Julianne Boyd is an American

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and was the Founding Artistic Director of the Barrington Stage Company of

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfi ...

. She retired in 2022.

Education

Boyd received a B.A. in Theater and Education from

Beaver College Arcadia University is a private university in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, with a Glenside mailing address. The university enrolls approximately 3,200 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. The 94-acre (380,000 m2) Glenside cam ...

(now known as

Arcadia University Arcadia University is a private university in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, with a Glenside mailing address. The university enrolls approximately 3,200 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. The 94-acre (380,000 m2) Glenside cam ...

) in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, and a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in Theater from the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

Barrington Stage Company

Boyd is the founder (1995) and artistic director of the Berkshire-based Barrington Stage Company (BSC). The company, which was originally based in Sheffield, Massachusetts, moved to

, in 2006. Barrington Stage Company produced the world premiere of

William Finn William Alan Finn (February 28, 1952 – April 7, 2025) was an American composer and lyricist. He was best known for his musicals, which include ''Falsettos'', for which he won the 1992 Tony Awards for Tony Award for Best Original Score, Best O ...

and Rachel Sheinkin's musical ''

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn, with a book written by Rachel Sheinkin, created by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional ...

'' in 2004, which garnered two

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

s (Rachel Sheinkin for Outstanding Book, and Dan Fogler for Outstanding Male Performer in a Musical) when it moved to Broadway in 2005. Barrington Stage also produced the world premiere of Mark St. Germain's ''Freud’s Last Session'' in 2009, starring Martin Rayner and Mark H. Dold. It later moved

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

and played for two years. In October 2014, Barrington Stage's 2013 production o
''On The Town''
directed by John Rando and choreographed by Josh Bergasse, opened on Broadway at the Lyric Theatre.

Directing

Boyd conceived and directed the 1978 Broadway production of '' Eubie!'', a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

revue based on the works of

Eubie Blake James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. Blake began his career in 1912, and during World War I he worked in partnership with the singer, drum ...

which she also conceived. The production starred

Gregory Hines Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for '' Wolfen'' (1981), '' The Cotton C ...

and Maurice Hines, and received three

nominations. She also conceived and directed the musical revue '' A... My Name Is Alice'' in 1983–84 with Joan Micklin Silver, and its sequel ''A…My Name Is Still Alice'' at the Second Stage, NYC in 1992. Boyd has directed at regional theatres nationwide, including The Old Globe (''As You Like It'' and Velina Hasu Houston's ''Tea''), the McCarter and Asolo Theatres (''Sweet and Hot: the Music of Harold Arlen'') and Syracuse Stage (''The Country Wife''). She directed the world premiere of playwright Mark St. Germain’s ''Dr. Ruth All The Way'' (2012) at Barrington Stage. It is now entitled ''Becoming Dr Ruth'', and she also directed it

in the fall of 2013. Set in 1997, it is about the life of sex therapist,

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

, and author Dr. Ruth Westheimer. She also directed ''The Best of Enemies'' (2011), and the world premiere of St. Germain's ''Dancing Lessons'' (2014). At BSC, she also directed productions of ''Cabaret'', ''Follies'', ''Sweeney Todd'', ''All My Sons'', and ''An Enemy of the People'', among others. She served on the board of directors of the

Stage Directors and Choreographers Society The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), formerly known as Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC), is an independent national labor union established in 1959, representing theatrical directors and choreographe ...

(SDC) from 1980 to 1998, and as president from 1992 to 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Julianne Living people American theatre directors American women theatre directors Arcadia University alumni CUNY Graduate Center alumni Year of birth missing (living people)