Bartlett Sher (born March 27, 1959) is an American theatre director. He was described by The New York Times as "one of the most original and exciting directors, not only in the American theater but also in the international world of opera".Alex Witchel, The Stages of Bart Sher, The New York Times, February 24, 2008. Sher has been nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for the 2008 Broadway revival of South Pacific.
Sher has directed revivals of classic mid-century musicals on Broadway at Lincoln Center, which include South Pacific (2008), The King and I (2015), My Fair Lady (2018), and Camelot (2023). He also directed the plays Oslo (2017), To Kill a Mockingbird (2018), and Pictures from Home (2023).
Early life and education Sher was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Aird Stewart and Joseph Sher.Korbelik, Jeff."The Bond of Brothers:As Close as You Would Expect Twins to Be" JournalStar.com (Lincoln), February 20, 2010 He had six siblings, including a twin brother, Bradley. He was raised Catholic. As a teenager, he discovered that his father, who was born in Lithuania, was Jewish.Drukman, Steven."The Essential Bartlett Sher" TheatreCommunicationsGroup.com, September 2005, accessed August 23, 2011
After attending St. Ignatius College Preparatory, Sher graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature in 1981. As an undergraduate at Holy Cross, he produced and wrote his first full-length play. After college, he returned to St. Ignatius to teach English and run the theatre program. During the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games he was influenced by the arts programs associated with the Games, particularly by the work of Polish director Tadeusz Kantor.
Career Sher served as associate artistic director at Hartford Stage (Hartford, Connecticut) and company director at the Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, Minnesota) where he worked with Garland Wright,Gussow, Mel."Garland Wright obituary" The New York Times (requires registration), July 26, 1998. who was a mentor as was Robert Woodruff. Sher has directed, taught and led workshops across the country and internationally. He was artistic director at Intiman Theatre in Seattle and in 2008 was named resident director at Lincoln Center Theater in New York City.Berson, Misha.Bartlett Sher, Tony Award-winning director, to leave Intiman" SeattleTimes.com, May 19, 2009
Intiman Playhouse, Seattle Sher served as artistic director at Intiman Playhouse in Seattle from 2000 to 2010. During 2010 Sher handed over this job to his successor, Kate Whoriskey. (The Intiman cancelled its 2011 season due to financial problems.)"Intiman release" IntimanTheatre.org, accessed August 23, 2011Healy, Patrick."Seattle Theater Takes No-Frills Approach to Filling a Top Job"The New York Times, August 16, 2009. His productions at Intiman have included:
Nickel and Dimed, a world premiere by Joan Holden based on the book by Barbara Ehrenreich; Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul (British housewife becomes fascinated with Afghanistan);"Radio interview" NPR.org, December 3, 2001 Ingmar Bergman's Nora (adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House ); G. B. Shaw's Arms and the Man; Shakespeare's Cymbeline and Titus Andronicus; Carlo Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters; Works by Craig Lucas: The Dying Gaul (a funny and tragic story of a grieving Hollywood scriptwriter)"Script summary" StagePlays.com, accessed August 23, 2011 The Singing Forest (neurotics and therapists sparring) — world premiereIsherwood, Charles."Modern Neurotics Mingling With the Ghosts of Vienna"The New York Times, January 29, 2005 Prayer for My Enemy (dysfunctional family, friendship, war in Iraq)Huffman, Kelly."Review:'Prayer for My Enemy'" TheaterMania.com, August 10, 2007 The Light in the Piazza, book by Lucas (a chance meeting in Florence leads to romance)Simonson, Robert. "Tony-Winning Light in the Piazza Extends at Lincoln Center Until Jan. 1" Playbill.com, June 9, 2005
Other theatre and opera At the Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) in New York, Sher directed productions of"Production history" TFANA.org, accessed August 23, 2011 Waste by Harley Granville Barker in 2000 (its American premiere, winning the 2000 Obie Award for Best Play), Cymbeline by Shakespeare in 2002, Dom Juan by Molière in 2003, and Pericles, Prince of Tyre by Shakespeare in 2004. He directed Cymbeline, Dom Juan, and Pericles at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. In 2006 Sher directed Gioachino Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) at the Metropolitan Opera in Lincoln Center. In 2009 Sher directed the opera Tales of Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (opening December 3, 2009).Schweitzer, Vivien. "Swan Song of Offenbach, the Outsider"The New York Times, November 25, 2009 In 2011, Sher directed Mourning Becomes Electra for Seattle Opera."Electra production" SeattleOpera.org, accessed August 23, 2011Bartlett Sher interview about Electra and New York City Opera SeattleOpera.org, accessed August 23, 2011 In March 2011, Le Comte Ory by Rossini opened at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, in a production directed by Sher. The reviewer for The New York Times called the production "lively, colorful and inventive."Tommasini, Anthony. "With Rossini's Mix of This and That, the Met Finds an Excuse for a Romp"The New York Times, March 25, 2011 In June 2011, Sher's production of the world premiere of Nico Muhly's Two Boys was presented at the English National Opera. The American debut took place in October 2013, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The Met commissioned the production. Sher directed a London revival of Kiss Me Kate at the Barbican Theatre for a run lasting from June through September 2024.Dillon, Luke. "Kiss Me, Kate to open at the Barbican Theatre starring Adrian Dunbar & Stephanie J Block" West End Theatre.com, January 17, 2024Culwell-Block, Logan. "Stephanie J. Block Stars in London Kiss Me, Kate Revival, Opening June 18", Playbill, June 18, 2024
