I am a theatre educator, scholar, director, and dramaturg.
I research theatre and write about theatre; I teach theatre; I also direct theatre. I am scholar and an artist. The hybridity of my theatre work has become essential to the way in which I define myself in the world of academia and theatre production. The cross-disciplinary approach to studying theatre and making theatre has led me to (re)consider how we educate students to value theatre analysis and theatre creation in equal measure. And it has encouraged me to explore how to expand traditional scholarship to create public facing dramaturgy to invite audiences and fans to engage with the nuances of the multi-faceted aspects of theatre.
Educator
I teach musical theatre history, theatre history, script analysis, acting, directing, and communications at many New York City colleges; I currently teach at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, Northeastern University NYC (formerly Marymount Manhattan College), and Baruch College. In all schools, I work diligently to create interventionist, intersectional courses that are accessible for all students.
Some of my recent publications have focused specifically on practice and pedagogy, including “‘State of the Field’ Roundtable: Disability Pedagogy and Practice in Musical Theatre” in Studies in Musical Theatre, December 2025 and “Writing in Many Forms: The UnEssay as Means of Accessibility and Creativity” in A Classroom Guide to Writing in Theatre and Performance Studies (forthcoming).
Scholar
I research and write about the aesthetics of musical theatre, the cultural context of Broadway musicals, popular culture and musicals, pedagogical approaches to theatre courses, and the role of theatre practice in the academy.
My chapter, “'To Being an Us for Once, Instead of Them’: Musical Theatre Aesthetics and Youth-Oriented Musicals,” has been published in the edited collection, Milestones in Musical Theatre. My article, “Glee and the Ghosting of the Musical Theatre Canon,” was published in Popular Entertainment Studies and then expanded into a chapter in the edited collection Queer in the Choir Room. I have written book reviews about formative texts in Theatre Journal, Theatre Topics, and Studies in Musical Theatre. I regularly present my research at theatre conferences, including ATHE and ASTR.
I earned my Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. My dissertation, “Here in America”: Broadway Musicals and the Making of Jewish Americans, analyzes the ways in which Broadway musicals in the second half of the twentieth century reflect the Jewishness of New York City’s Progressive Era. My research emphasizes the study of musical theatre aesthetics as a way to examine how the reoccurring themes and tropes in Broadway musicals recreate, reframe, and reclaim narratives of Jewish American cultural history and collective memory.
Director
I direct new musicals, rarely produced musicals and plays, and re-envisioned revivals of musicals and plays wherein I uncover a new story while remaining loyal to the original text.
I frame my work directing revivals as creating aspirational worlds, revising musicals through directorial intervention. I am committed to an anti-racist, feminist, LGBTQIA+ inclusive, body positive, anti-ableist directing practice that impacts every aspect of the production process, from the casting notice language through to opening night.
In directing revivals, without changing any of the codified text, I create dramaturgically sound changes in the imagined worlds of the musical while creating radical inclusivity in the very real world of the rehearsal/performance space.
Much of my work in recent years has been developmental directing; working with writers to shape a new work as it evolves from the page to the stage for a workshop production. This work requires a specialized form of directing that blends intense collaboration, dramaturgical practice, intense curiosity, and a peculiar combination of patience and efficiency.
I also cultivate opportunities for new musicals through Overtures, a new musical developmental reading series that I created and continue to curate.
Dramaturg
I am a dramaturg and enjoy working on both production oriented research and public facing materials. I have served as the dramaturg for many plays and musicals, with a variety of collaborators, in all stages of development. I have provided research, assistance with structure, and revisions throughout the initial staged reading and workshop performances. In addition, I am excited by public facing dramaturgy that invites audiences to engage with a deeper understanding of the given stories in a production. I have collaborated with a Broadway production, academic departments, and cultural organizations to create dramaturgy that enhances the audience experience through careful research turned into materials that provide connection between the spectator and the theatre.