In the theater world, superstar directors are rare fair, but Jack O’Brien is one. A three-time Tony Award winner (for shows as diverse as “Hairspray,” “The Coast of Utopia,” and “Henry IV”), O’Brien has been a prolific theater director for more than 40 years. Now 76, he’s pushing himself harder than ever.
He has two shows opening simultaneously in Dallas this week: The world premiere Jake Heggie-Terrence McNally opera “Great Scott” for the Dallas Opera, and an all-new revival of “The Sound of Music,” presented by Dallas Summer Musicals (Dallas is only the second city to see the production after Los Angeles). O’Brien squeezes in a few minutes to talk to Backstage about these two productions … and the big casting decision that reinvented one of them.
So, two shows opening with five days of each other? I know, it’s unbelievably exhausting. I’m just on the ropes. I had to leave Los Angeles when we had just started to preview [“The Sound of Music”] to come to Dallas, and I was a week into rehearsal with the opera when [“SOM”] opened. These are two massive ideas that couldn’t be more diametrically opposed, but have both come together beautifully. I’m tired, but I’m a grateful guy.
You got your start as a director with the Dallas Opera in 1972. I did! My debut piece [as a director] was “Dido and Aeneas” on a double-bill with “Pagliacci.” Shortly thereafter, I was working at Juilliard when I got [hired by] the Houston Grand Opera to direct a production of “Porgy and Bess,” which launched my career. Out of nowhere, I became a fairly well-known director with a penchant for opera, which I did for 10 years. Then I realized I was taking myself out the theater channel and so I re-focused on theater. [“Great Scott” is only the second opera O’Brien has directed in about 30 years.]
What are the differences between directing operas and musicals? What are we actually doing [when putting on any work]? We are telling a story with people. People are my metier. I don’t use words, or colors, or design—I use people. The older I get, the more I know I am simply looking for the truth in the work itself, carving out every modicum of reality.
In the case of “The Sound of Music,” you have actually reimagined it, especially in the casting. That’s because no one has looked at this piece in 60 years because of the gorgeous score and because of the film, which is notthe stage musical at all. Mary Martin was 46 [when she originated the role of Maria], who is basically the world’s most famous babysitter. I cast a sophomore from college—I lowered everybody’s age by 20 years. What if the Mother Abbess was in her 40s instead of her 60s?
So your Maria, Kerstin Anderson, is an unknown? Maria is not a star-part, it’s a star-making part. I told [the producers] we should discover a star, not bring a star in because you won’t listen to the words unless you are invested at some level in wondering, Who is this person? You have this young girl standing on the stage and basically she sings “To be or not to be.” If it’s Carrie Underwood, you’re judging the girl, not listening to the words. Plus I wanted to get some sex into it. There’s lots of passion here. When [Captain] Von Trapp and Maria kiss, the audience comes apart. That’s because there’s real chemistry.
“Great Scott” plays at the Winspear Opera House, Oct. 30–Nov. 15, and “The Sound of Music” plays at Fair Park Music Hall, Nov. 3–22.
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