Director - Producer
ABOUT
Marina Montesanti is a theatre director and a Tony Award-nominated co-producer as part of Iconic Vizion Productions. Broadway (co-pro): Fat Ham, A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. As Director (selected): I Hope this Letter Reaches Mitclan, Lenfest Center for the Arts; The Visit, Lenfest Center for the Arts; In The Bronx Brown Girls can See Stars Too, Vassar College and Lehman Stages; Uncle Vanya, Columbia University; Lizzie, Madison Theatre; Dear Mr. C, University of the Arts; EXIST, Columbia University; Savana Glacial, Irondale Theatre; Derecho, La Tea. Assistant Director; 1776, A.R.T. As Associate Director to Sergio Trujillo & Luis Salgado.
Montesanti has worked with Roundabout Theatre Company, Gibney Dance, BAM, Signature Theatre, The Metropolitan Opera, and others. SDC member, SDCF Charles Abbott Fellow, TPOC Bway, Statera Mentorship Member - MAESTRA Music, Inc. Marina also taught at CAP21 for the Musical Theatre BFA Program. Director of new works awarded: The Jonathan Larson Grant, Hansberry Lilly’s, Kennedy Center National Playwriting award, Leah Prize.
Education:
MFA in Directing, Columbia School of the Arts.
BFA, Dramatic Arts, The New School for Drama.
I am excited by theatre where the boundaries of reality dissolve, different orders of time coexist, and space undergoes a transformation that can only be activated by the collective imagination.
As a director, I strive to create art that transcends tragedy, transforming shattered memories and tumultuous circumstances into a catalyst for liberation and empowerment.
I return the story to the character who was wronged, or the one history refused to see. The story’s essence is my compass, and from it I shape the play’s logic — inviting what is inevitable and alive, and igniting the power of the ensemble.
I also believe theatre should predict the future. I tend to work on plays and musicals that resonate across cultures (most of the time, through laughter) and have a cyclical warning to them.
PHILOSOPHY
UPCOMING
Eugene Onegin: A Bluegrass Musical
Book, original music, and lyrics by Sarah Gancher
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
Role: Associate Director
In The Bronx Brown Girls Can See Stars Too (or The F*ck Is You Lookin' At?)
By Amalia Oliva Rojas
Vassar College - In the Powerhouse Theater
Part of the The Leah Ryan Fund residency
Role: Director