Welcome to Spotlight, where °ëµºÌåÓý highlights shows from educational institutions or regional theatres and special events around the country (who have used °ëµºÌåÓý's ). By welcoming these PLAYBILLDERs center stage, we hope to give our readers a more in-depth look at theatre programs that are fostering the love of the performing arts in the next generation and the way theatre lovers are bringing °ëµºÌåÓý along for life's big moments.
How to Broadway-size Your Next Party or Event with PLAYBILLDER
This week's Spotlight is of Rhinebeck, New York and their production of The Wizard of Oz (running June 6â€�29). °ëµºÌåÓý spoke with the production's director Hannah Corneau. She's more that qualified to oversee Oz—she is a former Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway. And The Wizard of Oz was the first show she was ever in as a young actor (she played a Munchkin).
Below, the actor-turned-director shared why she feels encouragerized to take a leap into the director's chair, her gratitution for every Ozian creating this wonderful world, and the sense of safety and braverism she is hoping to pioneer in her future projects. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How did you become involved in this production of The Wizard of Oz?
Hannah Corneau: My partner and I moved up to the Hudson Valley in October. Prior to moving, I looked into the local theatres, and The CENTER was the theatre that seemed to be staying current, present, and aware of the theatrical world. They were interpreting pieces in ways that were super art-forward and community-forward. I emailed them, and their all-female team reached out to me. We had a Zoom, and we just dreamt. They held space for my dreams and my ideas as an artistic leader. I know that I'm a performer. I know that I'm a composer and a creator. I've wanted to take up space in an artistic leadership role.
After I did Wicked, we entered into the pandemic. I learned during the pandemic that I wanted to move into the leadership space. That first manifested in composition with my show, Beautiful Little Fool. Then I really felt the pull to direct. I suggested a couple of ideas [to the CENTER's team], and then they suggested a couple of ideas. Appropriately, we landed on The Wizard of Oz.
Tell me a little bit more about this call to direct. What did that feel like, and how did you know that the time was now?
I chose to jump off the cliff and trust in the parachute that was going to open up behind me. Which is so much so how I believe humans operate in this world, and also, how artists operate. You really do have to leap and the net will hopefully appear. I am taking this on, but by no means am I a master at it. What propelled me to want to do it was my want to connect with other actors and performers and to be able to pioneer a new tone within the rehearsal room, within expectations around performance, and allow [performers] to know that their soul, their mind, their vessel, matters within the piece that we are all taking on collectively as artists.
I value my time as a performer. But man, oh man, is it such a great—capital G—opportunity, as a director, to be a leader. If I've shown myself one thing in my life, I am ready for the task within the arts. I think back to third grade, when I was like, "I want to do a production of Cinderella." And I put it on with my friends in third grade. I stage managed. I directed. I was the Evil Stepmother. So, she knew she was a witch early on. "She" being me! Facilitation and encouragement is familiar to me, but stepping into the role of a director for a production is a whole different realm. Kind of like Oz, it's scary, but it holds great opportunities. Was that an elevator pitch or what?
That was fabulous! How do you think your experience of directing might influence you as a performer?
I think primarily [directing] engages empathy, which is huge. I feel like good performers are good people. Not always, but that's certainly what I try to abide by. I try to implement goodness and human perspective into performance.
As a performer, and as someone who holds myself as a performer to such high expectations, I always am so afraid. I'm nervous, and I'm worrying about myself and my journey. Being a director has offered me the perspective that there's so much going on around me and that I am in a world with so many beautiful moving parts around me. It's a beautiful reminder to zoom out. That's the most poignant thing I'm realizing. It's very easy as a performer for me to feel like I have the weight of the world on my back. I also think that's because of material that I've taken on, roles like Elphaba, roles like Elsa. They're grand roles with responsibility. It's not that we don't have the responsibility. It's not that we don't have this grand opportunity to lead, in a way, but we are just a beautiful piece of the larger puzzle that the director is holding space for in their brain. That opportunity to hold space for the larger picture, right now, is wild to me and scary and exciting.
You're in a full circle moment right now. Tell me about what it’s like to return to The Wizard of Oz.
Absolutely, it's so full circle. I'm able to discover more about Elphaba because I am seeing Dorothy's journey. It is so cool to experience Dorothy's perspective of this story. Two things come to mind. First, when The Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Dorothy meet The Wizard for the first time, it is so similar to when Elphaba and Glinda meet The Wizard for the first time. As a director, witnessing actors take in The Wizard of Oz and reminiscing, both both physiologically and psychologically, on what that was like for me and Ginna Claire Mason as Glinda during Wicked. It's a really charming experience for me as the director. I know what that feels like. I know what that feels like to be in the presence of Oz.
