STEPHANIE HAVEY
DIRECTOR
BIOGRAPHY
Award winning stage director Stephanie Havey is consistently lauded for her eye-popping stage pictures, brisk dramatic pacing, and convincing theatre that makes the most of every minute.
Last season featured many exciting engagements for Ms. Havey including her Opèra de Montrèal début directing Madama Butterfly, as well as new productions of Rigoletto for Utah Opera about which Utah Arts Review celebrated her “powerful production that plumbed the psychological and moral depths of the character,” Toscafor Arizona Opera, Le nozze di Figaro for Pittsburgh Opera, The Rivals for the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, and a revival of Rigolettofor The Dallas Opera.
This season’s engagements include new productions of L’Orfeo and Albert Herring for Oberlin Conservatory of Music, L’amant anonyme for Madison Opera, and Aida for Finger Lakes Opera.
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In recent seasons, Ms. Havey staged Carmen at Arizona Opera, As One at The Atlanta Opera, which OperaWire hailed as, “well-prepared, thoughtful, and deeply touching,” Orpheus in the Underworld at Madison Opera and Manhattan School of Music, and The Merry Widow at Charlottesville Opera. Ms. Havey has also staged productions for Seattle Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Omaha, Madison Opera, New York City Opera, and Hawai’i Opera Theatre, among others, and has created new productions for Boston Lyric Opera, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Atlanta Opera, Lyrique-en-mer International Festival de Belle-Ile, The Curtis Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Finger Lakes Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Charlottesville Opera. She has also been a member of the staging staff at San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, and The Santa Fe Opera.
Ms. Havey is a frequent collaborator for the development of new opera, staging new works with Opera Philadelphia for their Double Exposure event, OPERA America’s New Works Forum, three seasons as the Resident Stage Director for North American New Opera Workshop, and is currently in development for a new commission with composer Jennifer Jolley.
Ms. Havey is the Director of the Young Artist Program at Finger Lakes Opera in Rochester, New York and a Dramatic Coach for the Houston Grand Opera Butler Studio and Young Artist Vocal Academy. She has also been a guest instructor for professional and academic Young Artist training programs including OPERA America’s Career Blueprints, Curtis Institute of Music, Mannes School of Music at The New School, Manhattan School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Carnegie Mellon University, UNCSA A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, Central City Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Charlottesville Opera.
Current as of July 7, 2023
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"... excellent direction..." – La Presse
Madama Butterfly – "The proposal of the young American director Stephanie Havey goes to the essentials and stands out – something not so common in the lyrical world – by an excellent direction of actors."
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"... masterfully directed the performers..." – Cittadino
Madama Butterfly – “Deserved success of the Puccini Opera, punctuated by the great public demand for an extra performance, repeats all sold out thanks to the skillful direction of Stephanie Havey, an American director who masterfully directed the performers of the cast, relying on a scenography that struck us for its lightness and essentiality.”
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"... She created a powerful production..." – Utah Arts Review
Rigoletto – “Director Stephanie Havey, like most of the cast, was making her Utah Opera debut. She created a powerful production that plumbed the psychological and moral depths of the characters while building a rough, cynical world that revolved around the lascivious desires of the corrupt Duke. The love duets were also some of the best dramatic moments, with the couples displaying clear chemistry. Havey’s staging of both duets, and the way the couples intertwined, accentuated the differences between the two relationships; the overt sexuality of the Duke’s interaction with Maddalena contrasting with the chaste, courtly interaction with Gilda.”
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"... the best performance of the centuries’ old masterpiece..." – onStage Pittsburgh
Le nozze di Figaro – “There is something that simply “feels right” about the entire vibrant production. ...Stephanie Havey directs the entire production in a manner that allows for no weak spots. The period costumes are delightful, as are the wigs, make-up, set designs, lighting – everything comes together as a well-planned, well-rehearsed, perfectly grouped ensemble, full of excellent individual accomplishments...Many, no doubt, realized they had just witnessed the best performance of the centuries’ old masterpiece they had ever seen.”
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"... nuance, intelligence, and sensitivity..." – Opera Magazine
Tosca – “Stephanie Havey directed with nuance, intelligence, and sensitivity.”
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"... the pacing was excellent..." – Classical Voice North Carolina
The Rivals – “Award-winning stage director Stephanie Havey is the guest director: the action on stage was non-stop and the pacing was excellent.”
REPRESENTATIVES
General