THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS

Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman
Open: 10.03.2010 - Off-Broadway / 31.10.2013 - Broadway / 18.10.2013 - London
Photos by Carol Rosegg, Richard Termine, Sara Krulwich and Paul Kolnik

To see videos of this production go to “The Moving Picture Show”

           

“The production, guided with elegant simplicity by director-choreographer Susan Stroman, unfolds with rapid fluidity on a stage that scenic designer Beowulf Boritt outfits with a dozen chairs and a few boards, which are inventively rearranged to represent a variety of locations. And, as lit by designer Kevin Adams, the illusion of shifting from boxcar to jail cell to sun-filled courtroom is complete... such as in "Electric Chair," in which the youngest of the accused (a remarkable Cody Ryan Wise) imagines his demise; this sequence is also a highpoint of Stroman's inventive choreographic work.”
in Theatremania.com by Andy Propst

"...“The Scottsboro Boys” is a masterwork, both daring and highly entertaining, and director/choreographer Susan Stroman (“The Producers”) has given it the best production possible at the intimate Vineyard Theatre. The book (by David Thompson), score and staging are so organically linked, you can’t imagine one without the others... Using only some chairs to suggest a train, a jail and a courtroom, Stroman follows minstrel conventions to tell the story. Juxtaposing deep emotions and often exaggerated gestures, she creates a mood that feels straight out of Brecht and Weill...Paradoxically, this makes the piece feel incredibly modern. It’s certainly more provocative than most self-consciously “edgy” rock musicals, as the creative team and its fearless, irreproachable ensemble constantly push the audience to the brink of discomfort -- while dishing out one catchy number after another."

in The New York Post by Elisabeth Vincentelli

"Directed and choreographed with dazzling verve by Susan Stroman, the show uses the minstrel tradition as a destabilising narrative device... Ms. Stroman offers some of her most effortlessly vibrant work since “The Producers,” exploiting a minimal set by Beowulf Boritt — a series of girdered prosceniums and an array of silver-painted chairs — to conjure the airy freedom of train travel, the claustrophobic terrors of prison and the raucous atmosphere of the courtrooms. Although the show’s momentum is hampered by both its essential singularity of tone and the tortuous history of the court cases, the production remains dynamic, thanks in no small part to the dauntless energy of the terrific cast, all fine singers and dancers."
in The New York Times by Charles Isherwood (Broadway production)

"...The minstrel-flavored routines that propel the narrative tend to lack the sharp, savvy ear of Kander and Ebb’s period pastiche numbers in earlier musicals (or the wit of Ms. Stroman’s winking choreography for “The Producers”). And you may find yourself thinking of more trenchant and imaginative use of minstrel-show devices by other artists, including the Wooster Group (with its black-face “Emperor Jones”) and Kara Walker (whose cut-out paper silhouettes are brought to mind by a shadow-play sequence)..."

in The New York Times by Ben Brantley

“Director and choreographer Susan Stroman, who learned about staging a taste-challenged musical with “The Producers,” is in top form here... With little more than ragged costumes, a handful of straight-back chairs and a few planks and curtains (the minimalist costumes and set are by Toni-Leslie James and Beowulf Boritt, respectively), Stroman fills the tiny Vineyard stage with razor-sharp vaudeville dancing and, with musical director David Loud, soaring music, some of Kander and Ebb’s best."

in bloomberg.com by Jeremy Gerard

“... under the inspired direction and choreography of Susan Stroman, such minstrel conventions as the interlocutor (sort of a Dixie-tinged master of ceremonies) and two comic sidekicks called “endmen” are put to good use in conveying the story told by book writer David Thompson... The show is scenically spare, but the lack of clutter gives Stroman more room to maneuver on the small Vineyard stage. A lineup of chairs — plus maybe a few tambourines — are all she needs to get “The Scottsboro Boys” to move.”

in SFGate by Michael Kuchwara

“In addition to riveting material and toe-tapping songs shot through with wry humor, the Vineyard Theater premiere also benefits from a tremendously talented cast of song-and-dance men, from music director David Loud’s luscious vocal arrangements, and from the muscular staging of directorchoreographer Susan Stroman, working at the top of her game... Every song has a purpose, and even in the most buoyant explosions of Stroman’s period-flavored choreography, dance is fully integrated into narrative in a show that packs dazzling physicality onto a small stage..." 
in Variety by David Rooney

“...Stroman’s staging tumbles with a clownish grace that is often mesmerizing. Although a few of the numbers are extraneous to the narrative build of this two-hour, intermission-less show, most have an impressive showbiz-flair. You may hate yourself for enjoying these incongruously up-tempo songs, but they’re not easy to dismiss..." 

