development of a musical and how to know when a relationship doesn't work. Filled with many humorous stories, this panel offers great insight into this vital relationship as told by some of today's top Broadway talent.

In June 2002, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation hosted a panel discussion on how Broadway directors and choreographers got their starts as part of its 3-day Musical Theatre Symposium. The panelists are Susan H. Schulman, Jeff Calhoun, David Warren, Scott Schwartz, Larry Fuller, Lynne Taylor-Corbett and Gabriel Barre. Some fell into their careers by accident while others had it planned all along, and their stories range from years of performing summer stock to meeting Tommy Tune. This conversation is filled with humorous and touching anecdotes featuring Richard Maltby, Carol Haney and Trevor Nunn, among others. The panelists impart valuable advice to emerging professionals, and the Pittsburgh dance class-to-Broadway stories of these successful directors and choreographers will inspire any theatre artist with hopes of the Great White Way.

In March of 1994, not long after the close of her hit Broadway production of "The Secret Garden", Susan H. Schulman sat down with Director Melvin Bernhardt to discuss her life in the theatre. Ms. Schulman walks a captivated audience of early-career Directors and Choreographers through her career to date, spanning neighborhood shows on her family's Brooklyn stoop as a small girl through her most recent Broadway production. We learn that it all began for her in the garage studio of 'Miss Harriet's School of Ballet' in Brooklyn, leading her to matriculate as the (self-labeled) "worst dancer in the class" at New York's prestigious High School of the Performing Arts. Her directing career stemmed from years as a performer at Hofstra University as an undergraduate. After being told that women could not apply to the Yale School of Drama graduate directing program, Susan attended Yale as a playwright for her graduate studies and kept directing none the less. This yearn to direct at any costs won her productions first in Buffalo, then at the Equity Library Theatre in New York, and then a season of musicals at the Civic Light Opera house in Pittsburgh. Susan explains how she came to direct musical theatre so masterfully and on such a grand scale, while not initially being able to read music. Her method understanding the music: taking children's piano lessons. Equally impressive are the unlikely circumstances under which she moved her York Theatre company production of "Sweeney Todd" from a school gym to a Broadway home at Circle in the Square Theatre. This 90 minute interview continues with insights on the collaborative process, Susan's opinions on the American Musical, and advice to the young theatre makers in attendance. It is a conversation not to be missed by any artist interested in the work ethic necessary to make it to Broadway.

Choreographer Jonathan Butterell ("The Light In The Piazza", "Nine"), director Moises Kaufman ("The Laramie Project", "Gross Indecency"), playwright Arthur Kopit ("Nine", "Oh Dad, Poor Dad..."), choreographer Joey McKneely("The Boy From Oz", "Wild Party"), playwright Theresa Rebeck ("Ominum Gatherum", "Bad Dates") and director Susan H. Schulman ("Little Women", "Secret Garden") explore how playwrights, directors and choreographers place themselves in the body of the character so that the character's voices and actions can emerge, what happens in the theatre to make the experience different from film and television, what it means to be an artist - and how an artist's success is measured.