Marcia Milgrom Dodge

Marcia Milgrom Dodge (born April 28, 1955) is an American director, choreographer, and playwright.

Marcia Milgrom Dodge
Born	(1955-04-28) April 28, 1955 (age 70) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Michigan
Occupation(s)	Director, choreographer
Honours	Proud Member of SDC and DG
Website	https://marciamilgromdodge.com

Career

Dodge served as associate choreographer for the Broadway musical High Society (1998). Off Broadway, she choreographed Life is Not A Doris Day Movie (1982), Romance Language (1984), Romance in Hard Times (Public Theatre 1989), Closer Than Ever (1989), The Waves (1990), and The Loman Family Picnic (Manhattan Theatre Club 1993).

She also directed/choreographed Radio Gals (John Houseman Theatre, 1996) and Seussical for Theatre work USA (Lucille Lortel Theatre) (2007), receiving a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Choreography, and consulted for Cooking (Minetta Lane Theatre, 2004).^[1]

Dodge directed and choreographed the 2009 Kennedy Center and Broadway revival of the musical Ragtime.^[2][3] She is the first woman to direct a major musical produced by the Kennedy Center.^[4]

The Kennedy Center production of Ragtime was nominated for six Helen Hayes Awards and won four, with Dodge winning Outstanding Director. The Broadway transfer of this production received 7 Tony nominations, including one for Dodge for Best Direction.^[5]

She choreographed Sullivan and Gilbert at the Kennedy Center in 1983 and directed Tell Me on a Sunday (2002) with Alice Ripley at the Kennedy Center.^[6] At the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., she choreographed On The Town (1989), Closer Than Ever, Merrily We Roll Along (1990),^[7] and Of Thee I Sing (1992)^[8] (Helen Hayes Award Nomination for Outstanding Choreography).^[9] She directed several productions of Ain't Misbehaving, first at Virginia Stage in 1991, followed by River Arts Rep, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Cleveland Play House, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Huntington Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, and the Philadelphia Drama Guild, receiving two Barrymore Award nominations for Outstanding Choreography and Best Musical.^[10]

For The Cape Playhouse, she directed Deathtrap starring Robert Petkoff and Alison Fraser; Crimes of the Heart starring Sandy Duncan; Accomplice with Stephanie Zimbalist and Richard Kind; Angel Street starring David McCallum, Jean Leclerc, and Mia Dillon; and Murder on the Orient Express.^[11]

As resident director of the Phoenix Theatre Company at SUNY Purchase, Dodge directed and choreographed Ken Ludwig's Sullivan & Gilbert, starring George Grizzard, as well as High Spirits. She also directed The Crucifer of Blood and There's One in Every Marriage.^{[citation needed]}

She has directed and choreographed productions at the Music Circus in Sacramento, including The Unsinkable Molly Brown with Susan Egan, South Pacific with Kerry O'Malley (2006),^[12] and Guys and Dolls (2009) with Gary Beach.^[13]

In 2011, she directed a production of Chicago, ^[14] directed and choreographed The Three Musketeers at the Fredericia Theater in Denmark and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Reprise Theatre Company in Los Angeles, as well as productions of Simeon's Gift, The Who's Tommy, Once On This Island, and Hair and director of Fit To Print. At the Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach Florida, she was the director/choreographer for Dames at Sea, Anything Goes, Evita, and directed a performance of Blithe Spirit.

In 2012, Dodge directed and choreographed Hello, Dolly! at the Malts Jupiter Theatre starring Vicki Lewis and Gary Beach. She directed Mark Brown's Around The World In 80 Days for Pittsburgh Public Theatre, followed by a new production of The Music Man for Glimmerglass Festival.^[15]

World premieres include Knight Life: The Girl Who Would Be King by Robert Sternean, Prudence Fraser, and Jeff Barry (Riverside Theatre); Rupert Holmes' Thumbs, starring Kathie Lee Gifford and Diana Canova (Helen Hayes Theatre Company); Cookin' (New Victory, Monette Lane, South Korea, and International Tour), by Jeffrey Hatcher (also conceived, Denver Center Theatre Co.); by Bill C. Davis and Richard Adler (George Street Playhouse); by John Bishop, Mel Marvin, and Robert Satuoff (La Jolla Playhouse); and by William Bloom and Arnold Weinstein (American Music Theatre Festival).^[16]

Dodge's production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Olney Theatre Center was met with a positive reception from critics, with People Magazine stating the work as: “a tale as old as time [that] feels refreshingly new.” Olney Theatre brought back the production in November 2022, with leads Jade Jones as Belle and Evan Ruggiero as The Beast.^{[citation needed]}

Television

Dodge's television credits include appearing as herself in Disney+'s show "Encore" in two episodes and providing choreography for Sesame Street (including the Emmy Award-winning episode "The Tango Festival") and Remember WENN for AMC. Video: Elmo's World - Wild Wild West, featuring Bill Irwin, Michael Jeter, and Kristin Chenoweth (Sony Wonder).^{[citation needed]}

Writer

Dodge was the dramaturge for Quanah by Larry Gatlin and Anthony Dodge, which received a staged reading at Pace University in January 2010.^[17] Hats: The Musical, for which she wrote the book with Anthony Dodge, was presented by the Willows Theatre Company, Martinez, California, from November 23, 2009, through January 10, 2010.^[18] Hats also ran in 2007 in several venues, including Las Vegas, Denver, New Orleans and Chicago starring Melissa Manchester.^[19] Anthony Dodge wrote Free Burt Lancaster and Venus Flytrap and Marcia also directed readings of both plays at the Bay Street Theatre and she directed a reading of Venus Flytrap at the LGBTQ+ Centre in NYC for Orange Hanky Productions in June 2008.^[20] The Active Theatre Company produced the play in November 2010 in NYC.

Marcia and husband Anthony Dodge wrote their first play, the Edgar Award-nominated Sherlock Holmes & The West End Horror, produced at the Bay Street Theatre in 2002, and later produced by the Asolo Theatre, Sarasota, Florida and the Pioneer Theatre Company, Utah (2005). Marcia directed all three productions.^[21] The play was published in 2006 by New York play publisher Playscripts, Inc.^[22][23]

Educator

At Fordham College-Of Thee I Sing and Guys & Dolls; and Pacific Overtures at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She has been on the faculty of The American Musical and Dramatic Academy since 1996,^[24] and was on the faculty of Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21) at NYU Tisch School of the Arts from 1996 to 2002.