Broadway and Lincoln Center Sher made his Broadway debut in 2005 when his production of The Light in the Piazza which had originated at the Intiman Playhouse premiered at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. Sher received Tony Award nominations for The Light in the Piazza and a 2006 revival of Awake and Sing!, winning the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for the 2008 Broadway revival of South Pacific. He received another Tony nomination for the 2009 revival of Joe Turner's Come and Gone. In 2010 Sher directed a musical production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown based on the 1988 film by Pedro Almodóvar. The show opened November 4, 2010 on Broadway in a Lincoln Center Theater production. The musical was criticized by Ben Brantley of The New York Times as being distracted, gimmicky and overdesigned.Brantley, Ben."Here's Your Valium, What's Your Hurry?"The New York Times, November 5, 2010, pg C1 A previously announced revival of Funny Girl that Sher was expected to direct with a Broadway opening in February 2012 was ultimately postponed.Gans, Andrew. "Los Angeles and Broadway Engagements of 'Funny Girl' Postponed" playbill.com, November 3, 2011
In December 2012, Golden Boy by Clifford Odets as directed by Sher opened in New York to a positive review in The New York Times.Isherwood, Charles "The Sweet Science vs. the Stradivarius", The New York Times, December 6, 2012 This production was staged at the Belasco Theatre, the same spot where Golden Boy was first presented on Broadway, 75 years earlier.New York Theatre "Golden Boy Reviews are Mostly Raves..." The production received eight Tony Award nominations, including Sher's fifth for directing. Sher had directed Odets' Awake and Sing! in 2006. The production ran from December 2012 into January 2013 for 53 performances. In 2014 Sher directed a musical production of the novel The Bridges of Madison County. The production ran for 100 performances from February to May 2014.
Sher directed a Broadway revival of The King and I, which opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center on April 16, 2015, with Kelli O'Hara as Anna Leonowens, Ken Watanabe as The King of Siam, and Ruthie Anne Miles as Lady Tiang. He received a 2015 Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical, and the production received Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (O'Hara), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Miles) and Best Costume Design of a Musical (Catherine Zuber).Hetrick, Adam. "Tix on Sale for King and I Broadway Revival, with Kelli O'Hara and Ken Watanabe Leading Cast of More Than 50", Playbill, October 19, 2014Brantley, Ben. "Review: The King and I, Back on Broadway", The New York Times, April 16, 2015McRady, Rachel. "Tony Awards 2015: Complete List of Winners!", Us Weekly magazine, June 7, 2015 He reproduced the musical when it transferred to the West End's London Palladium in 2018.Wood, Alex. "The King and I to be revived at the London Palladium in 2018", WhatsOnStage.com, November 17, 2017; "Bartlett Sher Revival of The King and I to Head Out on International Tour", BroadwayWorld.com, July 5, 2018; Smith, Neil. "The King and I: timeless classic or dated relic?", BBC, July 4, 2018; and Quinn, Dave. "Ruthie Ann Miles 'Sang Like an Angel' in Stage Return After Daughter's Death and Losing Unborn Baby", People, August 4, 2018 Sher directed a Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof, starring Danny Burstein as Tevye and Jessica Hecht as Golde, which opened at the Broadway Theatre on December 17, 2015 and played its final performance on December 31, 2016.
Sher directed the world premiere of J.T. Roger's play Oslo which opened at the Mitzi Newhouse Theater in July 2016. The production transferred to the Vivian Beaumont Theater for an open run in April 2017. Sher directed the 2021 television film adaptation of Oslo. Sher received Tony Award nominations for Oslo, a 2018 revival of My Fair Lady, and the 2018 play adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. In 2023, it was announced that he would direct the stage musical adaptation of Damien Chazelle's 2016 film La La Land. In September 2024, Lincoln Center Theatre appointed Sher as its executive producer.
Personal life Sher lives in Manhattan with his wife Kristin Flanders (a Yale trained actress) and two daughters. His father, an insurance broker whom he described to The New York Times as a "brilliant businessman, very charismatic", was also a serial philanderer who had a second family with another woman. Sher's childhood was marked by a drawn-out divorce. His mother soon met a Chinese-American man, Doug Chung, who moved in, helped rear the family and brought them much needed stability. Sher's experiences with interracial blended families informed his directing of South Pacific.
Directing credits Broadway Year Title Venue 2005 The Light in the Piazza Vivian Beaumont Theatre2006 Awake and Sing! Belasco Theatre2008 South Pacific Vivian Beaumont Theatre2009 Joe Turner's Come and Gone Belasco Theatre2010 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown 2012 Golden Boy 2014 The Bridges of Madison County Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre2015 The King and I Vivian Beaumont TheatreFiddler on the Roof Broadway Theatre2017 Oslo Vivian Beaumont Theatre2018 My Fair Lady To Kill a Mockingbird Shubert Theatre2023 Pictures from Home Studio 54 Camelot Vivian Beaumont Theatre2024 McNeal 2026 Man of La Mancha
West End Year Title Venue2015 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Playhouse Theatre2024 Kiss Me, Kate Barbican Centre
Film YearTitleNotes2021OsloTelevision film
Awards and honors