Michael Greif | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | ca. 1959 (age 63–64) |
| Education | Northwestern University (BA) University of California, San Diego (MFA) |
| Occupation | Theater director |
Michael Greif (born ca. 1959 in Brooklyn, New York [1] ) is an American stage director. He has won three Obie Awards and received four Tony Award nominations, for Rent , Grey Gardens , Next to Normal , and Dear Evan Hansen .
Greif attended Northwestern University [1] and graduated from the University of California, San Diego graduate directing program. He was the Artistic Director of the La Jolla Playhouse, LaJolla, California from 1994 to 1999. [2]
He was an Artistic Associate at the New York Theatre Workshop where he directed, among others, Bright Lights, Big City (1998–99) and the original production of Rent [3] for which he received the Obie Award for direction of a musical [4] and later directed on Broadway.
Greif has directed six original Broadway musicals and been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical four times. In addition to Rent, his Broadway credits include If/Then (also at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C.), Next to Normal (also at Second Stage Theatre and Arena Stage), Grey Gardens (also at Playwrights Horizons), Dear Evan Hansen (also at Arena Stage and Second Stage), [5] [6] and War Paint (also at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago). [7]
In August 2023, it was announced that his Goodman Theatre production of the The Notebook would transfer to Broadway in March 2024 and in September 2023, it was announced that he would transfer his Off-Broadway production of Days of Wine and Roses to Broadway in January 2024. [8] [9]
Among his many directing credits Off-Broadway are Alicia Keys' autobiographical musical, Hell's Kitchen, [10] Katori Hall's Our Lady of Kibeho, John Guare's Landscape of the Body and A Few Stout Individuals at Signature Theatre, [11] Beauty of the Father for the Manhattan Theatre Club, [12] the 2009 Playwrights Horizons production of Mrs. Sharp (with music and lyrics by Ryan Scott Oliver and starring Jane Krakowski), and Romeo and Juliet, Winter's Tale, and The Tempest at the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Delacorte Theater (2007, 2010, 2015). [13]
New York Theatre Workshop
The Public Theater
Signature Theatre
Playwrights Horizons
Second Stage
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Musical | Rent | Nominated | |
| 2007 | Grey Gardens | Nominated | |||
| 2009 | Next to Normal | Nominated | |||
| 2017 | Dear Evan Hansen | Nominated | |||
| 1991 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Director of a Play | Machinal | Nominated | |
| 1996 | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Rent | Nominated | ||
| 2001 | Outstanding Director of a Play | Dogeaters | Nominated | ||
| 2007 | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Grey Gardens | Nominated | ||
| 2017 | Drama League Award | Founders Award for Excellence in Directing | Won | ||
| 2006 | Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Grey Gardens | Nominated | |
| 2016 | Dear Evan Hansen | Nominated | |||
| 2018 | Lucille Lortel Award | Outstanding Director | Nominated | ||
Jeanine Tesori, known earlier in her career as Jeanine Levenson, is an American composer and musical arranger best known for her work in the theater. She is the most prolific and honored female theatrical composer in history, with five Broadway musicals and six Tony Award nominations. She won the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play for Nicholas Hytner's production of Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center, the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music for Caroline, or Change, the 2015 Tony Award for Best Original Score for Fun Home, making them the first female writing team to win that award, and the 2023 Tony Award for Best Original Score for Kimberly Akimbo. She was named a Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist twice for Fun Home and Soft Power.
Jennifer Laura Thompson is an American actress and singer, best known for her theatrical performances. She originated the role of Cynthia Murphy in the Tony Award-winning musical, Dear Evan Hansen, and received a Tony Award nomination for her performance as Hope Cladwell in Urinetown. She is also known for being the first replacement for Kristen Chenoweth as Glinda in Wicked on Broadway.
Douglas Wright is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play in 2004 for his play I Am My Own Wife. He also wrote the books to the Broadway musicals Grey Gardens in 2006, The Little Mermaid in 2007, Hands on a Hard Body in 2012, and War Paint in 2017. His play Good Night, Oscar made its Broadway debut in 2023.
The Drama League Awards, created in 1922, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. Each May, the awards are presented by The Drama League at the Annual Awards Luncheon with performers, directors, producers, and Drama League members in attendance. The Drama League membership comprises the entire theater community, including award-winning actors, designers, directors, playwrights, producers, industry veterans, critics and theater-going audiences from across the U.S.
