Creating the World of Guys & Dolls
Make it Sparkle Video with Gordon Greenberg
Broadway Director
4:59 (runtime)
Director’s Notes
In "Creating the World of Guys and Dolls," Broadway writer and director Gordon Greenberg shares his fun approach to bringing this classic musical to life. Greenberg emphasizes the importance of infusing joy and a sense of party into the production, reflecting on how different plays require different atmospheres and methods.
Infusing Joy and Party Atmosphere: Gordon strives to create a festive and engaging environment during rehearsals, believing that this energy translates to the stage.
Adapting Approach for Different Plays: While plays like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" demand a different style, Gordon maintains that a sense of play is essential, regardless of the genre.
Considering Historical Context: For "Guys and Dolls," Gordon delved into the post-WWII era's mood and optimism in New York, shaping the show's tone and character dynamics.
Musical Direction and Arrangement: The focus was on creating a distinctive, brassy sound typical of Broadway's golden age, opting for a strong presence of horns and woodwinds while cutting out strings.
Impact of Staging Choices: Gordon’s choices aimed at maximizing audience pleasure and engagement, evident in the show's lively and resonant musical performances.
About Gordon Greenberg
Gordon Greenberg has directed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in London’s West End, written for television and stage, and developed, directed and produced new works for arts institutions across America.
His acclaimed West End revival of Guys and Dolls was nominated for six Olivier Awards and played an extended run at the Savoy Theatre and then the Phoenix Theatre (starring Rebel Wilson.) In his review for the New York Times, Ben Brantley called it "Pure, unforced pleasure...a boozy, bawdy party." The Guardian's Michael Billington called it 'An expert revival...delivered with grace and elan,' and the Evening Standard said 'This unstoppable hit keeps getting better and better...Gordon Greenberg's delicious production of Frank Loesser's classy classic once again boasts chemistry in all the right places.' In its premiere for Chichester Festival Theatre, The Week called it "A triumphant…exhilarating staging of a golden age musical," Charles Spencer of The Telegraph wrote, "I left the theater walking on air and with a grin of pure happiness on my face…One hell of an evening," and Dominic Maxwell of The London Times wrote, "Gordon Greenberg's production leaves the whole audience purring with pleasure."
Greenberg co-wrote and directed the Broadway stage adaptation of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn at Studio 54 for Roundabout Theatre Company, Universal Pictures Stage Productions, and PBS Television's Great Performances. In its review, Variety said “Holiday inn, the 1942 film, has gotten a complete and first-class stage redo...Director Gordon Greenberg and co-writer Chad Hodge have significantly rethought, reshaped and revitalized the script, giving the show more heart, a modern sensibility and a joyful spirit." Deadline called it "An endorphin assault, inducing warm bath pleasure like no other show since 42nd Street," The Hollywood Reporter called it "Pure joy," and the Star Ledger said "Directed with generosity and warmth, it wears down all defenses." It premiered at Goodspeed Musicals, where it had the longest run of any show in that theatre's history.
Current Directing/Writing projects include Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf starring Calista Flockhart and Zachary Quinto at the Geffen Theatre, the television series Most Talkative (Creator/Co-EP, NBC, Blumhouse Television, Andy Cohen), Crime and Punishment, A Comedy for the Old Globe (co-writer Steve Rosen), The Secret of My Success for Universal Pictures Stage Productions (co-writers, Steve Rosen, Michael Mahler & Alan Schmuckler), Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors! (Off-Broadway, 2022 for Dori Berinstein, co-writer Steve Rosen) and the radio play podcast, starring John Stamos, Laura Benanti, Annaleigh Ashford, Alex Brightman, James Monroe Iglehart, Ashley Park, & Richard Kind, The Secret Party: Jacques Brel 1968 (Das Vindobona, Vienna, Austria), Rolling Calls for Dori Berinstein/Broadway Podcast Network (co-writer, Steve Rosen) and Port-Au-Prince, a NYSCA commission for The New Group (co-writer Kirsten Childs).
He recently directed the North American premiere of Piaf/Dietrich for Mirvish in Toronto (Dora Award, Best Production), which was extended three times and is scheduled to play London’s West End in 2022 and the world premiere of The Heart of Rock and Roll, the new Huey Lewis musical, which had a record breaking run at The Old Globe and is scheduled to premiere on Broadway next season, and Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big [Your Town Here] Christmas Show! now in it’s second season at the Old Globe and fourth season at Bucks County Playhouse (co-writer Steve Rosen.)
Other directing work includes the stage adapation of Tangled (Disney), Barnum (Menier Chocolate Factory, London), Working (Drama Desk Award, adapted with Stephen Schwartz and Lin-Manuel Miranda), Jacques Brel…(Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Award noms), Terms of Endearment with Alfred Molina & Calista Flockhart (Geffen Playhouse for Greg Berlanti), Stars of David by Jeanine Tesori, Tom Kitt, Tony Kushner (Daryl Roth), Johnny Baseball (Williamstown), Pirates! (created with Nell Benjamin, Huntington, Paper Mill, Goodspeed, MUNY), Band Geeks! (also co-writer, Goodspeed, NEA grant), The Baker’s Wife (Paper Mill, Goodspeed), 1776 (Paper Mill), Floyd Collins (Signature), the Klezmer-Rock reimagining of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Yentl (Asolo Rep), Blue Sky Boys by Deborah Breevort (Capital Rep.), the professional premiere of Edges The Musical (Capital Rep.), the acclaimed reimagining of Jesus Christ, Superstar starring Billy Porter (Helen Hayes, St. Louis MUNY), the U.S. national tour of Guys & Dolls, Disney’s Believe, the Disney Fantasy Christening (with Neil Patrick Harris & Jerry Seinfeld), West Side Story (MUNY, Circle Award nom), Happy Days, A New Musical (Paper Mill, Goodspeed, U.S. National Tour), Vanities, A New Musical (Theatreworks Palo Alto - San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Award), We The People (Lucille Lortel Theatre & Paper Mill Playhouse), Rags (Roundabout, workshop), and the all-female workshop of Man of La Mancha (Mirvish, Toronto),
Other writing work includes, for television, Emerald City Music Hall, an original movie musical for Nickelodeon Television and Scramble Band, an original movie musical for the Disney Channel, The Single Girls Guide (co-writer Tommy Newman) for Dallas Theatre Center, Ars Nova, Capital Rep, the podcast Theatre Camp (with Jonathan Marc Sherman) for Sirius XM, Killing Time (with Steve Rosen), an At Home Play Commission from The Old Globe, and the new book of Meet Me In St. Louis for the St. Louis MUNY's 100th Anniversary.
Born in Texas and raised in New York, Greenberg performed in his first Broadway show at age 12. He attended Stanford University and NYU Film School before joining J. Walter Thompson Worldwide for a stint as a producer/director of commercials. He then moved back into theatre -- first performing on Broadway and on television and soon directing and writing. He was a Curator for Ars Nova, director of musical theatre development at The New Group, and Artistic Producer at Musical Theatre Works, where he created the writers development program and the new voices workshop series. He is also deeply involved in arts education and is Co-Director of The BROADWAY TEACHING GROUP, Broadway’s largest education program, in conjunction with Music Theatre International and Playbill.
He is a member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, The Writers Guild of America, The Dramatists Guild, and the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab.