The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess

(she/her) Diane Paulus is the Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. A.R.T.: 1776, WILD: A Musical Becoming, Gloria: A Life, Jagged Little Pill, ExtraOrdinary, The White Card, In the Body of the World, Waitress (film available online, French-language production in Quebec summer 2024), Crossing, Finding Neverland, Witness Uganda, Pippin (Tony Award, Best Revival and Best Director), The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Tony Award, Best Revival; NAACP Award, Best Direction), Prometheus Bound, Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera, Best of Both Worlds, The Donkey Show. Other work includes Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna, Invisible Thread at Second Stage, and the Public Theater’s Tony Award-winning revival of HAIR on Broadway and London’s West End. As an opera director, her credits include The Magic Flute, the complete Monteverdi cycle, and the trio of Mozart-Da Ponte operas, as well as the upcoming Carmen (2024 Glydenbourne Festival). Paulus is Professor of the Practice of Theater in Harvard University’s English Department and Department of Theater, Dance & Media. She was selected for Boston magazine’s 2023, 2022, 2020, and 2018 lists of Boston’s most influential people, the 2014 Time 100, Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and as one of Variety’s “Trailblazing Women in Entertainment for 2014.”

A.R.T.: Debut. Founder and Artistic Director of Evidence, A Dance Company, a New York-based contemporary dance ensemble since 1985. Has also created work for the African American Dance Ensemble, Philadanco, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Grace in 1999, Serving Nia in 2001, IFE/My Heart 2005 and Dancing Spirit during special tribute season), Ailey II, Cinque Folkloric Dance Theater, JenniferMuller/TheWorks and Jeune Ballet d’Afrique Noire. He has collaborated with composer/ designer OmotayoWunmi Olaiya, the late writer Craig G. Harris, director ErnieMcClintock’s Jazz Actors Theater, choreographers Patricia Hoffbauer and Rokiya Kone, and composers Robert Een, Oliver Lake, Bernadette Speech, David Simons and DonMeissner. He created Dancing Spirit in 2010, as a tribute to Judith Jamison. Awards and fellowships include a John Simon GuggenheimMemorial Foundation Fellowship in Choreography, a National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer’s Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in choreography, New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie), a Black Theater Alliance Award, the American Dance Festival Humphrey/Weidman/Limón Award, and fellowships fromthe Edward and Sally van Lier Fund. In addition, Brown was named Def Dance JamWorkshopMentor of the Year in 2000. In 2003, he received an AUDELCO (Black Theatre Award) for his choreography for Crowns: Portraits of BlackWomen in Church Hats, originally produced by theMcCarter Theater and presented off-Broadway in 2003. In fall 2006, Brown received The United States Artists Rose Fellowship, being one of only four choreographers out of fifty artists to receive the inaugural award. He is amember of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

A.R.T.: 1776, ExtraOrdinary, The White Card, Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), O.P.C., Witness Uganda, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Best of Both Worlds. Chair, American Theatre Wing. Broadway credits include: Purlie Victorious (Tony nomination), Good Night Oscar (Tony nomination), Ain’t No Mo’ (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), Trouble in Mind (Tony nomination), The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Tony nomination), Sweeney Todd, 1776, A Beautiful Noise, Skeleton Crew, On Your Feet, Motown the Musical, Topdog/Underdog. TV/Film: Descendants: The Rise of Red, Disney+; The Great Lillian Hall, HBO; Annie Live!, NBC.

Broadway credits include The Addams Family, Ragtime, Bye Bye Birdie, HAIR (Tony nomination), Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, In The Heights (Tony Nomination), Title of Show, The Country Girl, Legally Blonde, High Fidelity, A Chorus Line (2006), Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Drowsy Chaperone, Hot Feet, The Light in the Piazza, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dracula the Musical, Twentieth Century, Fiddler on the Roof (2004), Never Gonna Dance, The Boy From Oz, Avenue Q, Gypsy (2003), La Bohème (Drama Desk Award), Flower Drum Song, Elaine Stritch At Liberty. Acme is Tom Clark, Mark Menard, Nevin Steinberg and Sten Severson.