Second Stage Theater is a theater company founded in 1979 by Robyn Goodman and Carole Rothman and located in Manhattan, New York City. It produces both new plays and revivals of contemporary American plays by new playwrights and established writers. The company has two off-Broadway theaters, their main stage, the Tony Kiser Theater at 305 West 43rd Street on the corner of Eighth Avenue near the Theater District, and the McGinn/Cazale Theater at 2162 Broadway and 76th Street, on the Upper West Side. In April 2015, the company expanded into Broadway theater productions when it bought the Helen Hayes Theater.
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, known together as Pasek and Paul, are an American songwriting duo and composing team for musical theater, films and television. Their works include A Christmas Story, Dogfight, Edges, Dear Evan Hansen, and James and the Giant Peach. Their original songs have been featured on NBC's Smash and in the films La La Land, for which they won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "City of Stars", and The Greatest Showman. Their work on the original musical Dear Evan Hansen has received widespread critical acclaim and earned them the 2017 Tony Award for Best Original Score. In 2022, they won the Tony Award for Best Musical for serving as producers for the Broadway production of Michael R. Jackson's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical A Strange Loop.
Justin Paul is an American theater and television composer and lyricist best known for his works The Greatest Showman, La La Land and Dear Evan Hansen, all of which he co-wrote with his songwriting partner, Benj Pasek.
Benj Pasek is an Oscar, Tony, Grammy, Golden Globe, and Olivier-award winning composer, lyricist, and producer best known for his works The Greatest Showman, La La Land and Dear Evan Hansen, all of which he co-wrote with his songwriting partner, Justin Paul.
Taylor Hunt Trensch is an American stage and film actor.
Benjamin Schiff Platt is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. Platt, the son of film and theater producer Marc Platt, began his acting career in musical theater as a child and appeared in productions of The Sound of Music (2006) and The Book of Mormon (2012–2015), rising to prominence for originating the title role in Broadway coming-of-age musical Dear Evan Hansen (2015–2017). His performance in the latter earned him multiple accolades, including a Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award. At age 23, Platt became the youngest solo recipient of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his performance in Dear Evan Hansen. Platt reprised the role of Evan Hansen in the 2021 film adaptation of the musical, produced by his father. He then played Leo Frank in the 2022 New York City Center Gala production of Parade, which transferred to Broadway in 2023 and earned him another nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.
Rachel Chavkin is an American stage director best known for directing the musicals Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 and Hadestown, receiving nominations for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for both and winning for Hadestown in 2019.
Dear Evan Hansen is a musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important role for himself in a tragedy that he did not earn".
Peter Nigrini is an American projection designer live theater. His best-known designs include Dear Evan Hansen, Fela!, and Here Lies Love. He also works occasionally as a scenic and lighting designer, most notably his longstanding collaboration with Nature Theater of Oklahoma. He is also a lecturer at New York University
Rachel Bay Jones is an American actress and singer. She has played the roles of Catherine in the 2013 Broadway revival of Pippin and Evan Hansen's mother, Heidi Hansen, in Dear Evan Hansen. The latter earned her an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, and the 2017 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
William Frederick Roland better known as Will Roland is an American actor and singer, best known for originating the role of Jared Kleinman in the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen, for which he received a Grammy and Daytime Emmy Award. On film, he is known for his role in the drama film One Penny. Most recently, he played the lead role of Jeremy Heere in the musical Be More Chill both off-Broadway and on Broadway.
Steven Levenson is an American playwright and television writer. He won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Dear Evan Hansen.
"You Will Be Found" is the Act 1 finale of the 2015 musical Dear Evan Hansen, which premiered on Broadway in 2016. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul wrote both the music and lyrics to the song.
Justin Goldner is an American music producer, songwriter, arranger and session musician based in New York City, originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
"Only Us" is a song from Act 2 of the 2015 musical Dear Evan Hansen, which premiered on Broadway in 2016. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul wrote both the music and lyrics to the song.
Evan Hansen is the titular character and main protagonist of the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. A bullied 17-year-old high schooler with social anxiety and depression, who lives with his single mother Heidi Hansen after she divorced from his father Mark Hansen ten years before, he attempts to find the acceptance and love he has been lacking in his life. On his journey to be found, he discovers the consequences of risking it all for the chance to be heard.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
