Susan Stroman’s portfolio of theatrical directing credits, choreography for stage and screen, and awards easily helps her stand out as a legend in the performing arts world. A winner of five Tony Awards and six Astaire Awards — so far — and accolades like multiple Emmys, Oliviers, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel honors, Ms. Stroman was also the 2017 recipient of Guild Hall’s Academy of the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award in Performing Arts.
Now, she brings her creative and collaborative talents to East Hampton in a new way: In December, Ms. Stroman was named president of Guild Hall’s Academy of the Arts, an institution charged with advocating for Guild Hall, cultivating new generations of talent, and developing innovative collaborations.
She succeeds Eric Fischl, whose “long and impactful tenure,” according to Guild Hall, included the successful launch of its Artist-in-Residence program in 2016.
The Academy of the Arts taps some 250 highly regarded artists and performers who promote “the region’s legacy as one of the country’s most storied art colonies.” It was established in 1986 by a who’s who of creative personalities — Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Perry, Peter Jennings, Sydney Gruson, Wilfrid Sheed, Elaine Steinbeck, and several others.
In a press release, Mr. Fischl’s exact words were: “Gasp, breathe, applause, standing ovation, buckle your seatbelts, we are in for a fantastic ride!”
“During my tenure, we have tried to tap into this pool of talent to get them more directly involved with mentoring, workshopping, exhibiting, and lecturing, and to that end, the Academicians have been generous, enthusiastic, and responsive,” he said in his statement. “Now, as my tenure comes to an end, I am thrilled to announce and affirm that they have indeed found someone far more qualified than me to take this pantheon of brilliance to the Olympian levels where it so deserves to reside.”
Enter Ms. Stroman from stage right, left, up, down, and everywhere in between.
“A musical theater gal taps into every single art form,” she said in an interview. “There’s no art form quite like it. It’s a collaboration with all variations of art — visual, music, dance, acting, drama — and to be able to bring that to the Guild Hall thrills me. Guild Hall does it all. For me it’s the most wonderful playground to be a part of.”
She grew up in Delaware in the 1950s and ‘60s in a house filled with music, setting the stage for all that was to come. “My father was a wonderful piano player,” she recalled. “He also liked to tell ‘big fish’ stories, some of which, to this day, I can’t tell if they’re true. So I had no choice but to go into musical theater and become a director and choreographer.”
She was soon performing at Longwood Gardens, an outdoor venue in Pennsylvania, and the Candlelight Theater, a dinner-and-a-show venue in Wilmington, Del. She took a bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Delaware, with a minor in theater.
“It was always going to be theater,” Ms. Stroman said. “When I was in my last year of college, I came to New York to see what an audition might be like. I went to an audition with 300 other women and they picked two to go to the Goodspeed Opera House. I went home and told my parents that I got an Equity card and was moving to New York.”
But she knew she couldn’t just “come to New York and take over.”
“I had to come as a song-and-dance gal because I could sing and dance,” she said, “but [the goal] was always to get on the other side of the table in creating shows. So I know how lucky I am, and how grateful I am, to do what I love.”
Right now, Ms. Stroman, who has rented and owned homes in East Hampton in the past, is leading rehearsals for “Smash,” a comedic musical based on the cult-favorite TV show that ran for just two seasons starting in 2012.
“It’s very funny, and very different from the TV show, but certainly with familiar characters,” she said, “and we have the best of Broadway in the cast, so I think it’s going to be marvelous.”
Her screen credits include “Center Stage,” a 2000 coming-of-age story that lit a feverish passion in a generation of dancers, sort of how “Fame” did in 1980. Concurrently, Ms. Stroman was also directing the Broadway show “Contact,” which won the Tony Award for best musical — her third Tony at the time.
“The Producers” opened in 2001 under her direction and with her choreography, going on to win 12 Tony Awards. It was the first time a woman won for both directing and choreographing the same show.
There was choreography for “Oklahoma!” in 2002, an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in 2004, and for the Terrence McNally play “Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams” in 2005, with a full-length New York City Ballet and an appearance in the PBS film “Broadway: The American Musical” sandwiched in between.
These are but a few of the experiences Ms. Stroman brings with her to her new role at Guild Hall. It’s a little too early, she said, for her to share some of the ideas she plans to bring to the Academy of the Arts. But you can bet that they will serve the greater East Hampton community in meaningful ways, especially as local audiences are still just getting to know the newly renovated Guild Hall.
“You can’t have a community without art,” Ms. Stroman said. “The theater really is the heart of a community, and I know when the pandemic happened, a lot of theaters closed down across America. I did a show called ‘Crazy Few’ and it was about the restoration of a theater bringing a town back to life, and that if you have a theater that is thriving, then the town will thrive. It will thrive with its soul. The theater and the arts can brush the dust off your soul.”
“I can say I really believe theater can make a difference,” she continued. “I think doing theater now that is not only entertaining but also has a message is the new way to go. It will always have to be entertaining, and that’s most important for the audience, but something with an important message is what we should be creating now. Theater can bring a lot of healing to people and storytelling can bring healing to people. Live theater can bring people together. That, I think, is necessary right now.”
