Producer • Director • Choreographer • Administrator
Work. I currently serve as Clinical Assistant Professor of Music Theatre for the University at Buffalo’s Department of Theatre and Dance. I was previously Producing Artistic Director for the Timber Lake Playhouse for eight seasons, and at Clinton Area Showboat Theatre for two. I served as the lead project manager on the 2021 Broadway Reopening Project with MobileHealth, The Broadway League, The Shubert and Nederlander Organizations, Jujamcyn Theaters, Ambassador Theatre Group and Ciricle In The Square, as well over 35 producers and management companies working in 33 Broadway several Off-Broadway houses. I spent two summers on the senior staff of Vassar & New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Season as Company Manager.
As an educator, I have taught for Tada! Youth Theatre in New York City and had the privilege to spend time in residence as a guest artist or instructor of record with Baldwin Wallace University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, North Central College and The College of Wooster. It has also been my pleasure to serve as a peer reviewer for Oxford University Press.
Vision. Thematically, I love big stories about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of seemingly impossible odds--whether in comedy or tragedy. Or small stories of reconciliation. Or stories about the unexpected parts of characters’ lives—characters with a private life only the audience is allowed into. And we think about the world a little differently because we’ve questioned our expectations. And we feel seen or dignified because the characters have been seen. Hopefully, we’ve helped to put some pieces of the world (and ourselves) back together.
Stylistically—due to my dance background and immersive theatre experience—I tend to eschew walls in favor of sculptural sets that will keep the body the central storytelling element. I want the physical text of the performers to be as essential as the script and designs. Conversely, I love precise details in sets and props because they give audiences behavioral context—empathy comes from behavior. I think of space and light like film editing, because film changed the way we encounter space and time in storytelling.
Credits. Having worked on more than 125 productions over two decades, my directing and choreography credits include the world premieres of Mark Twain’s Blues (Off-Broadway) and Jason & Ben (NYMF). Recently: Choreography for Pride & Prejudice at Long Wharf Theatre. I staged the Chicago premiers of Heathers the Musical (Jeff Award nomination), Murder Ballad (Jeff Award nomination) & Meet John Doe. Additional Chicago credits: Other Desert Cities, To Master The Art (Theatre of Western Springs), Aspects of Love, The Most Happy Fella and Pump Boys & Dinettes (Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre), Lucky Stiff and Triumph of Love (The Music Theatre Company), West Side Story (CUNY 50th Anniversary Production), Into The Woods, Chicago, Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Children of Eden, Big Fish, Titanic, Evita, Carousel, The Wedding Singer, Hair, as well as upcoming productions of Constellations and All Shook Up. I am a proud member of SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers Society).
During my time in Chicago, I had the unique opportunity to serve on the directing team for Leo Burnett’s Leo On Ice, an original Broadway-scale rock opera that premiered at the historic Chicago Theatre and was shortlisted for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the category of Branded Content & Entertainment.
Education. I earned an MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Mills College in Oakland, California. My work focused on the influence of ballet, modern and social dance on the American Musical, as well as the struggle for authenticity in an intercultural theatre. I trained as an actor and director at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute and hold a BA in Theatre from The College of Wooster.
Please feel free to contact me at jamespbeaudry@gmail.com
With thanks …
James (he/him)