Broadway: The Scottsboro Boys, Ragtime, Curtains, Sondheim On Sondheim, Steel Pier, A Class Act, The Look of Love, and revivals of She Loves Me, Sweeney Todd, Company, and The Boys From Syracuse. Off-Broadway: And the World Goes 'Round, for which he wrote the vocal and dance arrangements, and Pacific Overtures. Regional:  The Visit (world premiere), Harold and Maude (world premiere), First You Dream, Billy Bishop Goes to War. He recently created the arrangements for two acclaimed concerts in New York: All the Things You Are (Songs of Jerome Kern) and On a Clear Day: the Musical Vision of Burton Lane. Acting credits: originated three roles on Broadway:  Curtains (Sasha) Terrence McNally's Master Class (Manny), and Harold Prince's original production of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along (Ted). Loud is a graduate of Yale University and has served on the faculty of the Yale School of Drama.

A. R. T. Debut. Winner of the 2005, 2006 Leon Rabin Award for outstanding music direction for Ragtime and Urinetown, Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Music Supervisor for Ragtime in London, starring Maria Friedman. Music Director/ Conductor: National Tour of Ragtime, with David Loud, supervisor; two national tours of Fiddler on the Roof, starring Theodore Bikel; national tour of Funny Girl, starring Deborah Gibson; national tour of Oprah Winfrey's production of The Color Purple, starring Fantasia (NAACP theatre award nomination for best music direction in Los Angeles). Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof (associate conductor) starring Topol, Don't Get God Started, with BeBe Winans. National tours of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Grand Hotel, South Pacific, and Hello, Dolly!, with Jean Stapleton, Joel Grey, Liliane Montevecchi and Carol Channing. Tours in Europe, Japan, Canada and Puerto Rico as pianist/accompanist for several theater productions. Acting credits: Ain't Misbehavin' and Tintypes, Dallas-Ft. Worth; Barnum (Joyce Heth), New Mexico. Vocal coach/accompanist in New York; Former Head of the Vocal Department at Dallas Arts Magnet High School, receiving a teacher of the year award for outstanding work.

(Piano/Associate Conductor): Pianist for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular; played in the Broadway orchestras of Shrek, 9 to 5, The Little Mermaid, Avenue Q, Legally Blonde, Xanadu, Les Miserables, Sister Act. Assistant conductor at Avenue Q and Altar Boyz. National tours: Legally Blonde (Associate Music Director), Wonderful Town (Associate Conductor); Paper Mill Playhouse: Peter Pan (conductor), Forum (keyboards), Full Monty (keyboards). Ithaca College grad.

A.R.T.: ExtraOrdinary, Waitress, Finding Neverland, Pippin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Prometheus Bound, Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera, Children of Herakles. Broadway/National Tour: Finding Neverland, Pippin, The Gershwins��� Porgy and Bess, HAIR, The Full Monty, I Am My Own Wife. Other projects with Diane Paulus include: Capeman; Turnadot: The Rumble For The Ring; Collaborator of Bill Irwin for 28 years, one of the creators of the Tony Award-winning Fool Moon, Largely New York, The Regard of Flight.

Assistant principal 2nd violin, Portland Symphony; member of Rhode Island Philharmonic and New Hampshire Music Festival. Frequent performances with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Boston, the Boston Pops and Boston Pops Esplanade. BM in Violin Performance, Rice University; MM in Violin Performance, Boston University. Further studies: Meadowmount School of Music, Mozarteum Academy, Leopold Auer Academy, Tanglewood Music Center.