in Los Angeles Times by Charles McNutty (Broadway production)

“Rarely have I been so irked by a Broadway show as I was by "The Scottsboro Boys," which has moved uptown after a much-praised Off-Broadway run. This musical, in which the story of a horrific miscarriage of racial justice is retold in the form of a Mr.-Bones-and-Mr.-Jones minstrel show, is one of the best-staged productions ever to come to Broadway. It is impossible not to be thrilled by the electrifying craftsmanship of Susan Stroman, the director and choreographer. The period pastiches of the John Kander-Fred Ebb score are cunningly wrought, and the ensemble cast, led by John Cullum and Joshua Henry, is as good as it could possibly be. (Mr. Henry, in particular, is surely destined for a Tony nomination.) The problem is that all this formidable talent has been enlisted in the service of a musical so smug that I could scarcely bear to sit and watch it...”
in The Wall Street Journal by Terry Teachout (Broadway production)

AWARDS

New York: Won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Choreographer. Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Director of a Musical and Outstanding Choreographer. Tony Award nomination for Best Director and Best Choreographer.

London: Olivier Awards nomination for Best Director and Best Theatre Choreographer.

HAPPINESS

Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman
Open: 27.02.2009 - Lincoln Center
Photos by Paul Kolnik and Sara Krulwich

To see videos of this production go to “The Moving Picture Show”

“For a sweet little fable about the need to seize the day and savor each moment, the new musical HAPPINESS at Lincoln Center's Mitzi Newhouse Theater sure packs a lot of pizzazz. It's the product of a dream team: book by John Weidman, music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie (of Grey Gardens), and direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Susan Stroman. While the foremost pitfall of an exercise of this sort, beyond miniaturizing major themes, is the tendency to sappiness, the creators and their superb cast skirt both dangers with unceasing snap and polish…"

in theatremania by Sandy MacDonald

“You, it seems, have been caught inside an intermission-free, 1 hour 50 minute singing version of one of those whimsical, metaphysical fantasy novels that dominate the best-seller list around Christmastime and tend to have “heaven” in their titles. Well, that or a particularly preachy episode of “The Twilight Zone.”… But despite top-grade production values and a polished cast that loads every song with from-the-heart earnestness, HAPPINESS slumps into a funk soon after it begins… Ms. Stroman is the highly variable director and choreographer whose Broadway credits embrace both the bliss of “The Producers” and the clunkiness of “Young Frankenstein.” The dances in “Happiness” are few and formulaic, and include a boogie-woogie sequence (for the World War II memory) and a sarcastic paean to Wall Street materialism stylishly led by Mr. Foster."
in the New York Times by Ben Brantley

“Strangers in a New York subway car bound for -- who knows where? -- may not seem to be the most surefire bet for a musical… Yet HAPPINESS ,at Lincoln Center Theater’s intimate Mitzi E. Newhouse stage, does more than just offer 110 minutes of flawless, nonstop entertainment... Best of all, the painterly uses to which Stroman puts the stage, and her inventive choreography wherein certain fresh steps and holds eloquently convey happiness. The subway car itself dances.”

in Bloomberg.com by John Simon

“The announcement for the frustrating new show HAPPINESS at Lincoln Center could be trimmed to "Stand clear." This is one musical ride that never leaves the station… Stroman, whose last effort was the short-lived "Young Frankenstein," fares better with setting the scenery in motion than with her cast. The train car twirls and lights up like an amusement-park ride, but her performers come off shrill… It's a given that "Happiness" will make you think about your own life, but more often you'll wonder when the final stop will arrive and the show will be over"
in Daily News by Joe Dziemianowicz

“It's easy to understand Stroman craving the freeing experience of crafting a small-scale, relatively off-the-radar show again after shepherding Mel Brooks' behemoths "The Producers" and "Young Frankenstein." But despite the best intentions of everyone involved, and the resources of Lincoln Center Theater, this underwhelming meditation on mortality doesn't resonate at all … But there's no real life onstage, either in the cardboard characters or the surprisingly tentative dance interludes… And try as Stroman might to get some emotional momentum going, it never really gels… Perhaps the show's fragility wouldn't have been quite so glaring in a more modest, bare-bones production. But nice as it would be to greet a new musical that has charm and originality, this one barely scrapes by on either count.”
in Variety by David Rooney

