L.A. Theater Director Bart DeLorenzo ("Design for Living"): "Bob Fosse Taught Me To Snap My Fingers"

Jul 25, 2024

Dennis is joined via Zoom by L.A. theater director Bart DeLorenzo to talk about his newest production, Noel Coward's Design for Living at the Odyssey Theatre, as well as his career in general. Bart talks about why the 90 year-old play--about three young, struggling artists who can't seem to live without each other--seems so resonant in this moment. He also talks about his directing process, how he reads a play over and over and over again before he starts putting it on his feet and how he believes there are always two plays going on in any given production; the play on stage and the story that's unfolding in the audience. Other topics include: his memories of seeing plays as a child, what he's observed about Gen Z as a faculty member at the California Institute of the Arts, working with Joan Rivers on her autobiographical play A Piece of Work, looking for actors who make his "heart leap" during the casting process, why he loves Los Angeles how he reacts to people whp say theater in LA sucks, and how "nothing good can ever come from reading reviews."

https://www.bartdelorenzo.com/