Lileana Blain-Cruz

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Lileana Blain-Cruz is an American theatre director who currently works as the Resident Director of Lincoln Center Theater.

Contents

Early life and education

Blain-Cruz grew up primarily in New York City and Miami. [1] She earned her BA in English with certificates in Theater and Spanish from Princeton University in 2006. [2] She earned an MFA in Directing from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University in 2012. [3]

Early career

In her last year as an undergraduate at Princeton, Blain-Cruz directed Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf for her senior thesis. [4] She directed Suzan-Lori Parks’ 365 Days 365 Plays at GALA Hispanic Theater. [5] She continued to direct for Princeton for their Summer Theater from 2007 to 2009.

In 2009, Blain-Cruz co-founded Overhead Projector, a devised theater company, and continues to serve as curator. [6]

Blain-Cruz directed plays at Yale School of Drama and Yale Cabaret from 2009 to 2011, including devised pieces by Overhead Projector such as Cavity and SALOME. [7] Blain-Cruz was co-Artistic Director at Yale Cabaret in 2011–12. In 2011, she also directed Gertrude Stein’s Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights at Yale School of Drama. [8] She directed Buffalo Maine by Martyna Majok in 2012 as part of the Carlotta Festival of New Plays. [9]

Her 2011 production of The Taming of the Shrew starred Lupita Nyong’o, then a graduate student in acting, as Kate. [10] Her interpretation ended with Kate poisoning the other characters, and the production is known for “it’s freshness and power” according to James Bundy. [11]

In 2013, she directed The Bakkhai (translated by Ned Moore) at Bard College, [12] and Hollow Roots by Christina Anderson for the Under the Radar Festival at The Public Theater. [13] In 2015, she directed Salome at JACK in Brooklyn, [14] and in 2016, Red Speedo by Lucas Hnath at New York Theatre Workshop [15] and Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. by Alice Birch at Soho Repertory Theatre. [16]

Her 2016 direction of The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World by Suzan-Lori Parks at Signature Theatre [17] was lauded by critic Ben Brantley, who called it “a hypnotic staging” by Blain-Cruz. [18]

Later direction

In 2017, she directed War by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, at Yale Repertory Theater, [19] The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and Lydia Diamond, based on Morrison's novel, at The Guthrie Theater, [20] Henry IV, Part I [21] and Much Ado About Nothing , casting a woman as Dogberry, both at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, [22] and Pipeline (play) at Lincoln Center Theater. [23]

In 2018, Blain-Cruz directed Thunderbodies by Kate Tarker at Soho Rep, [24] The House That Will Not Stand by Marcus Gardley at New York Theatre Workshop, [25] and Fabulation, Or the Reeducation of Undine at Signature Theatre, which was directed with “screwball precision” by Blain-Cruz. [26] Her 2018 production of Water by the Spoonful at the Mark Taper Forum [27] was part of a Los Angeles-wide production of Quiara Alegría Hudes’ trilogy with the other plays staged at the Kirk Douglas Theatre and the Los Angeles Theatre Center.

In 2019, she directed Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ play Girls, a riff on The Bacchae, for Yale Rep, [28] Maria Irene Fornes’ play, Fefu and Her Friends , at TFANA, [29] and in 2020, Anatomy of a Suicide by Alice Birch at Atlantic Theater Company. [30]

In 2022, Blain-Cruz directed Dreaming Zenzile by Somi Kakoma for a rolling world premiere production that “brought together seven producers” including New York Theatre Workshop, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and The National Black Theatre. [31] In 2023, she directed White Girl in Danger at Second Stage / Vineyard Theatre. [32]

Lincoln Center Theater

Blain-Cruz became the Resident Director of Lincoln Center Theater in 2020. [33]

Blain-Cruz had directed War by Jacobs-Jenkins at Lincoln Center Theater in 2016. [34] She directed Marys Seacole by Jackie Sibblies Drury in 2019, for which she and Drury received a Special Citation Obie Award. [35]

