American theater director
Gordon Greenberg (born 1969) is an American stage director, a theater and television writer, and an Artistic Associate at
The New Group .
Education
Greenberg attended
Stanford University and
NYU Film School
Tisch School of the Arts , as well as The
Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab, The
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , and
Stagedoor Manor .[
citation needed ]
Career
Greenberg directed the new Huey Lewis-inspired Broadway musical
The Heart of Rock & Roll at the
James Earl Jones Theatre .
[1]
[2] It received excellent reviews.
[3]
[4]
He recently directed and co-wrote (with Steve Rosen) Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors! which received excellent reviews Off-Broadway at
New World Stages
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8] and was recorded as a radio play starring
John Stamos ,
Laura Benanti ,
Annaleigh Ashford ,
Alex Brightman ,
Ashley Park ,
James Monroe Iglehart ,
Christopher Sieber ,
Richard Kind and
Rob McClure .
[9]
[10]
He and Rosen also wrote Crime & Punishment, A Comedy , which was commissioned by the
Old Globe Theatre and premiered under his direction in 2023 to rave reviews.
[11]
[12]
[13]
He directed
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the
Geffen Playhouse starring
Calista Flockhart and
Zachary Quinto .
[14] It was widely praised.
Entertainment Weekly called it "A brilliantly staged riveting portrait of toxic domestic bliss."
[15]
Variety said "A fearless Calista Flockhart tears into Zachary Quinto in the inspired 60th Anniversary Revival."
[16] The
Los Angeles Times called the feature "Unerringly good...Quinto and Flockhart expose something infinitely fragile in Albee's shatterproof play."
[17] It won the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Revival.
[18]
For television, he developed, co-wrote (with Michael Weiner) and was Co-Executive Producer on Most Talkative , a new comedy television series for
NBC and
Blumhouse based on
Andy Cohen 's coming of age in St. Louis.
[19] He is currently writing a new musical about
Pablo Picasso with
Stephen Schwartz and
Caridad Svich for
Antonio Banderas .
[20] He is also co-writing a new musical about
Harry Houdini in collaboration with composer
Frank Wildhorn .
[21]
He directed the American premier of Piaf/Dietrich, A Legendary Affair for
Mirvish in Toronto, which opened to rave reviews,
[22]
[23] was extended three times
[24] and was nominated for 7
Dora Awards
[25] and won Best Musical Production.
[26]
He directed the Broadway
adaptation of Irving Berlin's film
Holiday Inn . Greenberg also co-wrote the adaptation (with
Chad Hodge ). Produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company and Universal Pictures Stage Productions, the show was well received by critics,
[27]
[28]
[29]
[30] with Variety noting that "the 1942 film has gotten a complete and first-class stage redo [...] turning this shaky fixer-upper into prime property."
[31]
His revival of
Guys and Dolls received excellent reviews
[32]
[33]
[34] and was nominated for six
Olivier Awards .
[35] It premiered at
Chichester Festival Theatre and then ran in London's
West End at the Savoy Theatre
[36] then at the Phoenix Theatre, where it starred
Rebel Wilson . In his review for the
New York Times ,
Ben Brantley called it "Pure, unforced pleasure...a boozy bawdy party."
[37]
Greenberg directed and adapted the revised production of
Working (adapted and revised with composers
Stephen Schwartz and
Lin-Manuel Miranda ). The revival was presented at
Broadway in Chicago 's
Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place , as well as the 59 E 59 Theatre in New York, the
Old Globe in San Diego and
Asolo Repertory Theatre .
[38] It received a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performances
[39]
[40] and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival.
[41]
[42]
[43] It was generally positively-reviewed by critics,
[44]
[45]
[46]
[47] with
New York One writing that "the revisions, under Gordon Greenberg's imaginatively resourceful direction, hit all the right notes."[
citation needed ]
Greenberg revised and directed the Drama Desk Award-winning revival of
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Drama League nominations for Best Revival of a Musical),
[48]
[49]
[50] which garnered excellent reviews.
[51] Charles Isherwood of the New York Times called it a "powerful revival"
[52] and Elysa Gardner of USA Today wrote that Greenberg "captures what made Brel's oeuvre at once distinctly of a certain place and time and enduringly universal."
[53]
He directed the new stage adaptation of
Tangled for
Disney .
