Grand Hotel
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Nathan Brewer
October 11, 2012
What is your job on this show?
Director .
When did you know you wanted to work in the theater, and why?
My father is a Lutheran pastor in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, and he wrote biblical musicals for a church camp each summer. I suppose I became passionate about the theatre because of those camps. In the eighth grade, I commandeered the stage in his church hall, and started my own theatre company that still operates today. I have wanted to be nothing other than a director ever since.
What was the last show you saw that really excited you, and why?
I loved The Normal Heart, The Book of Mormon, Warhorse, Next To Normal, Finian’s Rainbow—I can’t choose just one, because they all took over my analytical director’s mind and made me feel like a theatre-loving kid.
Are there any cautions or warnings you’d like to make about the show (e.g., not appropriate for little kids)?
There is a dangerous element to Grand Hotel. The hotel staff welcomes the audience to the world’s most expensive hotel in the opening number, but the welcome comes with a warning: "enter at your own risk".
Which “S” word best describes your show: SMOOTH, SEXY, SMART, SURPRISING?
Grand Hotel is “Surprising”, mostly because it is so many things—it is “sexy”, “smooth”, “smart”, and anyone who knows the piece will tell you that it has it’s own unique “style”. Audiences loved it on Broadway, but few theatres produce it, and it can be difficult musical to find.
If you had ten million dollars that you had to spend on theatrical endeavors, how would you use the money?
I’d bring Grand Hotel to Broadway again!
