Masters of the Stage

At the 2003 SDC Directing Symposium, Scott Elliott, Artistic Director of The New Group and Callaway Award winner for Excellence in Directing, spoke to a room full of young directors for 90 minutes about his transition from acting in Broadway musicals to becoming an award winning director and artistic director of a successful Off-Broadway theatre company. He describes paying rent with charge cards in order to be creatively ambitious in his early directing days, and the element of chance that led to the New York Times showing up for one of his first shows and in so doing, changed his career forever. He speaks of his experience directing The Women for Roundabout on Broadway at the time of 9/11 and the decision to continue rehearsing and open the show in October. Other topics include choosing scripts and collaborators, the state of Off-Broadway theater post 9/11, and his collaboration with Arthur Miller on The Ride Down Mt. Morgan. Mr. Elliott's interview provides a sneak peek into the world of a remarkable theatre artist who built his career from scratch, which should be of great interest to any aspiring director or artistic director.