Sam Gold | |
|---|---|
| Born | New York City, U.S. |
| Education | Cornell University (BA) Juilliard School (GrDip) |
| Occupation |
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| Known for | Fun Home |
| Spouse | Amy Herzog |
Sam Gold is an American theater director and actor. Having studied atCornell University andJuilliard School he became known for directing both musicals and plays, onBroadway andOff-Broadway. He has received theTony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, a Tony nomination for Best Director of a Play, and nominations for fourDrama Desk Awards.
He made his Broadway debut directing theTheresa Rebeck playSeminar (2011). He followed up directing the revival of theWilliam Inge playPicnic (2013), theWill Eno playThe Realistic Joneses (2014), and theTom Stoppard playThe Real Thing (2015). For the musicalFun Home (2015) he received theTony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. He has since directed the revival ofTennessee Williams'The Glass Menagerie (2017),Lucas Hnath'sA Doll's House, Part 2 (2017), and revivals ofWilliam Shakespeare'sKing Lear (2019), andMacbeth (2022).
Gold was raised inWestchester and New York City. His father, Jeffrey, is an investment banker, and his mother, Lenore, is a painter. He graduated fromCornell University with a degree in English[1] and had internships atPlaywrights Horizons and the Signature Theater, and attended the directing program at theJuilliard School. He spent three years as an assistant director and dramaturge at theWooster Group.[2] He explained that "my career has been very focused on brand-new plays for a while. But, always, the reason I got into the theatre was because I was inspired by these classics. I was an English major and I loved the plays, so I think my work with new writers has always been based on my information from these old plays..."[3] Gold is the Resident Director at theRoundabout Theatre Company.[4]
His Off-Broadway directing work began withThe Black Eyed at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2007.[5] He directedThe Big Meal by Dan LeFranc in 2012 atPlaywrights Horizons and won the 2012Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Director.[6]Gold has directed five of the plays ofAnnie Baker:Circle Mirror Transformation in 2009,[5]The Aliens in 2010,[7] an adaption ofUncle Vanya in 2012,[8]The Flick in 2013,[9] andJohn in 2015.[10] According to an article inThe New York Times, "Mr. Gold and Ms. Baker are reluctant to disclose much about themselves or their work together."[11] In 2010, he also directed a reading of her playNocturama at theManhattan Theatre Club.[12]
Gold won the 2010Obie Award, Directing, forCircle Mirror Transformation[13] and the 2016 Special Citation Obie Award for Collaboration between Gold, Baker, and the design team.[14] TheNew York Times reviewer wrote that "Sam Gold has directed with an uncommonly observant eye and ear."[15] He was nominated for the 2016Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Director of a Play forJohn.[16] He directedThe Flick in itsWest End (and UK) premiere at theNational Theatre's Dorfman Theatre, which opened in April 2016.[17][18] TheCurtainUp reviewer wrote: "...as moved from page to stage by director Sam Gold and his ensemble, everything becomes remarkably and most effectively — enough so to make this a full-flavored theatrical meal.... LeFranc, like another Playwrights Horizon favorite, Annie Baker, has written exactly the kind of play that's director Sam Gold's forte. Like Baker'sCircle Mirror Transformation,The Big Meal is a play in which nothing much happens, but everything does."[19]
He directed a revival ofLook Back in Anger for theRoundabout Theatre Company in 2012. David Finkle, in his review forTheaterMania ofLook Back in Anger, wrote: "...there's no question the challenge director Sam Gold faced in mounting this possibly-dated work was finding an approach to the fire-brand script that would infuse it with the shock value it had at its debut. Not only has he met the test, Gold deserves a chorus of huzzahs for unmitigated audacity."[20] He directed a staged concert presentation ofThe Cradle Will Rock forEncores! Off-Center in July 2013. David Finkle, reviewing forThe Huffington Post, wrote: "The cast of the Encores! Off-Center concert production of Marc Blitzstein's once highly controversial first musical...are dressed in Clint Ramos's formal attire. The look, apparently chosen by the habitually iconoclastic director Sam Gold, is certainly nothing like what the original cast was intended to wear...is likely that he understands there's no point in expecting contemporary audiences to insert themselves fully into the context of the times.... That may be why Gold's presenting the work of art as simply as he does is so completely effective."[21] In regional theatre, he directedA Doll's House at theWilliamstown Theatre Festival in 2011.[22]