Member of Neponset Valley Philharmonic Orchestra and Juventas New Music Ensemble. Performances with Callithumpium Consort; Atlantic Symphony, and Glens Falls Orchestra. Anticipated Master of Contemporary Music from International Ensemble Modern Academy (Germany); Master of Music in Viola Performance from New England Conservatory; Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance from Baldwin-Wallace College.  Summer Festivals: International Ensemble Modern Academy (Austria, 2010); Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestral Musicians (ME, 2003/2007); Aspen Music Festival (CO, 2005).

Xanthos (a new music ensemble in residence at Boston University); Assistant Principal of Camerata New England; principal of New Bedford Symphony; member of New Hampshire Music Festival and Portland Symphony. Frequent performer with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Pops Esplanade. BS in Physics, University of Michigan; BM in Cello Performance, University of Michigan; MM in Cello Performance, Boston University; Meadowmount School of Music (1998-2001).

Principal Bass, New Hampshire Music Festival; member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. Regular performer with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, Providence Performing Arts Center, North Shore Music Theater. Performances with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Spoleto Festival, Emmanuel Music, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, Jaki Byard, George Garzone, and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra. BM from the New England Conservatory. Studies in Double Bass Performance at Oberlin Conservatory.

(Piano/Associate Conductor): Pianist for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular; played in the Broadway orchestras of Shrek, 9 to 5, The Little Mermaid, Avenue Q, Legally Blonde, Xanadu, Les Miserables, Sister Act. Assistant conductor at Avenue Q and Altar Boyz. National tours: Legally Blonde (Associate Music Director), Wonderful Town (Associate Conductor); Paper Mill Playhouse: Peter Pan (conductor), Forum (keyboards), Full Monty (keyboards). Ithaca College grad.

Principal Flute of the Florida Grand Opera in Miami, Florida. One-year position as Second Flute with the Houston Symphony. Recently completed a four-year fellowship with New World Symphony. Degrees from Southern Methodist University and the New England Conservatory. Performances with: Star Wars in Concert Orchestra, The Los Angeles Philharmonic. Sarasota Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, Oregon, Omaha, Kansas City, and San Antonio Symphony. Studies with Claire Johnson, Patty Mecklin, Helen Blackburn, Jean Larson, and Fenwick Smith. 

Member of Atlantic Symphony Orchestra; performances with Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra, Gardner Chamber Orchestra, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra; International Musical Arts Institute, Chamber Music Concert Series, Fryeburg, ME 2005-2011. Graduate Performance Degree from Longy School of Music; MM New England Conservatory; BM from Musashino Academia Musicae, Tokyo, Japan.

A.R.T.: The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. Member of Boston Pops since 1981. Toured with: Tommy Dorsey Orch, Artie Shaw Orch, Buddy Rich Band, Frank Sinatra, Natalie Cole, Barry Manilow, Ben Vereen, Rita Moreno, Carol Channing, Avenue Q, Fosse, Star Wars In Concert. Former faculty at Berklee College Of Music. Pit musician in Boston at Citi Wang Theater, Shubert Theater, Boston Opera House, Colonial Theater, North Shore Music Theater. Founding member of John Allmark Jazz Orch. Former member of: Dick Johnson Swing Shift, Herb Pomeroy Jazz Orchestra.

Professor at Berklee College of Music, Boston, Rhode Island & North Shore Musician's Union, Performances with Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Music
Director/ Conductor Metrowest Symphony Orchestra. Theater Musician: Boston Opera House, Colonial, Huntington Theater. Doctor of Music. College: Conservatory University of Cincinnati, Ohio. Master: Manhattan School of Music; Hartt School of Music, Tanglewood Music Center: 1980.

Member of the New World Symphony, Miami for four years; in 2008 Acting Sub-Principal Horn of the BBC Symphony, London. Other: Porgy and Bess, Opéra Comique, Paris. Performs regularly with the Toronto Symphony, and the Canadian Opera Company. BM from the University of Victoria, MM, New England Conservatory.

