John Doyle (director)

John Doyle is a Tony Award winning Scottish stage director for musicals and plays, as well as operas. He has served as artistic director at several regional theatres in the United Kingdom, where he has staged more than 200 professional productions during his career spanning 30 years.

Contents

Biography

Doyle trained at the University of Georgia in the United States[1]. He was associate director of the Watermill Theatre, a 216-seat performance space in the English countryside of Berkshire[1] until 2008.[2] With his work there he has become known for his unusual approach to musical theatre, often featuring casts who are both actors and musicians, accompanying one another on musical instruments while simultaneously playing roles.[2][3]

His 2004 staging of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd moved from the Watermill to the West End of London in 2005 (first to Trafalgar Studios and then the Ambassadors Theatre). In November 2005 he re-mounted Sweeney on Broadway, with Michael Cerveris playing the "demon barber" and Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett.[4] For this production, he received the 2006 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical.

For Doyle's next project, he moved to the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park to reinvent Sondheim's Company with a cast led by Raúl Esparza, again with actors who sing, dance and provide their own musical accompaniment (known in England as actor/muso). This production was then produced on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 2006 and won the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama League Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Doyle also staged an actor/musician version of Mack and Mabel starring David Soul and Janie Dee in the West End. For his last production at Watermill, he directed Merrily We Roll Along in March 2008.[3] In the summer of 2009 he directed a production of Oklahoma! at the Chichester Festival Theatre, with fresh orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. The piece was dark in its conception and was well received. Recently, Doyle directed Stephen Sondheim's Road Show at The Public Theatre in New York City.

Doyle directed a production of Kiss Me, Kate at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival for their 2010 season.[5] He also has ventured into the world of opera, directing a production of Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor for Houston Grand Opera in the 2010-11 season.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Pender, Rick (2006). "Finding the story: An interview with director John Doyle". The Sondheim Review 12 (4). http://sondheimreview.com/v12n4.htm#sample. Retrieved 2008-05-24. 
  2. ^ a b Sloan, Liam.John Doyle's Watermill finale" newburytoday.co.uk, January 24 2008
  3. ^ a b Gardner, Lyn."The amazing Mr Musicals" guardian.co.uk, 24 January 2008
  4. ^ Charlotte Headrick (2007). "There’s a DAWG on Broadway! UGA alumnus John Doyle directs Sweeney Todd". Georgia Magazine. http://www.franklin.uga.edu/news/2006/article27_06.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-24. 
  5. ^ Listing stratfordfestival.ca
  6. ^ [1] chron.com

References

External links

Susan Stroman (2001) · Michael Mayer (2002) · Jack O'Brien (2003) · Joe Mantello (2004) · James Lapine (2005) · John Doyle (2006) · Michael Mayer (2007) · Bartlett Sher (2008) · Stephen Daldry (2009) · Michael Mayer (2010) · Casey Nicholaw / Trey Parker (2011)
Complete list · (1975–2000) · (2001–2025)

Susan Stroman (2001) · John Rando (2002) · Jack O'Brien (2003) · Joe Mantello (2004) · Mike Nichols (2005) · John Doyle (2006) · Michael Mayer (2007) · Bartlett Sher (2008) · Stephen Daldry (2009) · Terry Johnson (2010) · Casey Nicholaw / Trey Parker (2011)
Complete list · (1950–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–2025)