Mary Birnbaum, director
Mary Birnbaum is a New York City-based stage director of theater and opera. Most recent credits include a chamber version of Eugene Onegin at Juilliard, Stephen Wadsworth’s Ring Cycle at Seattle Opera (associate director), and a new opera, Biennale, at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. With an interest in dramaturgy, she specializes in new music/plays and has created productions for Juilliard, the Melbourne Opera Studio, American Opera Projects, LA’s Son of Semele Theater, the New Museum, and Bryant Park.
She founded and led Art Party Theater Company, an interactive storytelling performance group that was hailed as “genius” (Encore Magazine), from 2009-2012. She has also collaborated with playwrights to develop new plays for Soho Rep, the Playwright’s Realm, and The Old Vic in London. She has assisted Stephen Wadsworth at Santa Fe Opera (King Roger), the Met (Boris Godunov), Manhattan Theater Club (Master Class) and Seattle Opera (Amelia). As the Associate Director of the Artist Diploma in Opera Studies program at Juilliard, Ms. Birnbaum teaches and coaches acting for singers at the undergraduate, masters, and post-graduate level. Mary has an AB from Harvard College, a graduate certificate in movement and design from Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris and was the first recipient of the James S. Marcus Directing Fellowship at Juilliard. Up next: Abduction from the Seraglio in Tel Aviv.