Performances with Chico O'Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, George Russell The Living Time Orchestra, Terri Lyne Carrington, Danilo Perez, Warren Wolf, Eric Reed, Idan Santhus Jazz Orchestra, Kendrick Oliver and the New Life Jazz Orchestra, NPR/WGBH: "Toast of the Nation" program, Boston Pops 8 piece group, and others. Bachelor of Arts Berklee College of Music in Jazz Performance. Master of Music New England Conservatory in Jazz Studies.

Member: Atlantic, Cape Cod, and Glens Falls Symphonies. Performances with Emmanuel Music, and the Berkshire, Indian Hill, Granite State, Lexington, Nashua, New Bedford, and New World Symphonies. Graduate Diploma from New England Conservatory; BA from Bard College; fellowships for the Tanglewood Music Center, Pacific Music Festival, and the Spoleto Festival USA.

Bala Brass. Principal Trombone, Philharmonia of the Nations, 2006-09.
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Opera Boston, Colorado Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Munich Brass, Munich Bach Soloists, Ensemble Classique, Cape Cod Symphony. Recordings: Decca Concerts, EuroArts, BMOPSound, MMO, Profil, Haenssler Classics, NCA. Trombone Faculty: Longy School of Music, Gordon College. Doctoral Candidate, Boston University; MM Yale University; Music Performance and Music Education Diplomas, Trossingen Hochschule für Musik, Germany.

Member of Indian Hill and New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestras.
Performances with Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Esplanade, Boston Ballet, and Boston Lyric Opera. Performed in musicals at the Colonial, Schubert, Wang Center and Boston Opera House. BM Eastman School of Music, MM New England Conservatory.

Member of Boston Philharmonic, Boston Classical Orchestra, Radius Ensemble, Landmarks Orchestra. Performances with Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Boston Ballet, Bolshoi, Prague Radio Orchestra, BMOP, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Boston.  Pre-Broadway/National Tours (New England segments): A Chorus Line, Carousel, Marty, Titanic, Miss Saigon, Producers, Sound of Music, Sweet Charity, Camelot, Fiddler on the Roof, Light in the Piazza, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Young Frankenstein. MM New England Conservatory; BFA SUNY Buffalo.

Performed and recorded with many artists, including Mexican folk singer Lila Downs, singer songwriter Martin Sexton. The Duo Roberto Cassan and John Muratore (guitar), performs music of Piazzolla, Galliano, Brouwer, Debussy, Cassan. Member of Grand Fatilla, a superb world music quartet, Newpoli, a 9-piece ensemble exploring the ancient Southern Italian Tarantella, and Musaner. Degree in Musicology from University of Cremona and studies at Berklee College of Music.

A.R.T.: Moby-Dick, Crossing, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, The Sound of a Voice. Percussionist, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Musica Viva, IRIS Chamber Orchestra (Memphis, TN). Timpanist, Back Bay Chorale, Boston Baroque, Cantata Singers, Emmanuel Music, Odyssey Opera, Opera Lafayette (Washington, DC). Education: BM, Percussion Performance, SUNY Buffalo; MM, Jazz Studies, New England Conservatory. 1992 Music Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, 2004 Grammy Nominee for Best Small Ensemble Performance (The Mirror, Yehudi Wyner), 2016 Guest Artist at the Beijing Music Festival (Ancient Dances, Wu Man).

A.R.T.: ExtraOrdinary, Pippin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera, Children of Herakles. Broadway: The Play That Goes Wrong, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Color Purple, Wolf Hall Parts 1 & 2, Pippin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, HAIR, The Wedding Singer, I Am My Own Wife, The Little Foxes, The Rehearsal, Summer and Smoke, Getting Away with Murder. Regional: Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera, Monaco and Chicago.

A.R.T.: The White Card, Finding Neverland, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. Broadway: Tina – The Turner Musical, The Play That Goes Wrong, The Color Purple (Revival), Finding Neverland, Motown, Pippin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. Off-Broadway: The Tempest, Richard III, Well, Take Me Out, A Winter’s Tale, Suburbia.

