• ABOUT
  • IN THE STUDIO
  • WORK
  • RESUME
  • OTHER PIECES
COURTNEY LAINE SELF

COURTNEY LAINE SELF: Director/Choreographer

  • ABOUT
  • IN THE STUDIO
  • WORK
  • RESUME
  • OTHER PIECES

Courtney Laine Self--Director/Choreographer

courtneylaineself@yahoo.com

Selected NYC Credits

  • SDCF Observer; pre-Broadway workshop of Big Fish; Dir./Chor.: Susan Stroman

  • Assistant Director; Proof of Love; World Premiere, Minetta Lane Theatre, Off-Broadway, co-produced by Audible Theatre and New York Theatre Workshop, NYC

  • Co-Creator/Director/Choreographer; RPT, 92nd St. Y's Music Theatre Development Lab, NYC

  • Co-Creator/Director/Co-Choreographer; Making Bkjkt, a Futurist Dance Musical, 92nd St. Y's Music Theatre Development Lab, NYC

  • Associate Director; Poupelle of Chimneytown; NYC Premiere, Signature Theatre, Tier 2 Broadway Workshop, NYC

  • Director/Choreographer; Pullman Car Hiawatha, Green Space, NYC

  • Director; Sex, The Dirty Blondes Theatre Company, Under St. Marks Theater, NYC

  • Director/Choreographer; Anything Goes, Village Light Opera Group, Riverside Theater, NYC

  • Director; The Memory Lanes; new musical workshop, NYC

  • Director/ In Kharms' Way, new musical workshop, Voice Afire Pocket Opera, Tenri Cultural Institute, NYC

  • Director/Choreographer; Bonnie and Clyde; The Mimes and Mummers, NYC

  • Director/Choreographer; In The Heights; Chappell Players Theatre Group, NYC

  • Director/Choreographer; Under Her Hat; Emerging Artists Theatre New Works Series, TADA Theater, NYC

  • Director/Choreographer; Godspell; A Class Act NY, Teatro SEA, NYC

  • Director/Choreographer; Thoroughly Modern Millie; A Class Act NY, Five Angels Theatre, NYC

  • Director; Hallowed Ground; The Dirty Blondes Theatre Company, The Brick Theater, NYC

  • Resident Director; Everyday Inferno Theatre Company Development Lab 2016, NYC

  • Resident Director; Rebel Theatre Company 2014, NYC

  • Choreographer; This Life; new musical showcase, Times Square Arts Center, NYC

  • Choreographer; Next to Normal; The Gallery Players, NYC

  • Choreographer: Live. Record. Repeat?; The Possibility Project, The Sheen Center, NYC

  • Choreographer; Transformatique; Dixon Place, NYC

  • Choreographer; Showgirls: The Musical!; Medium Face Productions, Theatre 80, NYC

  • Choreographer; Awake and Love; Skeleton Rep., Access Theater, NYC

  • Choreographer; Spears: The Gospel According to Britney; Foxwoods Theatre Studios, NYC

  • Asst. Director; Alone In Triptych; Concrete Temple Theatre, HERE, dir.: Renee Philippi, NYC

NYC Festivals/Workshops/Labs

  • Director; The Ferberizing of Coral; The Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival; Winner and chosen to be published, Vineyard Theater, NYC

  • Director; The Tunnel Play; World Premiere, The NY International Fringe Festival, NYC

  • Co-Creator/Adaptor; excerpt of All's Well That Ends Well, Greenspace, NYC

  • Co-Creator/Adaptor; excerpt of Twelfth Night, ShakesCon, NYC

  • Co-Creator/Adaptor; excerpt of The Tempest, Buttenwieser Hall, 92nd St. Y, NYC

  • Director; Atalanta; World Premiere, Midtown International Theatre Festival, NYC

  • Director: Bread and Butter; If On A Winter's Night: An Evening of One Act Readings, Everyday Inferno Theater Company, NYC

  • Director; Voice of Authority, SoloCom, PIT Theatre, NYC

  • Choreographer; excerpt of Experience Marianas, a new music by Sarah Beth Pfeifer & Rob Rokicki; New York Theatre Barn at Baryshnikov Arts Center, NYC

  • Choreographer; New York Theatre Barn's ChoreoLab, NYC

  • Director; Bernice and Suppressed Desires; Hour By Hour, Tribute to Susan Glaspell, American Bard Theatre Company, June Havoc Theatre, NYC

