Although she recently triumphed in the title role of the world premiere of the Broadway-aimed musical Sousatzka, based on Bernice Rubens' original novel Madame Sousatzka, and the City Center Encores! mounting of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins, Clark has been even busier as a director.
She recently directed multiple Tony nominee Rebecca Luker in the world premiere of Scaffolding for Inner Voices, as well as a reading of the rarely-seen Kurt Weill-Alan Jay Lerner musical Love Life at Duke University. Her numerous directing credits also include Newton’s Cradle for the New York Musical Theater Festival, The Trouble With Doug for the Fredericia Theater in Denmark, Hansel and Gretl and Heidi and Günther for the Village Theater Festival of New Musicals, and Mary Jo Shen’s Paper Piano, as well as productions for the Philadelphia Opera Theater, Texas Opera Theater, Chautauqua Opera, and the 92nd Street Y.
Currently, Clark is tackling Conor McPherson's new version of August Strindberg’s The Dance of Death, which is playing Off-Broadway's Classic Stage Company through March 10. Her cast includes Cassie Beck as Alice, Richard Topol as Edgar, and Christopher Innvar as Kurt.
Clark, an extremely versatile actor who is equally at home in comedy—she remains Titanic's definitive Alice Beane—says her acting style affects her directing choices.
“What I've come to discover over the years is that it's just another way of telling a story,” Clark says in the video above. “As an actor, I tend to really circle around the themes that are important to me, and then I put a character together piece by piece. And my directing style is very similar to that. I let the production emerge as a result of deep conversations and collaboration rather than saying, ’This is my one vision and everyone must adhere to it.’ I'm very curious to hear what my collaborators think.”
Watch the complete interview with Clark in which the award-winning artist reveals the Broadway musical revival she would most like to direct.