Ryan McKittrick is the Director of Artistic Programs & Dramaturg at the American Repertory Theater. He received a Master of Theater Arts in Dramaturgy from the A.R.T./Moscow Art Theatre School Institute for Advanced Theater Training and a B.A. in History and Literature from Harvard College. He is Lecturer and Head of Dramaturgy in the Theater, Dance & Media concentration at Harvard and Assistant Professor of Theater Arts at Brandeis University. At the A.R.T., he has served as dramaturg on numerous plays, operas, and musicals, over half of which were world premieres.

A.R.T.: Finding Neverland, Witness Uganda, Pippin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Prometheus Bound, Johnny Baseball. Broadway: Finding Neverland, Pippin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. National Tour: Pippin, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. Graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, B.A. in Visual and Environmental Studies (Film Production). Mia has been assisting for Diane Paulus since graduating in 2010. Mia was also a Resident Director at The Flea Theater in NYC, where she directed new works by Trista Baldwin and Israel Horovitz. Other credits include: Ensemble Studio Theater, The Berkshire Theatre Festival, American Conservatory Theater, NYU Tisch, and Vassar Powerhouse.

A.R.T. Debut. Associate Artistic Director and senior dancer of the Ronald K. Brown EVIDENCE Dance Company. He has assisted Brown in creating work on Ballet Hispanico, MUNTU, Philadanco, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. 2004 recipient of the New York Dance “BESSIE AWARD” Dance credits include: Paramount Picture’s Rock the House, California; The Shoji Tabuchi Show, Branson, Missouri; the Richard Rodgers Centennial Production of The King and I, Papermill Playhouse. ) Television: Episode “Choreographed” on Law and Order SVU. Commercial: "Codorinu" with PILOBOLUS.

A.R.T.: Alice vs. Wonderland, Mouth Wide Open. A.R.T. Institute: Hansel and Gretel. Work includes: Else Where, Leiderabend, BAM; Master and Margarita, Bard Summer Scape; An Oresteia, Classic Stage; Crowns, Goodman Theatre; Sweeney Todd, Virginia Opera. Maruti has received the Drama Desk Sam Norkin Award 2013 for Tiny Dynamite and Pilo Family Circus and Drama Desk nominations for: In the Heat of the Night, Slaughterhouse 5, and Blindness.

A.R.T. Debut. Principal: Boston Musical Services. Founder: Grover Pro Percussion, Inc. On the Board of Directors of Percussive Arts Society (Indianapolis, IN), Margaret & H.A. Rey Center (Waterville Valley, NH), and Winchester Community Music School (Winchester, MA). He has lectured in music at over 100 universities throughout the US, Canada, Europe & Australasia, a published author (Alfred Music), and a former faculty member of Boston Conservatory, University of Massachusetts.  Grover attended Florida State University, New England Conservatory.

(he/him) A.R.T.: WILD: A Musical Becoming, We Live in Cairo, Miss You Like Hell, Wig Out!, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Best of Both Worlds. Music direction for SpeakEasy, Wheelock Family Theatre, Lyric Stage, Reagle, and The Huntington Theatre. Four Elliot Norton Award nominations and one win for Outstanding Music Direction. Performances with the Boston Pops, BSO, Mariah Carey, Ryan Gosling, Patti Labelle, Bobby McFerrin, Phish. Performances at The White House, Carnegie Hall, Vatican.

A.R.T. Debut. Denise Woods' work as a dialect coach includes Academy-Award nominated actors Will Smith (Ali) and Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai). Woods has worked as a vocal coach with NBC Nightly News, CNBC, the Today Show, CNN, Inside Edition and KTLA News. Some of her clients include Phylicia Rashad, Ellen Burstyn, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Morris Chestnut, Taye Diggs, Paul Rodriguez, Ray Liotta, Porscia Derossi, Rachel Weisz, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Mike Myers. She is a graduate and former faculty member of The Juilliard School and is currently on faculty at California Institute of the Arts.