Agnes de Mille paved the way for the idea of a "superdirector," or a choreographer-director (Long, 21). The success of Oklahoma! brought the importance of the choreographer to the forefront of musical theatre. Agnes had not only become a famous choreographer after the musical, but her career progressed into her directing pieces.
One of her first attempts as both choreographer and director was for the musical Allegro. Before the idea of the superdirector dancers and actors rehearsed separately, giving them completely different roles in the theatre. Agnes tried to keep the actors, dancers, and singers in separate rehearsal spaces, but trying to keep all three busy was too much work ("Biography"). The director and choreographer becoming one, made it so that there could not be multiple rehearsals, thus getting rid of the idea of the separate dancing chorus (Symonds, 83). Though Allegro was not the greatest success, this was not completely due to de Mille's inexperience. The musical score was weak and the book the play was being based off of was not completely finished yet, making the second act a disappointment ("Biography").
She continued her work as a stage director, but never became quite as famous for her directing as she was for her choreographer. Some other plays she directed include, The Rape of Lucretia, Out of This World, and Come Summer ("Biography").
I've never heard of the term "superdirector" before, probably because the director/choreographer is such a norm for us today. I think it's crazy that rehearsals for dancers and actors and singers used to be separate- that is such a foreign concept to us today. I had no idea that Agnes de Mille directed plays; I was only familiar with her choreography work. Even though she is known for her choreography, was she positively received for her directing work?
ReplyDeleteI think that Martha Clarke (who my blog is focused on) draws a ton of inspiration from Agnes de Mille, especially with her role as director-choreographer. Martha Clarke's pieces integrate theatre and dance even more intricately than de Mille's did, and I don't think it would have been possible for Clarke to create such seamless pieces of dance theatre without Agnes de Mille having paved the way. For one person to have control over the direction and choreography creates a smoother, more coherent piece of theatre, since all the elements of the production come from one person's mind.
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