[54]
[55]
He has written original movie musicals for
Nickelodeon called Emerald City Music Hall and another for
The Disney Channel titled Scramble Band , with
Michael Weiner .[
citation needed ]
His other work includes Johnny Baseball at
Williamstown Theatre Festival ,
[56] a workshop of a newly revised
Rags for
Roundabout Theatre Company ,
[57] Pirates!, or Gilbert & Sullivan Plunder'd , conceived with
Nell Benjamin and
John McDaniel ;
[58]
[59]
[60] the U.S. national tour of
Guys and Dolls ,
[61]
Floyd Collins for
Signature Theatre ,
[62] Stars of David based on Abby Pogrebin's book for producer
Daryl Roth , Farewell My Concubine (China) and several television projects, and 1776 for
Paper Mill Playhouse .
[63] He co-wrote and directed the show Band Geeks
[1]
[2] for
Goodspeed Musicals , supported by grants from the NEA and NAMT. He worked with Kirsten Childs on Disney's Believe , a new musical for Disney Creative Entertainment,
[64] the launch show for the Disney Fantasy with
Neil Patrick Harris and
Jerry Seinfeld , the U.S. National tour of
Happy Days (by
Garry Marshall );
[65] and worked extensively with
Stephen Schwartz and
Joseph Stein to revise
The Baker's Wife in a critically acclaimed production at
Paper Mill Playhouse starring
Alice Ripley ,.
[66] Further work includes Half a Sixpence ,
[67] the South African-inspired production of
Jesus Christ Superstar ,
[68] the U.S. National tour of
Peter Pan , We The People: America Rocks at the off-Broadway Lucille Lortel Theater, and contemporary dramas including
33 Variations .
[69] He is the writer of a new musical updating Jane Austen's
Emma to the
Helen Gurley Brown 1960s New York, The Single Girls Guide which he developed at Seattle Fifth Avenue Theatre,
Dallas Theater Center ,
Ars Nova ,
Goodspeed Musicals ,
ASCAP and a developmental production at
Capital Rep
[70] and then
NAMT .[
citation needed ]
Formerly an actor, Greenberg appeared in the Broadway productions of
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying ;
Grease ;
The Little Prince and the Aviator ; and Off-Broadway in Peacetime ; Names ; City Suite ;
Show Me Where the Good Times Are ; and on television in
Shaky Ground ,
Knots Landing ,
Living Single ,
Step By Step ; and on film in New York City Serenade directed by
Frank Whaley .[
citation needed ]
Greenberg produced and directed commercials for J. Walter Thompson from 1991 to 1993. He served as the artistic director of Musical Theatre Works in New York City from 1997 to 2000, and currently serves as artistic director of the
Broadway Teachers Workshop .
[71] and Artistic Associate at
The New Group .[
citation needed ]
Greenberg adapted (with Steve Rosen) and directed
The Secret Of My Success , a musical comedy based on the 1987
movie of the same name , as a Broadway musical for
Universal Pictures .
[72] The musical was mid-run for its world premiere and
pre-Broadway tryout at the
Paramount Theatre in March 2020 with
Sydney Morton (Christy Lockhart) and Billy Harrigan Tighe (Brantley Foster/Carlton Whitfield) as leads when production was shut down due to the
coronavirus pandemic .
[73]
[74]
[75] It had been scheduled to run from February 21 – March 29, and the final performance was March 12, as Illinois governor
J. B. Pritzker shut down all performance venues starting March 13.
[74]
[76]
Awards
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Geffen Playhouse 2022 L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Revival.
[18] 6 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award Nominations including Best Director
[77]
Piaf/Dietrich 2020 Dora Award for Outstanding Production, Musical Theatre
[78] 7 Dora Award Nominations, including Best Director
[79]
Holiday Inn Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination for Outstanding New Broadway Musical
[80]
Guys and Dolls 6 Olivier Award nominations, including Best Revival
[81]
Working Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performances
[82]
[40] Drama Desk Award Nomination for Outstanding Revival.
[41]
[42]
[43]
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Drama League nominations for Best Revival of a Musical
[48]
[49]
[50]
Guys and Dolls St. Louis Theatre Circle nominations, Best Director, Best Production
[83]
West Side Story St. Louis Theatre Circle Award nominations, Best Director, Best Production
[84]
Vanities, A New Musical Bay Area Critics Circle Award, Best Production
[85]
See also
References
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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External links