She directed The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder which included additional material by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins in 2022. [36] This was her Broadway debut as a director, and she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play. [37]

Opera and music

In 2019, Blain-Cruz directed Charles Gounod’s Faust at Opera Omaha. [38] In 2021, she directed an opera film of Hansel & Gretel with music by Engelbert Humperdinck, for Houston Grand Opera [39] and she directed the premiere of Wayne Shorter and esperanza spalding's opera Iphigenia at ArtsEmerson in Boston, with set design by Frank Gehry. [40]

In 2022, she directed The Listeners by Missy Mazzoli at The Norwegian National Opera, [41] in 2023 Stranger Love by Dylan Mattingly at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, [42] and in 2024, she will direct John Adams's oratorio El Niño at Metropolitan Opera. [43]

Arts development and writing

She wrote for the television series, Dead Ringers , in 2023. She wrote the play Create Dangerously, based on Edwidge Danticat's book of essays, and directed it at Miami New Drama in 2023. [44]

In January 2024, it was announced that a new musical about Prince called Purple Rain was in the works, with book by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Blain-Cruz. [45] Blain-Cruz and Jacobs-Jenkins met as undergraduates at Princeton, and they have collaborated many times. [46]

Teaching and honors

Blain-Cruz was the Allen Lee Hughes Directing Fellow at Arena Stage from 2006 to 2007. She held a fellowship at the Goodman Theater in 2008. She was Artistic Associate at The Orchard Project & The Exchange from 2007 to 2009, [47] and in the Director's Lab at Lincoln Center Theater in 2008. [48]

In both 2017 and 2018, she was a United States Artists Fellow,[ citation needed ] and a former New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellowship awardee.[ citation needed ]

She was a Presidential Visiting Fellow at Yale in 2020-21 and teaches at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. [49]

