During these months when the lights are dark on Broadway, it’s a good idea to remember how good it all once was and will be again someday soon. This month, we focus our spotlight on the incomparable Broadway powerhouse, Susan Stroman.
Considered one of the brightest lights of the new millennium, Stroman is an innovative choreographer, director, and performer. Her accolades include being a 5 time Tony award winner and honored with Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel, and a record five Astaire Awards. She was also the director and choreographer for the Producers which was honored with a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards including Best Director and Best Choreography. There is really not much she doesn’t do, and does exceptionally well at all of it.
Let’s explore her beginnings on the Great White Way and the shows that brought her such fame and awards.
Who is Susan Stroman?
Stroman began her journey to Broadway with her performances in a community theater in her hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. Her career in New York began with the show Contact, considered a “musical dance play” and the revival of the Music Man, a fan favorite about a fast talking salesman and con artist. In the spring of 2000, these two shows received resounding raves and got Stroman four Tony award nods for the two shows.
Stroman’s Broadway Credits
Over the course of her amazing career, Stroman has a long list of shows and musicals to her credit.
- Crazy For You
- Prince of Broadway
- Bullets Over Broadway
- The Producers
- Contact
- Big Fish
- Oklahoma!
- Young Frankenstein
- Thou Shalt Not
- The Music Man
- The Frogs
- Show Boat
- Big, Steel Pier
Her Off-Broadway credits include:
- The Beast in the Jungle
- Dot
- Flora the Red Menace
- And the World Goes ‘Round
- Happiness
- The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville
As if all of this is not enough, Stroman also put her love of choreography to work in creating ballets for New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Martha Graham.
Due to all of these amazing works and her efforts throughout her illustrious career on Broadway, Stroman was the recipient of both the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater and inducted as a member of the Theater Hall of Fame in New York City.
If you would like to read more about Susan Stroman’s awards as well as her long list of credits check out Playbill’s list of Stroman’s accomplishments during her 66 years contributing to Broadway and the arts.