Director of When the Sun Comes Out August 2
Robert McQueen has worked across the United States, Canada and internationally as a director, dramaturge and theatre.
This past season his theatre productions were Adam Guettel’s THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, which was nominated in the Best Production of a Musical category at Toronto’s 2010 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, and Strauss’s final operatic composition CAPRICCIO which he directed for Pacific Opera, Victoria, BC.
Internationally, Robert’s latest work includes direction and dramaturgy of the a new music theatre piece entitled WHERE ELEPHANTS WEEP, which had its world premiere at the Chenla Theatre, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Along with an orchestra comprised of Cambodian traditional and contemporary musicians, this production brought together a company of actors, singers and dancers from Cambodia and North America. The material was developed and rehearsed both in Phnom Penh and New York City. The production was filmed by the Cambodian Television Network and was aired to 2 million viewers nation wide in that country. In 2009 Robert directed a Tokyo-based creative team and acting company in a Japanese language production of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical CAROUSEL at the Galaxy Theatre in Tokyo.
Recent opera productions include Vancouver Opera’s THE MAGIC FLUTE for which Robert served as director and dramaturge as well as creating the libretto adaptation. The project, developed over a three year period, was a collaboration between a 15 member creative team of Canadian Aboriginal and non-Native visual artists and theatre makers. This production will be remounted by Vancouver Opera in their 2013 season, Additional opera production: LA BOHEME for the Canadian Opera Company, TURANDOT and IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA for Arizona Opera as well as Associate Direction on FAUST for Cincinnati Opera.
In the commercial theatre Robert was the Associate Director for the Broadway and national touring productions of MAMMA MIA and recently directed the Mexico City and Sao Paulo productions. Additionally, he was Associate to Harold Prince for the national tour of SHOWBOAT.
Regionally, in North America, Robert’s directing assignments have included productions of: I AM MY OWN WIFE, AS YOU LIKE IT, THE CRADLE WILL ROCK, HAIR and PAL JOEY.
As a dramaturge Robert has worked on the development of new musicals and operas in both Canada and the US for companies including The O’Neill Centre, Vancouver Opera and the Canadian Opera. Robert has been working with the actor Cynthia Sophiea on the development of her solo piece, EVERYONE HAS TEARS, which had it’s first public performance during Hofstra University’s Day of Dialogue and he recently directed the reading of New York based Asian-American actor/writer Christine Toy Johnson’s new play, INTERNAL BLEEDING.
At the invitation of the NGO Cambodian Living Arts Robert will be returning to Phnom Penh this Fall to lead a workshop in the development of a new production of the traditional performance discipline called Lakhon Yike. Also, in January, Robert will direct Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE in Toronto.
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