A Director on Directing.

So a colleague of mine made a comment to me about something he had heard from another director in town. I'm going to quote directly...

"He told me that if you really want to be a "known" director in
this area you have to direct musicals as well as strait plays and comedies.
Do you agree?"


Nope. I don't. Not at all. Elia Kazan didn't direct musicals so I don't have to. ;P

Just kidding, but I do believe that you don't have to direct musicals to be known as a director. I do think Baltimore is more of a musical town, meaning that they are very popular here. There is a very different skill set that is needed to direct a musical as opposed to a straight play. I direct only straight plays. Why? A couple of reasons:

1. I have a vile taste in my mouth when it comes to musicals. I can't sing as much as try sometimes and so therefore am bitter... Not really, but there are very few that I really enjoy. They just aren't my thing.

2. I think that straight plays hit the meat of the story more than musicals. Music can be distracting from the actual message of the play, people can lose themselves in the music instead of the issue. There are exceptions to this rule (think Sam Mendes' version of Cabaret), but in general I think straight plays deal with issues more straight on.

Not to knock musicals, but they just aren't my thing. Luckily Baltimore is small enough and if you're good enough, you won't have a problem working.

So I'm curious... Which do you prefer, musicals or straight plays? Why?