Michael T. Williams / Director
Hurricane Diane
by Madeleine George | Directed by Michael T. Williams
Presented by Georgetown’s Theater and Performance Studies Program
Photographs by Chris Banks and Jessica Trementozzi (Set Designer)
“The cast’s comfort in rehearsals translates seamlessly onstage; their radiant chemistry lays fertile ground for comedy to sprout. Though Hurricane Diane is multifaceted, the show’s humor holds each of its moving parts firmly in place, ensuring nothing gets swept away in the storm. The result is a brilliant mosaic you’ll certainly want to see for yourself.”
Nellie/Nellie
Broad Street Review praised Nellie/Nellie for its “extraordinary physical performances” where the “fearless dance ensemble rolls, leaps, collides, contorts, and slams into the walls and pillars of the Broad Street Ministry’s sanctuary.” Phindie noted Nellie/Nellie for its “imagination and whimsy” concluding with a “maddening desire to see what’s next for Antigravity.”
2014 production co-created and performed by Alicia Crosby, Johanna Kasimow, Alex Kryger, Francesca Montanile, Megan Thibodeaux, Sara Vanasse, Michael T. Williams (Director), Andalyn Young, Ilse Torlin Zoerb, Noah Levine, Michael Costagliola, Kyle Dacuyan, and Ned Riseley. Photos by J.J. Tizio.
Originally composed/devised from 2012-2014, Antigravity is returning to the Nellie/Nellie materials in a series of summer workshops focused on music, dramaturgy, and choreography. Music, Lyrics, Orchestrations, Sound Design by Michael Costagliola. Additional Songs by Ned Riseley.
Directed by Michael T. Williams
Legal Tender (2019/2020)
Lead Artist: Kyle Dacuyan // Co-Directed by Michael T. Williams and Francesca Montanile
Legal Tender was a live assemblage of multi-media performance, video, and text material drawing across a yearlong collaborative devising practice, its marginalia, and postscript. Poet Kyle Dacuyan, in collaboration with Antigravity Performance Project (directors Michael T. Williams and Francesca Montanile) and artists Andalyn Young, Kate Liebman, and Michael Costagliola. A version of Legal Tender slated to open April 2020 never manifested. In the coming months, we recalibrated the work to meet our collective moment and new digital platform, resulting in Legal Tender curated in the 2020 FringeArts Main Stage Festival virtually.
Legal Tender was developed in part at Bethany Arts Community and through the Camp Fringe residency supported by Independence Foundation. An initial iteration of this work was presented at Ars Nova’s ANT Fest in June 2019. Production at FringeArts supported in part by the Charlotte Cushman Foundation and Georgetown University’s Competitive Grant-in-Aid Research Program.
Dear Diary LOL (2017/2018)
Co-Directed by Francesca Montanile Lyons and Michael T. Williams
Comedic theatre born verbatim from the real-life tween-teen diaries of the show's creators.
Antigravity's devising ensemble of high-octane funny women invites you to cringe, laugh, and cry at their most earnest desires, deepest fears, secret shames, and terrible poetry written as coming-of-age girls in the late 90s and early 2000s. Co-created and performed by Kelly Conrad, Alicia Crosby, Nikki Hudgins, Jessica Johnson, Francesca Montanile Lyons, Jenna Strusowski, Megan Thibodeaux, and Michael T. Williams. Lead Artist: Francesca Montanile Lyons. Photos by Garret Allen and John C. Hawthorne.
Review: “Francesca Montanile Lyons is also the director of this time capsule theater experience along with Michael T. Williams. I found their directorial choices to be inspired, with mountains of comedic blocking brilliance. They chiseled away any excess to go right to the jugular of the societal commentary. Their choreography of the “dance” of a young girl’s life is mesmerizing and you can’t help but project yourself into the familiar settings – the 13th birthday party, the talent contest, the classroom, the slumber party, the first kiss. These emerging artists are pulsating with talent and their directorial vision deserves a standing ovation.”
The Hopefuls: A Punk Election Fantasia (2016)
Directed by Michael T. Williams / Lead Artist: John C. Hawthorne
A political rally/house party. A convention/concert. A punk election fantasia.
Raucous nonpartisan political insanity, featuring infectious musical takes on topics like gerrymandering and campaign finance, appearances from presidential candidates and founding fathers, and hyper-patriotic imagery. Co-created and performed by John C. Hawthorne, Sara Vanasse, Francesca Montanile, and Jenna Strusowski. The Hopefuls: A Punk Election Fantasia directed by Michael T. Williams. Music and lyrics by John C. Hawthorne. Lead Artist: John C. Hawthorne. Photos by Alicia Crosby.
The Hopefuls were a punk band with political predilections and presidential pretensions from Philadelphia, PA. facebook.com/hopefuls2016
Surge Protector (2016)
Directed by Michael T. Williams, Pig Iron School MFA ‘Catapult’ Thesis Festival
A playful and perverse look at electricity, connectivity, and single motherhood.
In a word-less terrain of images, Surge Protector explores one woman’s fears, desires, and fantasies, for herself and for her children, in a world that is not always certain or fully illuminated.
