Diane Paulus

Diane Paulus is a Tony Award–winning director and the Terrie & Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, where she also serves as Professor of the Practice in the Department of English and the Theater, Dance & Media concentration. A visionary leader and artist, Paulus has shaped A.R.T. into an incubator for groundbreaking theatrical experiences that catalyze dialogue and transformation, always including the audience as a partner.

Paulus has directed many Broadway shows which originated at A.R.T. She received the Tony award for Best Director of her Tony Award-winning Best Revival of Pippin. Her productions of The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (NAACP award for Best Direction) and Hair (The Public Theater) also won Tony awards for Best Revival. Additional A.R.T. productions on Broadway include the Tony-nominated Waitress which has also been produced in London’s West End, Tokyo, Montreal and Mexico City, and the Tony-nominated and Grammy-winning Jagged Little Pill, 1776, Finding Neverland, all of which have toured nationally.

At A.R.T., Paulus has directed the world premiere of numerous plays, including: In the Body of the World by V (formerly Eve Ensler), The White Card by Claudia Rankine, Becoming a Man by P. Carl, Gloria: A Life by Emily Mann about the life of Gloria Steinem (launched Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre). Her work as an opera director includes the world premieres of Crossing by Matt Aucoin (A.R.T. and BAM Howard Gilman Opera House), Death and the Powers by Tod Machover (L'Opéra de Monte-Carlo), and The Monkey King by Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang (San Francisco Opera). Other opera work includes Carmen (Glyndebourne Festival), The Magic Flute (Canadian Opera Company), Olga Neuwirth’s Lost Highway (ENO and the Young Vic) and the complete Monteverdi cycle and Mozart–Da Ponte trilogy for Chicago Opera Theater with conductor Jane Glover. Other notable work includes the long-running hit The Donkey Show, Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna and the immersive debut of Masquerade, bringing new perspective to the treasured legacy of Phantom of the Opera.

Paulus has been named to Variety's list of "Trailblazing Women in Entertainment" and the inaugural Forbes "50 over 50" list recognizing women over 50 making significant impact in their fields.