Another moment happened last night in rehearsal with Molly [Glowacki], our Dorothy. She ended up with The Witch's broom in her hand. Thinking of the scene in Wicked where Elphaba walks into the house that has fallen on Nessa, her sister, The Wicked Witch of the East, while Glinda has just sent off Dorothy, who, in Elphaba's mind, is this witch, on her path. It was wild to see Dorothy with this witch's broom. I was looking at this little girl with this witch's broom. That [image] elicits all of these perceptions, right? Negative perceptions, scary, fearful perceptions. The picture itself elicited this idea within me of, "Oh, that is symbolically speaking to one's shadow self, that every single person has."
As an actor, I've been able to take on roles that have just been so rich in all the realms, including, Edna St. Vincent Millay in Renascence, which I did Off-Broadway before I did Wicked. That was a huge lesson for me, finding all of the realms of her character. All that to say, my perception of these classic characters in relationship with each other is so charming and layered. It's never not making the wheels turn in my brain.
It sounds like there's a lot of really rich discoveries happening. Was there not-for-profit or community theatre available to you growing up, and did you participate in it? If so, what did that mean to you as a growing performer?
Community theatre was the first experience that I had with theatre. I'll never forget it. My first audition was a community theatre audition for Annie, which the CENTER just had last night. Really full circle! My older sister, Amanda, and my father, Greg, auditioned for it. My dad ended up playing FDR, and my sister ended up playing Pepper. I also auditioned by singing "Happy Birthday." I still remember being up on that stage. I was probably five. Now I did not get in, but it was okay. It was so scary. My mom and I were able to attend so many rehearsals because my dad was in it and my sister was in it.
I'm looking behind me in the audience, now that we're rehearsing on stage, and parents are sitting up in the higher seats behind me. It's a magical experience. It's actually making me choke up right now! How very dare you make me cry? I'm looking up at these moms, who are watching their kids, take on these roles and rehearse like the professionals that they are. I’m thinking about how the experience that they're having is really very, very similar to the experience that I had in the back seats of the theater with my mom, watching my dad and my sister. The magic began there.
Technically, the first show that I was ever in was The Wizard of Oz! I played a Munchkin and then I played The Wicked Witch once she started melting. Our director had The Witch fall into a cauldron. Then I stood up, and I was like, "I'm melting!" [I was] like a smaller version [of her]. Then I melted back down into the cauldron, and then we held up a green Barbie. Hopefully, the way that we do [this moment] is going to thrill a little bit more, but I'd like to think that I still thrilled in popping up.
Could you speak to the type of theatrical experiences you're trying to pioneer?
The environment that I try to pioneer within rehearsals is one of acknowledgement, grace, flexibility, innovation, and understanding. I want every single member of our cast to know that they are seen. I want to elicit Community Guidelines that enable our cast to know that they can make choices, play, explore, and collaborate. I feel that ego can get in the way of collaboration so much. As a leader, I'm seriously trying to challenge the ego all the time. And of myself, first and foremost. [Challenging the ego] enables me to listen more and be receptive to those around me and the ideas and impulses that they have.
As a performer, I have felt so stifled and scared. I don't want the people in my realm of creation to feel that way. No question is wrong or is too small. I see you. I know your name. I am available and approachable. And no cog in the machine, that we are all working as a part of, is too small or invaluable. I want to continue to pioneer pieces of art, pieces of theater, that are polarizing. I would love to create art that makes us think, that elicits an opinion within us.
I am taking swings as a director that I understand not everyone may dig, but what I cherish about my meeting with [Managing Director] Kerry Dotson, [Director of Education] Victoria Howland, and [Creative Director] Olivia Michaels Bogert at the CENTER was they saw my wings and were like, "Fly! We see you. We are pioneers too. Go and fly and be creative." I'm truly trying to take that opportunity and learn from it, and commit to taking the big swings.
What message do you have for your performers as they get ready to take the stage?
My gratitude. My encouragement to find the joy. My belief in the story and in them.
Creativity, bravery, and vulnerability do not come without trust. The moments when I knew that my director had my back, loved me as a human, and was appreciative of the vessel that was taking on this art� That they trusted me, that they appreciated that I was showing up to take it on� That's all I needed [as a performer]. That enabled me to be free, and, therefore, it elicited a good performance.
That's what I hope to impress upon my cast. That I trust them and I'm super grateful for them.
To design Broadway-quality programs for your next show, head to . Who knows, you might just be featured in our next PLAYBILLDER Spotlight! And if you are looking for a beautiful way to display your °ëµºÌåÓýs, click here to purchase .
