Upcoming:
I am currently directing “She Kills Monsters” at Washburn High School in Minneapolis. Performances run November 7 -10! Learn more and buy tickets HERE
Highlights
The show that taught me the most
The Winter’s Tale - Shakespeare Corrected
My senior year at Millikin University I was thankful to be asked by my acting professor and founder of Shakespeare Corrected, Alex Miller, to co-direct a production of Shakespeare’s The Winters Tale.
The difficulties that the COVID-19 pandemic would present in tackling such a massive project, especially having to convert to filming while being masked, but the end result brought us all so much joy and I left with a plethora of experience I never would have gained otherwise. While this was not my first adventure directing, it has been by far the most memorable and sparked a love of directing that I never knew I had.
The times I learned the basics - and kids!
The Grunch & Press Start - DaVinci Academy
Junior and Senior year of High School my best friend Jacqueline and I were asked to co-choreograph and direct the spring musicals at Blaine Minnesota’s Davinci Academy. This was not my first time directing, but it was my first time directing such a young age group - and a full fledged musical at that! I am so thankful to Mrs. Severson for taking Jacqueline and I under her wing and giving us our first major experience in directing outside of our high school drama club.
My first full Musical
A Christmas Carol - Ashland Productions
This winter, I had the joy of Assistant Directing my first full musical along side Artistic Director, Rob Sutherland. With a large cast of 45, this was the biggest project I have ever been a part of. I was thrilled to be in charge of the Ghost of Christmas Future sequence in which I got to combine my love for devised and abstract imagery with a musical sequence and deep text work in Scrooge’s following solo. I am extremely proud of the final product we created and so thankful for the guidance I received from Rob and the rest of the creative team, and for the immense trust the cast had in me.
Testimonial (Madelyn Smerillo, Future) “[Courtney] stepped up and created such awesome moments for this show. She is a great leader and teacher with an epic eye for crafting scenes.”