Co-created and performed by Lauren Harries, Oliver Jane, Lydia Kincaid, Sara Vanasse, and Jessica Creane. Artistic Advisor: Nichole Canuso.
I Left Something Behind (2015)
Directed by Michael T. Williams, Pig Iron School’s ‘Dares’ Festival
A nostalgic love-song swallows two old men from Philadelphia in an eclipse of lives not led.
Co-created and performed by Francesca Montanile Lyons and Johanna Kasimow
Coach Darling (2013)
By Krista Knight / Directed by Michael T. Williams
a cautionary tale on parental neglect
Williamstown Theatre Festival Workshop 2013
CAST: Mike Goldstein, Jessica Cannizzaro, Tommy Bernardi, Michael Strauss, Timothy Thompson
PRODUCING STAFF: Laura Savia - Director of the Workshop, Patti Anne Miller - Line Producer, Steven Simalchik - Production Manager, Laura Epperson - Apprentice Coordinator, Alex Crawford - Workshop Intern
A New Brain (2009)
By William Finn and James Lapine / Directed by Michael T. Williams
2009: Produced by Brown U’s Musical Forum at Production Workshop, Musically Directed by Jacob Combs, Choreographed by Matt Bauman and Liviya Kraemer, Media Design by Sarah Kay, Brown U’s Weston Award for Excellence in Directing.
Additional Projects
MICHAEL T. WILLIAMS: DIRECTING RESUME
Project | Position | Producer | Year
*
Dad Rock+ | Director | Antigravity Performance Project | 2021/22 (Workshop)
Legal Tender+ | Co-Director | Ars Nova/Antigravity/FringeArts | 2019/20
Dear Diary LOL+ | Co-Director | Antigravity/FringeArts/New Ohio Theatre | 2017/2018
The Addams Family | Director | Brooklyn Acting Lab | 2018
Surge Protector+ | Director | UArts/Pig Iron School's 'Catapult' Festival | 2016
Hopefuls: Punk Election Fantasia+ | Director/Hillary Clinton | one-fifty1 space | 2015/2016
I Left Something Behind+ | Director/Creator | Pig Iron School's 'Dares' Festival | 2015
Nellie/Nellie+ | Director/Co-Creator | Antigravity/FringeArts | 2014
Loving v. Virginia+ (dir. Patricia McGregor) | Assistant Director | Williamstown TFest | 2013
State of the Union+ | Director | Williamstown Workshop | 2013
Poof! by Lynn Nottage | Director | Williamstown Workshop | 2013
Coach Darling+ by Krista Knight | Director | Williamstown Workshop | 2013
Othello | Co-Director | Trinity Rep/Nathan Bishop School | 2013
Revelation+ | Director | Write Here, Write Now! Festival | 2013
Just So Stories | Co-Director | Trinity Rep/Asa Messer School | 2013
Behind Closed Doors+º | Director/Deviser | Trinity Rep/RICADV | 2012
Yermedea Raw+ (dir. Kym Moore) | Associate Director | Antigravity/La MaMa ETC | 2012
20/20 (dir. Kym Moore) | Associate Director | NYU Graduate Songwriting Program | 2012
Romeo and Juliet (dir. T. Dobrowsky) | Assistant Director | Trinity Rep’s Summer Institute | 2012
Little Spoon+ | Co-Creator/Director | Blood from a Turnip/95 Empire | 2012
Tales of the Brothers Grimm+ | Director | Trinity Rep/Asa Messer School | 2012
Tango (dir. Shana Gozansky) | Assistant Director | Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs | 2012
Counting Stones+ | Director | Write Here, Write Now! Festival | 2012
My Husband+ | Director | Standing on Ceremony: Providence | 2012
Parade (dir. Talya Klein) | Assistant Director | Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs | 2012
Twelfth Night (dir. Tyler Dobrowsky) | Assistant Director | Trinity Rep’s Summer Institute | 2011
Beyond Eden (dir. Anita Maynard-Losh)+ | Assistant Director | Arena's Downstairs Series | 2011
Leave Your Mark+ | Co-Director/Deviser | Arena Stage's Voices of Now Festival | 2011
Grounded+ | Co-Director/Deviser | Arena Stage's Voices of Now Festival | 2011
Jomama Jones * RADIATE+ (dir. Kym Moore) | Assistant Director | Soho Rep | 2011
Bernarda’s Backstage+ (dir. Ale Prieto) | Assistant Director | Winged Cranes Madrid | 2010
El Extraño Viaje+ (dir. Gabriel Olivares) | Assistant Director | El Relo Productions Madrid | 2010
Midsummer (dir. Tyler Dobrowksy) | Assistant Director | Trinity Rep’s Summer Institute | 2010
Silly Old Bear+ | Director/Creator/Performer | Brown U's SoloFest | 2010
A New Brain★ | Director | Brown U's Musical Forum | 2009
★ Weston Award for Excellence in Directing – Brown University
º Victims' Rights Award – Rhode Island Attorney General
+ Denotes New Work