Director, Writer, Teacher, Administrator, Consultant,
and Dean, College of the Visual and Performing Arts, George Mason University
Welcome. Here you ’ll find information about and examples of my work as a stage director, writer, teacher, administrator, and consultant. As the site grows, I'll add a smattering of photographs, designs, and other snippets of visual work, and links to a variety of other virtual traces of a varied life. This site is a work in progress -- please feel free to be in touch with any questions, comments, corrections, and suggestions.
At the Hylton Performing Arts Center, where I served as Executive Director from August 2011 through June 2026, in addition to my work as Dean, College of Visual and Performing Arts since May, 2015.
SOME RECENT WORK
The Tempest
Directed Shakespeare's play in April, 2025 for George Mason University, with a student cast and guest artist David Gaines as Prospero. The production takes place in a reimagined world where Prospero's island is overrun with data centers, his wizardry is digital, Ariel is an AI manifestation, and Caliban a cyborg -- all without changing Shakespeare's immortal text -- leading to Prospero's beautiful recognition that "the rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance" and his decision to give up his "rough magic" means pulling the plug in addition to drowning his staff.
This production is available for viewing on Mason Arts Amplified here:
https://masonartsamplified.gmu.edu/view/the-tempest
To Swing Through the Sky
UPDATE! To Swing Through the Sky is being revived at the Hylton Performing Arts Center, with the same creative team, on November 14, 2026. Tickets and information here
Directed world premiere (October 3, 2015) of "To Swing Through the Sky," a multimedia performance by the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra at the Hylton Performing Arts Center, celebrating the twinned histories of two great American innovations: jazz and aviation. Conceived by the noted aviation historian -- and jazz aficionado -- Paul Glenshaw, with actors, dancers, stunning visuals including historic stills and videos, and the full-throated roar of Jim Carroll's Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, this is a unique experience for lovers of jazz, flight, surprises, history, "STEM and STEAM," and unexpected insight.
Luther's Trumpet
Directed a hybrid digital workshop production of James Reston Jr.'s Luther's Trumpet (premiered May 2021), exploring the integration of remote and in-person performers in real time. We adapted the innovative "Window Wall" projection approach developed by Mason's Christopher D'Amboise and the LIVE Center, and employed a cast of professional and student actors.
The Magic Flute
Directed a nearly sold-out and critically praised production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute for the IN Series, at the magnificent Scottish Rite Temple in Washington, D.C. (September/October 2017). In addition to a stellar cast and chamber orchestra led by Stanley Thurston, this production featured the world premiere of Nick Olcott’s brilliant new English translation/adaptation, and a unique "WPA-style" framing concept to make maximum use of the inspiring space. See "Links" page for reviews and more photos.
West Side Story+Roméo et Juliette
Young Artists of America
Music Center at Strathmore
Directed a staged concert performance of an opera-musical theater "mash-up," featuring professional singers in "Romeo et Juliette" and the students of Young Artists of America in "West Side Story." We told the whole story!
FATAL SONG, or The Great Opera Murders
by Kathleen Cahill, music by Mozart, Verdi, Donizetti, Massenet, Puccini, Bernstein et al. Directed for The IN Series at Source Theatre, Washington, DC. September, 2014. "Between consumption, poison, madness, exposure, stabbing, and suffocation, the divas of classic opera never really had much of a chance. Carmen, Mimi, Desdemona, and others finally get the chance to vent about their unfortunate ends through The In Series’ gleeful production of Fatal Song ... a winning, accessible production ... Who knew opera could be this much fun? - Ben Demers, dctheatrescene.com.