Awards

References

  1. ↑ McElroy, Steven (February 17, 2016). "For Director Lileana Blain-Cruz Things Are Going Swimmingly". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Theater Alumna Lileana Blain-Cruz named Resident director at Lincoln Center Theater". Lewis Center for the Arts. September 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Lileana Blain-Cruz". David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  4. ↑ Beebe, Jeanette. "Theater Director Lileana Blain-Cruz '06 Brings Branden Jacobs-Jenkins '06's 'War' to Lincoln Center". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Lileana Blain-Cruz". Yale Drama. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Gurls by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins '06". Lewis Center for the Arts. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Lileana Blain-Cruz". Lewis Center for the Arts. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Lileana Blain-Cruz by Brandon Jacob-Jenkins". BOMB Magazine. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Graduating playwrights will showcase their work at annual Carlotta Festival". Yale News. April 23, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  10. ↑ Altmann, Jennifer (November 20, 2018). "The Play's the Thing". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  11. ↑ Altmann, Jennifer (November 20, 2018). "The Play's the Thing". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  12. ↑ "The Bakkhai (The Bacchae)". Fisher Center. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Under the Radar: Hollow Roots". Broadway Black. January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Salome". JACK. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  15. ↑ Simpson, Janice C. (June 2016). "Lileana Blain-Cruz's Fearless Dives Into the Deep End". American Theatre. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  16. ↑ Clement, Olivia. "The Verdict: What Critics Think of Soho Rep's Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again". Playbill. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  17. ↑ Myers, Victoria (October 25, 2016). "An Interview with Suzan-Lori Parks". The Interval. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  18. ↑ Brantley, Ben. "Review: 'The Death of the Last Black Man,' a Nightmare Hypnotically Retold". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  19. ↑ Blain-Cruz, Lileana (April 11, 2017). "Two Worlds in 'War'". American Theatre. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  20. ↑ "The Bluest Eye". Guthrie Theater. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  21. ↑ Popp, Olivia (August 10, 2017). "OSF pt. 1: Shaking up Shakespeare with 'Henry IV, Part 1' and 'Julius Caesar'". The Stanford Daily. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  22. ↑ Stabler, David (March 3, 2015). "Oregon Shakespeare Festival 2015 opens: Wit and bitterness spark 'Much Ado About Nothing' (review)". Oregon Live. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  23. ↑ Als, Hilton (July 17, 2017). "Lileana Blain-Cruz's Director's Cut". The New Yorker. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  24. ↑ Holdren, Sara (October 28, 2018). "Theater Review: Thunderbodies Is the Latest Political-Catastrophe Dramatic Farce". Vulture. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  25. ↑ Kortava, David. "The House That Will Not Stand". The New Yorker. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  26. ↑ Romig, Rollo. "Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine". The New Yorker. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  27. ↑ McNulty, Charles. "Review: 'Water by the Spoonful' at the Taper: Broken souls, and a cast, in search of connection". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Girls". Yale Repertory Theatre. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  29. ↑ Stillwell, Jadie (November 26, 2019). "In a New Production of an Old Play, Fefu and Her Friends Go Beneath the Surface". Interview Magazine. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  30. ↑ "Anatomy of a Suicide". Atlantic Theater Company. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  31. ↑ "Dreaming Zenzile". New York Theatre Workshop. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  32. ↑ Green, Jesse. "Review: 'White Girl in Danger' Flips the Script on Soap Operas". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  33. ↑ "Lincoln Center Theater Names Lileana Blain-Cruz Resident Director". American Theatre. September 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  34. ↑ "War". Lincoln Center Theater. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  35. ↑ "2019 Obie Award Winners". Obie Awards. May 21, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  36. ↑ Appel, Liz (April 28, 2022). "Lileana Blain-Cruz on Her Vital New Staging of The Skin of Our Teeth". Vogue. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  37. ↑ Rosky, Nicole. "Meet the 2022 Tony Nominees: THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH's Lileana Blain-Cruz". Broadway World. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  38. ↑ Neneman, Drew. "Opera Omaha gives restored version of 'Faust' a heavenly debut: Omaha World-Herald Review". Opera Omaha. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  39. ↑ Gray, Chris. "Houston Grand Opera takes 'Hansel & Gretel' out of Europe and into East Texas". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  40. ↑ "Iphigenia" (PDF). ArtsEmerson. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  41. ↑ "The Listeners". Opera Vision. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  42. ↑ Frankel, Tony. "Opera Review: STRANGER LOVE (LA Phil Commission at Walt Disney Concert Hall)". Stage and Cinema. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  43. ↑ "El Niño". The Metropolitan Opera. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  44. ↑ "Create Dangerously". Miami New Drama. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  45. ↑ Lang, Brent (January 8, 2024). "Prince Movie Classic 'Purple Rain' Becoming a Stage Musical". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  46. ↑ Beebe, Jeanette. "Theater Director Lileana Blain-Cruz '06 Brings Branden Jacobs-Jenkins '06's 'War' to Lincoln Center". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  47. ↑ "Gurls by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins '06". Lewis Center for the Arts. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  48. ↑ "Lileana Blain-Cruz". Yale Drama. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  49. ↑ "Presidential Visiting Fellows for 2020-21". Yale University. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  50. ↑ "Lileana Blain-Cruz". Yale Drama. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  51. ↑ "Graduation Prizes". YSD Annual Magazine 2012. April 22, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  52. ↑ "Lileana Blain-Cruz: Tony Award for Best Director of a Play". Repeating Islands. June 13, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  53. ↑ "Iphigenia". Octopus Theatricals. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  54. ↑ "2017". Obie Awards. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  55. ↑ Meyer, Dan. "Lileana Blain-Cruz Joins Lincoln Center Theater as Resident Director". Playbill. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  56. ↑ "2019 Obie Award Winners". Obie Awards. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  57. ↑ "Lincoln Center Awards for Emerging Artists". PBS. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  58. ↑ "Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Announces 2021 Doris Duke Artists". Doris Duke Foundation. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  59. ↑ "The Drama League Awards 2022". Drama League. November 22, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
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