Theatre Alumna Diane Paulus Directs Broadway's Celebrated Production of Porgy and Bess
Tony-nominated Alumna Diane Paulus ('97 SOA) directs the Broadway production of Porgy and Bess, bringing George and Ira Gershwin’s original opera to the Broadway stage for the first time in more than 35 years.
The production opened on January 12, 2012 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, and has received critical acclaim. New York Magazine calls the show "a gorgeous transportative theatrical rapture" and Newsday praises it "a luscious piece of musical theatre! A gripping, in-your-face, vibrant revival that bursts with fierce immediacy." The Associated Press heralded Paulus for her directorial talents: "a gorgeous version of the Gershwin masterpiece, Diane Paulus and Suzan-Lori Parks have protected and cared for this theatrical baby."
Diane Paulus is a director of opera and theater, and has received the 2009 Tony Award Nomination for Best Director for The Public Theatre's Hair on Broadway which won for Best Revival of a Musical, as well as winner of a Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama League Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Her directing credits include: Prometheus Bound, Death and the Powers: The Robots' Opera (premiered in Monaco in September 2010), Johnny Baseball, Best of Both Worlds and The Donkey Show, a disco adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which ran for six years Off-Broadway. Her recent theater credits include Kiss Me, Kate (Glimmerglass Opera) and Lost Highway (ENO co-production with the Young Vic). Opera credits include Il Mondo Della Luna (Gotham Chamber Opera at the Hayden Planetarium), Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Turn Of The Screw, Cosi fan tutte and Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, L'incoronazione di Poppea and Orfeo at the Chicago Opera Theater. Paulus is a Professor of the Practice of Theater at Harvard University.