  • Director; Confessions of a Character Actor; The Long Island City One-Act Festival, The Secret Theatre, NYC

  • Director; Dust to Dust to Dust, Shoebox Festival of Magical Realism, Eager Risk Theatre Company, Times Square Arts Center, 3rd Place, NYC

  • Director; Ruin Porn; part of the Detroit NY Play Festival, 4th St. Theater NYC

  • Director; Moonfall; Nu-ance Theatre's 24 Hour Play Fest, 2nd Place, NYC

  • Director; The Audition; Rule of 7x7, The Tank Theater, NYC

  • Director; endorphins; Galapagos Art Space, The Dirty Blondes, NYC

  • Director; Shoe Play; C.O.W. Theatre, The Dirty Blondes, NYC

Regional/University Theatre

  • Director/Choreographer; Fun Home; Regional Premiere, Millbrook Playhouse, Mill Hall PA

  • Director; Sheila And Moby; World Premiere, The Writer’s Center for Flying V Theatre Company, Washington DC

  • Associate Director; Oliver; Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, CT, dir: Rob Ruggiero

  • Director/Choreographer; Curtains; Mac-Haydn Theater, Chatham, NY

  • Director/Choreographer; 9 To 5; The Hartt School, West Hartford, CT

  • Director; The Hound of the Baskervilles; Jean’s Playhouse, Lincoln, NH

  • Director; Peter and the Starcatcher; New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ

  • Director/Choreographer; The Addams Family; Duluth Playhouse, Duluth, MN

  • Director/Choreographer; All Shook Up; The Hartt School, West Hartford, CT

  • Director/Choreographer; Newsies; Millbrook Playhouse, Mill Hall, PA

  • Director/Choreographer; Bye Bye Birdie; New Paradigm Theatre Company, Stamford, CT

  • Director/Choreographer; Xanadu; Arizona Broadway Theatre, Peoria, AZ

  • Director/Choreographer; Anything Goes; Duluth Playhouse, Duluth, MN

  • Director/Choreographer; Flashdance; Arizona Broadway Theatre, Peoria AZ

  • Director; Mermaid of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch; World Premiere, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove PA

  • Director/Choreographer: The Little Mermaid; Millbrook Playhouse, Mill Hall PA

  • Director/Choreographer; Mary Poppins; Millbrook Playhouse, Mill Hall PA

  • Director/Choreographer; Newsies; Duluth Playhouse, Duluth, MN

  • Director/Choreographer; You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; McLeod Summer Playhouse

  • Director/Choreographer; Rent; Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC)

  • Director/Choreographer; Crazy For You; SIUC

  • Director/Choreographer; Bye Bye Birdie; Hettenhausen Center for the Arts

  • Director/Choreographer; Into the Woods; McLeod Summer Playhouse/C’dale Comm. Arts

  • Director/Choreographer; Red, Hot, and Cole; SIUC

  • Choreographer; Jungle Book and Treasure Island, Creativiva Productions, both Toronto ON and Turks and Caicos Islands for Beaches Resort

  • Choreographer: Rock of Ages; Millbrook Playhouse, Mill Hall PA

  • Choreographer; Beauty and the Beast; Jean's Playhouse, Lincoln NH

  • Choreographer; Hair; McLeod Summer Playhouse

  • Choreographer; Regional Premiere; My Vaudeville Man; Millbrook Playhouse, Mill Hall PA

  • Choreographer; Annie; McLeod Summer Playhouse

  • Choreographer; Irving Berlin’s White Christmas; SIUC

  • Director/Choreographer; Godspell; The Anderson Theatre

  • Choreographer; My Fair Lady; The Little Theatre On The Square

  • Choreographer; South Pacific; Arizona Broadway Theatre

  • Choreographer; A Christmas Carol; The Little Theatre On The Square

  • Director; King Lear; Southern Illinois University Carbondale

  • Director; Chekhov’s The Proposal; Christian Moe Lab Theatre

  • Director; World Premiere of Drowning; Christian Moe Lab Theatre

  • Director; Fumed Oak; Christian Moe Lab Theatre

  • Asst. Director/Choreographer; Little Women; The Dwight School, NYC

  • Choreographer; The Drowsy Chaperone; The Dwight School, NYC

  • Choreographer; Chicago; The Dwight School, NYC

  • Assistant Director; A Raisin in the Sun; Dir.: Segun Ojewuyi; McLeod Theatre

  • Director/Choreographer; High School Musical; The Little Theatre On The Square’s S.T.A.R. Program

  • Choreographer; World Premiere of I Married Wyatt Earp; The Hartt School

Selected Related Experiences

  • Currently the Director of the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Theatre Arts and Technology Program

  • Participant in Director's Lab North in Toronto June of 2017; June 2017.