“But at least Weidman and director/choreographer Susan Stroman -- in their first joint outing since 2000's "Contact" -- strive to engage with our city's very fabric… And the first half-hour largely pays off. Swiftly redeeming herself from "Young Frankenstein," Stroman stages a kinetic number, "Just Not Right Now," in which she simultaneously introduces all the characters and immerses them in the hectic flow of a typical city morning. She nails it again with the swinging 1944 flashback "Flibberty Jibbers and Wobbly Knees."… After that, the dancing inexplicably subsides and the show settles into a predictable rhythm as each character strolls down memory lane. And I mean strolls: HAPPINESS feels too long at an intermissionless 110 minutes.”
in the New York Post by Elisabeth Vincentelli

“Oh, dear. As if the MTA didn't have enough trouble, here comes "Happiness" - Susan Stroman's disappointing new musical about nine New Yorkers stuck in a subway car… Stroman - also known as Mel Brooks' favorite director/choreographer - seems intent on making a show without much dancing this time. The subway car (sets by Thomas Lynch) does move, as do the becoming costumes (by William Ivey Long)… "
in newsday.com by Linda Winer

“… a new American musical not based on a source in another medium. All of which makes it frustrating to report that, unhappily, HAPPINESS falters… Weidman, forced by the conceit into a predictable structure, adeptly disguises it. He's helped by Stroman's virtuoso staging, which turns an inherently static situation into a kaleidoscope of shifting perspectives, with assistance from Thomas Lynch's motorized set, Donald Holder's acute lighting, and Joshua Frankel's projections.”
in backstage.com by Erik Haagensen

AWARDS

Broadway: Outer Critics Circle Awards nomination for Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Director of a Musical.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN

Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman
Open: 08.11.2007 - Broadway
Photos by Paul Kolnik and Sara Krulwich

To see videos of this production go to “The Moving Picture Show”

"…A good deal of the credit also goes to director-choreographer Susan Stroman, who works her magic just as she did with "The Producers". Not the least of her many bright inventions is an 11 o'clock number she joyfully builds around Irving Berlin's interpolated standard, "Putting on the Ritz," where she shows off the tamed monster (a comically braying Shuler Hensley) and an accompanying chorus in top hat, tails, and platform boots. Although that extended turn is the tuner's pinnacle -- and puts the amusing but slighter Brooks score in the shade -- cute-enough numbers are handed around to the troupe of scene-stealers sharing the stage and immensely enjoying themselves.…Brooks loves clowns, so it's no surprise that he and Stroman keep this rowdy collection singing and dancing sufficiently well to get patrons as happy as Transylvanians learning that Victor Frankenstein has gone to his reward.” 
in theatremania.com by David Finkle

"...and the music is carried along by the hilarious lyrics and Stroman's exuberant staging. …The director-choreographer's formidable skills are best illustrated in such numbers as "Roll in the Hay," in which she uses the long limbs of Sutton Foster (as the comely assistant, Inga) to riotously lascivious effect, and the show's centerpiece, Irving Berlin's "Puttin' on the Ritz." The latter number, here the showstopping equivalent to "Springtime for Hitler" from "Producers," has been greatly expanded from the film version, with the elaborately comedic choreography owing debts to such figures as the Marx Brothers and David Parsons.” 

in Hollywood Reporter by REUTERS   

"…Stroman has some inventive moments of choreography: boys and girls dancing -- but not exactly together -- in a number for Mullally with the quirky, anti-romantic title of ''Please Don't Touch Me.'' Or smiling peasants cavorting their way through a folksy routine called ''Transylvania Mania.'' …Still, they are not exactly the requisite delirium the best musical comedy can provide. Joy arrives when that Berlin golden oldie takes center stage midway through Act 2. Suddenly, this ''Frankenstein'' seems as young -- and as promising -- as its title.” 

in newsday.com by Michael Kuchwara

"Director-choreographer Susan Stroman has crafted zesty numbers in the monster mash "Transylvania Mania" and Irving Berlin's "Puttin' on the Ritz," expanded from the film. But nothing here even comes close to the outrageousness of her "Producers" coups of toe-tapping grannies with walkers or showgirls with wiener headdresses in "Springtime for Hitler." 
in Variety by David Rooney

“While staging these matters efficiently, director-choreographer Susan Stroman demonstrates little of her customary flair with the dances. The villagers' romp, the creature stomps and the movement of it all is surprisingly ordinary.” 
in nj.com by Michael Sommers     

“Well, unless you measure your pleasure in decibels. Even by the blaring standards of Broadway, “Young Frankenstein,” directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, stands out for its loudness — in its ear-splitting amplification, eye-splitting visual effects and would-be side-splitting jokes…Ms. Stroman seems to take the show one joke at a time: land this gag, milk it for as long as possible and then mark time with some standard-issue ensemble dancing until you move on to the next." 
in The New York Time by Ben Brantley

“Everything a fan could want is present, and many of the most memorable lines take on new lives of their own, transformed into one song after another… Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” a signature sequence in the movie, is here, but like every aspect of the play has been made larger than life, infused with a kind of magic not present in the original. It is this grandiose style that makes a Brooks/Stroman production well worth seeing, even if the tickets cost as much as half a month’s rent." 
in Fangoria  by Logan DeSisto

AWARDS

Broadway: Drama Desk Awards nomination for Outstanding Choreography; Outer Critics Circle Awards nomination for Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Director of a Musical.

