At the SDCF 2013 Emerging Artist Symposium on Musicals on May 20, 2013, internationally-acclaimed director/choreographers Chet Walker and Marcia Milgrom Dodge shared their expertise of applying a fresh perspective to the revival of a musical subsequent to an iconic production.

ATW - SDCF Masters of the Stage

Staging Revivals: Marcia Milgrom Dodge and Chet Walker

At its 2013 Emerging Artist Symposium on Musicals, Robyn Goodman, Commercial Producer and Founder of Second Stage Theatre, spoke with SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi about discovering talent and developing new work in today's dynamic theatre climate. Goodman ("Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella," "Avenue Q," "In the Heights," "Altar Boyz") infuses her perspective as an actor turned producer with a well-rounded view of a production from page to stage and everything in between. Listen as she offers insight on keeping up with trending audience interest and younger sensibilities, procuring a strong design team, giving a memorable interview, and recognizing commercial viability in unexpected places.

Discovering Talent and New Work: Robyn Goodman

On July 13, 2013, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation hosted a One-on-One Conversation with acclaimed Director, Choreographer, and Movement Director Steven Hoggett ("Blackwatch", "Peter and the Starcatcher", "Once") discussing his artistic vision, career trajectory, and rehearsal processes. Moderated by Ryan Donovan, the conversation explores Steven’s journey from his beginning as a self-sustaining artist in Wales with Frantic Assembly to his big-budget ventures on Broadway and around the world. Topics discussed include staging musical transitions, budgetary and spatial influences on artistic freedom, the unique aspects of the American theatre industry, and the value of deep collaboration when creating theater.

One on One with Steven Hoggett

In a One-on-One Conversation on June 12, 2013, award-winning directors Pam MacKinnon and Kathleen Marshall spoke with SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi about building their artistic careers. Listen as they discuss the nuts and bolts of the rehearsal process, from the Illuminating qualities of auditions and early design meetings to the continuous evolution of a piece as gauged by audience, producers, and associates. This candid conversation offers practical knowledge about creating career inroads, aligning collaborators and continuously developing craft.

One on One with Pam MacKinnon and Kathleen Marshall

On May 6th, 2013, Oliver Butler of The Debate Society and Jack E. Cummings III of Transport Group spoke with SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi on their experiences simultaneously managing a directing career and theatrical company. The in-depth discussion follows the ebb and flow of two singular directing careers each affected by a loyalty to their own growing theatre companies. Listen as they explore how changing cultural and economic trends affect a theatre company’s ability to sustain itself and the dichotomy that exists when looking for work outside of the company.

Director/Founder

On April 8, 2013, Fight Directors Erica Gould and Rick Sordelet spoke with SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi to discuss the responsibilities and roles of theatre’s fight directors.  Gain a better understanding of the role of the fight director and the support he or she provides in storytelling on stage.

Fight Direction

On January 7, 1987, Artistic Directors Nagle Jackson (of Hartford Stage) and Mark Lamos (of McCarter Theatre) sat down with Mary Robinson to speak about leadership in regional theatre.  This focused discussion will enlighten the listener about the art of choosing a season, how your audience can affect play selection, and the work of maintaining a repertory theatre.

Running Regional Theatres

On Tuesday, December 4, 2012, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society hosted a panel on women directors and choreographers in Chicago with panelists Rachel Rockwell, Joanie Schultz, Kimberly Senior, and Leigh Silverman, moderated by Michael Halberstam. Together, the panel and the audience strive to answer the question, "How can all of us - our collaborators, theatres, service organizations - support the growth and furtherance of women as directors and choreographers?"

Women in Chicago

In 1987, SDCF and the Dramatists Guild jointly held a panel discussion exploring the symbiotic and complex relationship between playwright and director. Peter Stone moderates a panel of Playwrights and Directors including Sam Bobrick, Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, David Henry Hwang, Bernet Kellman, Tom Moore, David Rosenak, Gene Saks, and Stephen Tobolowsky.

Playwright/Director 1987

In 1999, SDCF held a panel about Managing Your Career featuring panelists Steve Bolerjack, Leigh Giroux, Noah Kimerling, Brett Singer and Ross Wisdom to discuss their various areas of expertise – accounting and taxes, legal issues, and publicity for artists – and how to apply their knowledge to better run the business of your professional life to allow you to grow and develop your artistic career.

Managing Your Career

On Tuesday, December 6, 2011, SDC's Gretchen Michelfeld spoke with sound designers Jill BC Du Boff (Good People, Bill Maher: Victory Begins at Home), Brett Jarvis (Kiki and Herb--Alive on Broadway!, The Donkey Show), and Rob Kaplowitz (Fela!, Pumpgirl) to find out how to work with designers to maximize the creativity and productivity of sound design.

Maximizing Your Relationship With Sound Designers

On January 7, 2013, SDCF spoke with Production Managers/Technical Directors David Benken and Martin Pavloff about Understanding Automation: What Every Director Should Know. Whether you are a producer, director, choreographer, actor, designer, or theatre fan, this conversation allows the listener a comprehensive overview of automation in theatre and provides the understanding necessary to maximize your working relationship with your technical director.

Understanding Automation

At SDCF on December 17, 2012, SDCF hosted a discussion of Theatre for Social Change with guests Erik Ehn and Kamilah Forbes moderated by SDCF Producing Director Ellen Rusconi. Listen in as they discuss their experience in creating theatre to explore social issues and communal events and in founding producing organizations to further this work.

Theatre for Social Change

In New York on November 2, 1987, SDCF hosted a talk by Robert Lewis, a founding member of Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, The Group Theatre, and the Actors’ Studio. He speaks with great charisma and dynamism of his experiences in theatre and his view of the evolution of theatre around the world in the 20th century.

Robert Lewis

Rare insights into the working process of America's most seminal directors and choreographers are the focus of "Masters of the Stage." This series features more than three decades of priceless One-on-One interviews and panel discussions with theatre's most distinguished luminaries. Listen to these never before broadcast programs and hear the story of the American theater told by those who helped chart its course.

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ATW - SDCF Masters of the Stage

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