  • Participant in Director's Lab West in LA; was asked to present a rehearsal methodology that incorporates non-realistic movement with heightened text in order to find greater meaning and to exercise finding greater authentic connection with the material; May 2016.

  • Participant in SITI Company’s Fall Intensive 2021, Viewpoints and Suzuki

  • 2-Time Finalist for Drama League Directing Fellowship

  • Finalist for Stanford’s Theater and Performance Studies PhD Program 

  • Teaching Artist: 92Y Harkness Dance Center; Jazz, Tap, Music Theatre Dance, Contemporary, and Choreography for ages 3-18; September 2016-present

  • Previously Head of Dance for the BFA in Music Theatre and a Theatre Instructor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale; 2011-13

  • Teaching Artist: Broadway Bound Kids; Music Theatre and Dance classes for kids aged 5-12; 2014-present

  • Production Advisor for Broadway Jr., in conjunction with the NY Department of Education's Theatre Dept. and iTheatrics for Hunter's Point Middle School (Guys and Dolls Jr., Hairspray Jr.) 42Q (Fame Jr.) and PS 160 (The Lion King Kids)

  • Teaching Artist: A Class Act; Director/Choreographer, Mainstage Productions: Thoroughly Modern Millie and Godspell

  • Instructor; Audition Choreography, Rehearsal Choreography, Audition Techniques, Advanced Music Theatre Dance, Music Theatre Workshop, Intermediate Music Theatre Dance, Beginning Acting, Movement for the Actor, Intro to Voice and Movement, Theater Insight; SIUC

  • Dance Instructor: Advanced Jazz, Intermediate Jazz, Teen Jazz, Advanced Tap, Intermediate Tap, Kids Hip-Hop, Beginning Hip-Hop, Music Theatre Dance; Willow Street Studios, Carbondale, IL; 2009-13

  • Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) Presenter; ‘Advocating for Better Stage Preparation of Stage Directors for Musical Theatre’ and ‘My Own Best Friend: The Director/Choreographer as the Ultimate Collaborator’ 2012 Convention, ‘Grout Not Glitter: Envisioning Greater Potential for Integrated Choreography in the Future of Music Theatre’ 2011, ‘Non-traditional Dance Teaching Methods for the Singer/Actor’ 2009

  • Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) Presenter; ‘Don’t Put It On the Back Burner: Reinvent Your Warm-up’ and ‘The Steps to Making Steps: A Choreographer’s Methodology—The Creation Stage’ 2012 Convention, ‘How to Engage Bold Choices Through Movement-Based Exploration’ 2011, ‘Teaching Audition Choreography’ 2009

  • National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) Presenter; 'The Collaborative Classroom: Educating and Inspiring the Next Generation of Choreographers' and 'Using Laban and Viewpoints to Empower Students' Expression and Connection to Choreography' 2017

  • ShakesCon Presenter: 'Using Physical Theatre and Dance in Shakespeare' 2018

  • KC/ACTF Region III Play Participant; Director of Drowning; Moved to Regionals

  • Co-Education Director (Ran Dance and Drama Programs); The Little Theatre On The Square

  • Mentor; NYU Design For Stage and Film Grad Program’s 3rd Year Portfolio Review

Education

  • MFA in Theatre: Directing; Southern Illinois University Carbondale; Summa Cum Laude

  • BFA in Music Theatre; The Hartt School; Summa Cum Laude

  • BA in English; University of Hartford; Summa Cum Laude

References

  • Segun Ojewuyi, Chair of Theater Dept., Southern Illinois University---sojewuyi@siu.edu

  • David Leidholdt, Artistic Director, Millbrook Playhouse--davidleidholdt@gmail.com

  • Jessica Diaz, Program Director, Broadway Bound Kids--jessica@broadwayboundkids.org

  • Anne Fletcher, Professor of Theatre History and Dramaturgy, Southern Illinois University---afletch@siu.edu

  • Terrence Montgomery, Freelance Director--terrencemontgomeryproductions@gmail.com