Michael Greif is a 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. He was an Artistic Associate at the New York Theatre Workshop where he directed, among others, the original production of Rent, for which he received the Obie Award for direction of a musical 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, Next to Normal, Grey Gardens, Dear Evan Hansen, and War Paint. Other credits include Our Lady of Kibeho, Landscape of the Body, Beauty of the Father, and Mrs. Sharp.
Michael found a way to buck the Broadway trend and deliver smash after smash. Listen to how he does it, as well as . . .
- How he started his career by self-producing his own show.
- What made him decide he wasn’t ready for New York, and why he went to graduate school instead.
- What changed about Dear Evan Hansen since the first reading, and why (spoiler alert: there was an ensemble)
- Why a “small” musical can be more powerful than a “big” one.
- They can’t all be Rent. What he does when a show doesn’t live up to what he initially hoped.
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