THE FROGS

Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman
Open: 22.07.2014 - Lincoln Center
Photos by Paul Kolnik and Sara Krulwich

"Always ready to put actors and dancers through demanding paces, Susan Stroman hits a peak with a frogs ballet wherein the leap-frogging has the bounce that we know Sondheim favors. She whirls the Three Graces (Meg Gillentine, Jessica Howard, Naomi Kakuk) as if they're a center-ring aerial act. (AntiGravity gets program credit for assistance.) She even sends hellish flames soaring, with special effects help from Gregory Meeh."
in TheatreMania.com by David Finkle

"Ms. Stroman's choregraphy shows little of the wit and individuality she brought to ''The Producers'' and ''Contact.'' There is a lot of posing in the manner of Greek statues (with props like discuses and urns, natch). And for the frogs -- who embody the conformity and complacency that keeps the world from moving forward -- there are high-jumping routines involving bungee cords and stylized games of (I swear) leapfrog."

in The New York Times by Ben Brantley

"It's here and it's croa kin'! But even with the ineffable Nathan Lane as its star, with the tireless Susan Stroman providing athletic backup, "The Frogs" — which opened last night at Lincoln Center — needs all the help it can get… So what didn't go right? It certainly wasn't the performance or Stroman's dance-happy, energized staging. No, the trouble went deeper — probably as deep as Aristophanes… Apart from Sondheim and the endlessly inventive Stroman (here in a Cirque de Soleil mood), the heavy lifting is done by Bart and Lane."
in New York Post Online by Clive Barnes

 

DOUBLE FEATURE

Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman
Open: 32.01.2004 - New York City Ballet
Photos by Paul Kolnik and Paula Lobo
           

“Stroman has created a hugely entertaining, often wildly funny show that lives up to all expectations. What's more, she has crafted a showcase for City Ballet's dancers to act their hearts out like they rarely get to do. It's hard to tell who's having more fun: the audience, or these performers who have such big grins on their faces as they combine classical technique with Broadway showmanship”
in "The Associated Press"

“Playful, entertaining, often hilarious and superb in its theatrical timing and its musical irony in relation to songs by Irving Berlin and Walter Donaldson, DOUBLE FEATURE has been a hot ticket for months before its premiere on Friday night. Anticipation was high at the sold-out New York State Theater and an ovation greeted Ms. Stroman like a conquering heroine... For the most part she did not disappoint. Her use of the ballet vocabulary is conventional but effective as part of an expressive image...There are also two showstoppers. One is a routine by a live Boston terrier... Unlike Balanchine, Ms. Stroman has always seen dance as a narrative medium, not as pure form. Storytelling is her gift in the genre she has chosen, and with Glen Kelly's brilliant arrangement of the Berlin and Donaldson songs, shorn of their lyrics, she displays a musical sensitivity that Balanchine could appreciate."
in "The New York Times" by Anna Kisselgoff“

"The use of super-titles to tell the story in Double Feature - the silent movie device that is Stroman's central structural idea in the ballet (she uses projections showing brief quotations above the action either to set the scene or to provide dialogue) - is actually quite interesting because the use of titles in the silent movies served the same purpose as mime did in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century ballet.  Ballet melodramas and the early silent movies have common historical roots… But it's Makin Whoopee, the second half of Stroman's program, based on the Buster Keaton movie Seven Chances, that's an even greater treat in this production… you can't get the score of Walter Donaldson songs out of your head; the dancing is admirably assimilated in the narrative; and you leave the theater charmed, and with an appreciation for Stroman's mastery of staging, narrative, and dramatic effects.  Her use of the ballet vocabulary is more fluent here than in The Blue Necklace.”
in danceviewstimes.com by Michael Popkin“

"It is, without a doubt, a canny and professional work. Ms. Stroman’s storytelling skills are so sure, and what happens so predictable, that the projected silent-movie titles probably aren’t necessary… Adroitly, she drapes her theatrical conventions in choreographic clichés. Like her storytelling, her choreography flows smoothly, fills its purpose and is easily forgotten. Songs by Irving Berlin (in the first half) and Walter Donaldson (in the second) are cleverly manhandled to serve the plots. Everything is thought out. No surprises here… “Ms. Stroman’s uninspired pastiche is the flip side of pretension. “Double Feature” is a ballet for people who don’t like ballet.”
in The New York Times by Brian Seibert“

