Amanda Farnsworth directing Annie the Musical with digital projections

What Inspires You as a Theatre Director? | Behind the Curtain Video

This week on Behind the Curtain, artistic director Amanda Farnsworth talks about what inspires her most when she’s producing a new show or musical.

Video Length: 1:31 (1 minute, 31 seconds)

QUESTION: “What Inspires You as a Theatre Director?”

AMANDA: “I get really inspired when the people who are acting on stage really start to care about the story they’re telling. That inspires me. I always care about the story I’m telling. I love stories. I love the power of stories to affect change, to impact lives, to change someone’s mood. I talk to casts a lot about how the audience might come in with a frown but we always want them to leave with a smile. Or a heart full where they came in with a heart empty, or a hard day at work. But our job on stage, as far as I’m concerned, is to deliver a story in such a way that the person can hear, receive, and understand something about themselves or about their lives that they weren’t thinking about when they came in.

So when my actors start to catch that vision, and play with how to do that with their character on stage, I get beyond inspired. That’s like the vision is spreading for me. That’s amazing to watch.

I also get really inspired by music…a lot. I end up directing musicals a lot, and some of the music in the musicals is very inspiring in and of itself. It’s written about these stories. Written in a way to really impact people, that are singing it and hearing it.”