On Broadway, he directedSeminar withAlan Rickman in 2011, a revival ofPicnic withReed Birney andElizabeth Marvel in 2013[23]The Realistic Joneses in 2014 starringToni Collette,Tracy Letts andMarisa Tomei, andThe Real Thing in 2014 starringMaggie Gyllenhaal andEwan McGregor.[24] He gained attention for his direction of the musicalFun Home on Broadway in 2015,[24] in a Public Lab atThe Public Theater in October 2012,[25] and Off-Broadway at The Public Theater in 2013. ForFun Home, he won the 2015Tony Award, Best Direction of a Musical[24] and 2014Obie Award, Musical Theater.[26]
He directedOthello at the Off-Broadway New York Theatre Workshop, opening on November 22, 2016, in previews, officially on December 12, 2016, through January 18, 2017.[27] The play starsDavid Oyelowo,Daniel Craig, andRachel Brosnahan.[28] He directed the latest Broadway revival ofThe Glass Menagerie at theBelasco Theatre, which started previews on February 7, 2017. The play starsSally Field andJoe Mantello.[29][30] He also directed the new play byLucas Hnath,A Doll's House, Part 2, which starredLaurie Metcalf andChris Cooper and premiered on Broadway at theJohn Golden Theatre on April 1, 2017. It takes place 15 years afterHenrik Ibsen'sA Doll’s House concludes."[31]
Gold directed a new production of William Shakespeare’sKing Lear (2019) at theCort Theatre, starringGlenda Jackson. The limited engagement began previews in March 2019 and officially opened on April 4. He also directedMacbeth starringDaniel Craig andRuth Negga at theLongacre Theatre in 2022. Gold was set to direct an adaptation ofAnton Chekov'sThree Sisters starringGreta Gerwig,Oscar Isaac,Chris Messina, andSteve Buscemi at theNew York Theatre Workshop.[32] However due to theCOVID-19 pandemic the production has been suspended indefinitely.[33] In May 2023 it was announced that Gold would return toBroadway with theAmy Herzog adaptation of theHenrik Ibsen playAn Enemy of the People starringJeremy Strong.[34]
He is currently directing and executive producing the half-hour comedyCompliance forFX from writer Sarah Burgess and produced byScott Rudin. It starsMary Louise Parker andCourtney B. Vance.[35]
On April 16, 2024, it was announced that Sam Gold will be directing a new adaptation ofRomeo and Juliet, starringRachel Zegler andKit Connor, coming to Broadway in the fall of 2024.Jack Antonoff is providing the music.[36]
As a director
Patrick Pacheco, in an article inThe Los Angeles Times, observed: "Critical reservations have been rare in Gold's rise as one of New York's hottest and busiest young directors, ever since the media hailed his subtle and effective production of Annie Baker'sCircle Mirror Transformation at Playwrights Horizons in 2009... His restless energy is reflected in the sheer breadth and versatility of his career, from a puppet musical,Jollyship the Whizbang, to classics likeThreepenny Opera andA Doll's House, to any number of new plays by Zoe Kazan (We Live Here), Dan LeFranc (The Big Meal, which he will direct at Playwrights Horizons in March) and Will Eno (The Realistic Joneses at Yale Rep in April)."[2]
Mark Kennedy noted that "Fun Home is Gold's first crack at directing a traditional musical, and it joins a list of credits that seem to have little in common....What connects them is Gold's love of working with a group of actors, whether they're the unknowns in the cast ofThe Flick or A-listers .... 'Always I start with the ensemble and I try to put all of the pressure on them. I try to make these productions where the show succeeds or fails completely on their shoulders,' he says.'No net. No fancy set pieces. No directing flourishes. Nothing that can save the show if the subtlety of the performances isn't riveting.'"[1]
Gold isJewish.[37] Gold has been married to playwrightAmy Herzog[11] since 2011, and the couple have two children; their elder daughter, Frances, died in 2023.[38][39] According to an article inThe Washington Post, Herzog and Gold had previously chosen "not to work together professionally, which is an interesting line to draw, given that Herzog often blurs the boundaries between art and actual family history;"[40] they have since collaborated on an adaptation of theHenrik Ibsen'sAn Enemy of the People.[41]
| Year | Associations | Category | Project | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Tony Award | Best Direction of a Musical | Fun Home | Won | [42] |
| 2017 | Best Direction of a Play | A Doll's House, Part 2 | Nominated | [43] | |
| 2010 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Director of a Play | Circle Mirror Transformation | Nominated | |
| 2013 | Outstanding Director of a Play | Uncle Vanya | Nominated | ||
| 2014 | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Fun Home | Nominated | ||
| 2016 | Outstanding Director of a Play | John | Nominated | ||
| 2012 | Lucille Lortel Award | Outstanding Director | The Big Meal | Won | [44] |
| 2012 | Outstanding Director | Look Back in Anger | Nominated | ||
| 2013 | Outstanding Director | The Flick | Nominated | ||
| 2010 | Obie Award | Direction | Circle Mirror Transformation | Won | |
| 2014 | Musical Theater | Fun Home | Won | ||
| 2024 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | An Enemy of the People | Nominated | [45] |
| International | |
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| National | |