"Broadway choreographer and sometime Ballet maker Susan Stroman has created a delightfully fun homage to silent film with her ballet, DOUBLE FEATURE, for New York City Ballet…. Stroman's ballet vocabulary is not as rich as Robbins' and the choreography less varied, but her heightened sense of the theatrical and the comical more than made up for that. "Makin' Whoopee" is a splendid homage to slapstick that had the audience roaring with laughter and applause throughout.”
in exploreDance.com by Tonya Plank

THOU SHALT NOT

Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman
Open: 25.10.2001 - Broadway
Photos by Paul Kolnik and Aubrey Reuben

To see videos of this production go to “The Moving Picture Show”

"Susan Stroman has dreamed up a couple dozen marvelous ideas for THOU SHALT NOT, an adaptation of Emile Zola's THÉRÈSE RAQUIN... In realizing her wish, Stroman has executed some eye-popping, jaw-dropping thou-shalts; the problem is that, when it comes to big musicals (or any kind of musicals), you need a hundred or more thou-shalts, a tally she reached in THE PRODUCERS."
in TheatreMania.com by David Finkle

"Stroman puts to effective use the turntables-within-turntables of Thomas Lynch's darkly-lit, evocative sets, but while she has studiously avoided the props and gimmicks that are her trademark, her work here verges on the arty and pretentious. And her triumph with CONTACT may have led her to believe that her dances would be enough to convey the emotional content of the source material; she hasn't bothered to secure a book and, more crucially, a score to support her".
in Broadway.com by Ken Mandelbaum

"After mouting CONTACT, THE MUSIC MAN and THE PRODUCERS, Susan Stroman's winning streak has finnaly come to an end. Which isn't to say that she hasn't created some interesting work here. Besides a few superb special effects, Stroman's intricately choreographed sequences are the only things worth watching. The clever modern dance invoking Mardi Gras is one of the boldest movement pieces Stroman has ever choreographed on Broadway."
in Time Out - New York by Jason Zinoman

THE PRODUCERS

Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman
Open: 19.04.2001 - Broadway / 09.11.2004 - London
Photos by Paul Kolnik

To see videos of this production go to “The Moving Picture Show”

"The making of this Susan Stroman-guided hit looks transparently complex, an object lesson in the good old Broadway trade of adaptation. [...] but then so is the redoutable Susan Stroman, who, in both staging and choreography, outdoes even herself in ingenuity, imagination and plain, old showbiz pizazz."
in "The New York Post" by Clive Barnes

"Director/choreographer Susan Stroman already proved herself God's gift to contemporary musical theatre with "Contact" and last season's revival of "The Music Man". Here, with the help of a cast led by Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, she demonstrates an equally masterful flair for old-fashioned shtick, aiding and abeeting Mel Brooks' mischief with ivention and grand style."
in "USA Today" by Elysa Gardner

"Mel Brooks major ally is director and choreographer Susan Stroman, who mounted the last major attempt to restore the comedy to musicals, "Crazy for You". [...] Here she raises choreographic dizziness to unparalleled heights - as in a wild ballet for sex-starved old ladies, who do quasi-gymnastic routines on their walkers. She has also built the large, eccentric cast into a powerful ensemble."
in "The New York Daily News" by Howard Kissel

“It is, to put it simply, the real thing: a big Broadway book musical that is so ecstatically drunk on its powers to entertain that it leaves you delirious, too.”
in "The New York Times" by Ben Brantley

"... expert, exuberant staging and choreography by Susan Stroman. [...] These bizarre theatrics are brilliantly executed in Stroman's staging, which doesn't miss a sight gag or a comic inflection. She whirls the show along in such a hurricane of laughter that there's no time to question its absurdity."

in "New Jersey Online" by Michael Sommers

"... Stroman's magnificent direction and choreography... [...] In the play within the play, Stroman turns "Springtime for Hitler", one of the songs Mel Brooks wrote for the movie, into a completely over-the-top production number the likes of which has rarely been seen in a modern musical."
in "The Journal News" by Jacques le Sour

AWARDS

New York: Tony Award for Best Director and Best Choreography; Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical and Outstanding Choreography; Outer Critics' Circle Award for Best Choreography and Best Director; Astaire Award Award for Best Choreographer.

London: Olivier Award Nomination for Best Choreography.