Robert Wilson  Born in 1941 in Waco, TX  Avant-garde/experimental director, playwright, designer, and artist  Often collaborates with musicians to create pieces  Well-known work called Einstein on the Beach  Loves to use silence, lighting, and movement and speech set to counts  “If you slow things down, you notice things you hadn't seen before.”

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Anne Bogart  Born in 1951  Teaches at Columbia University (runs the Graduate Directing section)  Co-founded SITI Company with Tadashi Suzuki  Co-wrote The Viewpoints Book with Tina Landau (major acting theory)  Has directed over 100 professional productions (several at Actors Theatre Louisville)

Julie Taymor  Born in 1952 in Massachusetts  Director, playwright, puppeteer, designer  Best-known for direction and costume design of The Lion King  Also directed Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark  Directed films Titus, Frida, Across the Universe  “Theater is far superior to film in poetry, in abstract poetry.”

George C. Wolfe  Born in 1954 in Frankfort, KY  Director and playwright  Stage direction: Angels in America; Bring in ‘da Noise/Bring in ‘da Funk, Caroline/ or Change, Topdog/Underdog, Shuffle Along  Playwright: The Colored Museum  For over a decade served as artistic director of New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater  “With music, you can create instant trust with an audience. You can hear three notes, and you surrender to it, whereas it takes you about ten minutes of language before people begin to trust you in a play.”

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Susan Stroman  Born in 1954 in Delaware  Director, choreographer, and performer  Collaborated with her husband Mike Ockrent on several shows (Crazy for You; Big, the Musical); choreographed Trevor Nunn’s Oklahoma!  Directed and choreographed Contact and The Producers (stage and film); The Scottsboro Boys, Young Frankenstein, and Big Fish  First woman to choreograph a full-length ballet for the New York City Ballet  “I think theatres will always remain a sacred place where people go for something live and experience things live, which is very different than the experience of film.”

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Joe Mantello  Born in 1962 in Illinois  Actor on Broadway (won Tony Award for debut in Angels in America)  Directed Wicked, Take Me Out, Assassins, The Humans  “Theater isn't there to provide answers. Only possibilities. I just ask the questions. But I believe hope comes from the fact that there is a potential for redemption. At the core, that's what matters in the theater I'm attracted to. Do we dare to hope? Do we allow ourselves to hope?”

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Sam Mendes, CBE  Born in 1965 in England  British stage and film director  Stage: many famous revivals (Cabaret, Oliver!) and Shakespeare; new production Charlie and the Chocolate Factory  Film: American Beauty, Jarhead, Skyfall, Spectre  Used to be married to Kate Winslet  “The movies that influenced me were movies that told their stories through pictures more than words.”