DAVID GRAM - Stage Director, Actor, Dramaturg, Coach

Originally from Toronto, Canada, David is currently a Detroit-based theatre and opera director, actor, dramaturge, playwright, and teacher. He is an Assistant Professor of Directing and Acting in the Department of Theatre at Oakland University in Rochester Hills, MI. David has directed and produced approximately 80 productions across the United States and Canada. He recently founded and serves as Producing Artistic Director of Renaissance City Repertory

Theatre. www.rcrep.org

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A director with a wide range of theatrical interests, David is equally at home working on everything from Shakespeare to Sondheim, from farce to Brecht, from contemporary American dramas to original plays, musicals, and opera. Selected directing credits: Macbeth, The Who's Tommy, Hands on a Hardbody, The School for Scandal, A Chorus Line, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Godspell, Rent, In the Heights, La Cage aux Folles, Twelve Angry Jurors, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Curtains, The Theatre of the Grand Guignol, A Little Night Music, The Good Person of Szechwan, What the Butler Saw, Bug, A Man of No Importance, Waiting for Godot, Tartuffe, Twelfth Night, The Scarlet Letter, Lord of the Flies, and City of Angels.

 

On the operatic stage, David most recently directed to critical and commercial acclaim the New England Premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking for Boston Opera Collaborative. From 2010 to 2012 David served as the Artistic Director of Boston Opera Collaborative where he directed productions of Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, and Puccini’s La Boheme. In his capacity as Artistic Director, David also produced main stage productions of Falstaff, The Cunning Little Vixen, Little Women, and Le nozze di Figaro. Other opera credits include: Massenet’s Cendrillon (MetroWest Opera), and Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Opera del West).

 

From 2000-2003, David was the Artistic Director of Shifting Point Theatre, a Vancouver-based company that produced classical, contemporary, and original works for the stage. From 1998-1999, he served as the Assistant to the Artistic Director of Tapestry New Opera Works, one of the only opera companies in North America devoted solely to the creation and production of new opera and music theatre. From 2013-2017, David served as the new Associate Artistic Director and Apprentice Program Coordinator of Theatre Aspen. 

 

As an actor, he has appeared on Michigan stages as 'Orson Welles' and others in War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast (Detroit Mercy Theatre), 'Roy' in The Odd Couple and 'Jonathon/Miranda' in Casa Valentina with the Jewish Ensemble Theatre (JET), and 'Gremio' in The Taming of the Shrew with Water Works Theatre's Shakespeare in Royal Oak. Other selected regional credits include ‘Aubrey Piper’ in the American Century Theatre’s production of The Show-Off, ‘Kulygin’ in Chekhov’s Three Sisters at the Wimberley Theatre in Boston, as ‘Thomas’ in David Rabe’s A Question of Mercy, and playing 40 different characters in the one-man show I Am My Own Wife (Boston Center for American Performance).

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A champion of new work, David has been fortunate enough to collaborate on many new plays, musicals, and operas. He has been involved with numerous readings, workshops and productions of new work as a director, dramaturge, and an actor.

 

David received his BFA in Theatre from Simon Fraser University, and both his MFA in Directing and a Graduate Certificate in Arts Administration from Boston University. Before moving to the DC area, David taught acting and directing for Boston University’s School of Theatre, including specialized courses in Shakespeare, Comedy, and Musical Theatre. He works as a freelance acting coach who works with actors and opera singers on audition and performance techniques - with an emphasis on monologue and song preparation and interpretation. David also gives master classes in red nose clowning, neutral and character mask work.

 

Outside of the theatre, David is a dedicated advocate of the arts and strong supporter of regional non-profit arts organizations. He enjoys traveling whenever he can and looks forward to seeing more of the world. David is a sports enthusiast (including a die-hard devotion to his beloved Toronto Blue Jays), an avid golfer, a lover and collector of books, and a foodie.

 

David is the proud husband of actor/singer Kristina Riegle, and dad to cat Gatsby, and to Oslo - an adorable Australian Shepherd.