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About Hedwig
Sean Daniels joined the Actors Theatre staff this summer as Associate Artistic Director, and will spend this fall not sleeping but running from rehearsal to rehearsal as the director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Santaland Diaries and A Christmas Carol. Sean was Associate Artistic Director at California Shakespeare Theater in Berkeley, Calif., and before that he was in Atlanta for 10 years as Artistic Director of the theatre he co-founded, Dad’s Garage (winner of both “Best Theatre” and “Best Place to Get Art Without the Pretense”).
This guy has been lauded by many, winning Best Director and Best Production awards across the country, and singled out for his work in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, American Theatre, the BBC and even People magazine! He is widely acknowledged as an innovative artist and theatrical visionary and we are thrilled he’s come to join us in the land of the Fleur de Lis. Before he gets too busy, Resident Dramaturg Julie Felise Dubiner thought it would be a good time to ask a few probing questions.
What does an Associate Artistic Director do? Is it like being Vice President? Are you and Artistic Director Marc Masterson allowed to travel on the same plane?
People ask me what it’s like to be a heartbeat away from the throne, but I tell them it’s quite the opposite. I’m actually required to travel everywhere with Marc, and if he thinks he sees a shooter, I have to dive in front of him. Maybe it’s just an initiation thing, but he seems to see shooters a lot.
It’s actually a fascinating thing to be an AAD—you have to be engaged and excited enough to make an impact, while remaining humble enough to realize it’s not your show. I guess, in baseball terms, that makes me more “middle relief.”
You’re directing three shows this fall, any tips on how to maintain stamina?
Two years ago I directed three plays in a row—it was a miserable experience.
I was exhausted and tired, perhaps also, because during those three shows I decided to move, adopt two wiener dogs and plan a wedding—looking back now, that might not have been the wisest use of my resources. Insult to injury, the production manager told me that I’d never had worse hair than during tech for the third show. I promised myself I would never do three shows in a row again—never, never, never.
Well, then Nicholas Nickleby (shows two and three), was named to the Top Ten of every paper in the Bay Area, and I won both local directing awards—and the show became the #1 and #2 top selling shows in Cal Shakes’ 32 year history—odd how such things have a way of changing your memory. So, when Marc asked me to direct three shows in a row for the fall, of course I said, “Sure, it went so well last time!”
Though this time I’ll be smarter about the whole thing. During show three, I’m totally getting a hat.
What kinds of fun, new programming can we expect?
I’m very interested in figuring out how to get playwrights back to making the funny—so much of what I read is contemplative, overly intellectual, angry or a thinly disguised dramatic screen-play—if you’re a good funny writer, you’re scooped up instantly by TV. I’d love to figure out a way to support and encourage more comedic writers to find their theatrical voice, not just their sitcom-ish (is that a word?) voice.
Will you be making the switch from vodka to bourbon?
At about 3 pm each day—yes. |
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