Des McAnuff
Seventh season: Director of Tommy. Stratford: Previous Stratford productions include Henry V, Christopher Plummer’s A Word or Two (2012); Twelfth Night, Jesus Christ Superstar (2011); The Tempest starring Christopher Plummer, As You Like It (2010); Macbeth starring Colm Feore, A Funny Thing… (2009); Romeo and Juliet, Caesar and Cleopatra, starring Christopher Plummer (2008); and Macbeth (1983). Broadway: Jesus Christ Superstar (2012), Guys and Dolls (2009), Aaron Sorkin’s The Farnsworth Invention (2007), Jersey Boys (2006, Tony and Olivier awards: best musical), Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays (2004, Tony Award), Dracula the Musical (2004), How to Succeed… (1995, Tony Award), The Who’s Tommy (1993, director/co-author with Pete Townshend, Tony and Olivier awards: best director; Olivier: best musical), A Walk in the Woods (1988) and Big River (1985, Tony Awards: best director and musical). Other New York: Crazy Locomotive (Chelsea Theater Center); Mary Stuart and his play Leave It to Beaver Is Dead (The Public Theater). Australia: New musical Dr. Zhivago premièred in Sydney (February 2011) and South Korea (January 2012). Opera: Faust (N.Y.’s Metropolitan Opera, 2011, and English National Opera, 2010). Film: Cousin Bette and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (director), Iron Giant (producer) and Quills (executive producer). Stratford’s Caesar and Cleopatra, The Tempest and Twelfth Night were also filmed for theatrical release to sold-out houses across Canada, and most recently The Tempest was released in U.S. theatres. Other Awards: Two-time Tony, Olivier and Dora Award-winning director and 2006 recipient of the Drama League’s prestigious Julia Hansen Award for lifetime achievement in directing. In June 2011 he was honoured with a doctorate from Toronto’s Ryerson University, in May 2012 he received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards’ National Arts Centre Award, and in June 2012 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. Upcoming Projects: A commission for Senna, a new opera with the New York Metropolitan Opera, and this summer he will be at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego to direct the theatrical adaptation of Sideways by Rex Pickett and at New York Theatre Workshop to direct Fetch Clay Make Man by Will Power.