Vincent Lancisi

Tim Getman and Daniel Corey in Rep Stage's True West directed by Vincent Lancisi.

Katie Ellen Simmons Barth

Glenn Kubota, Eunice Bae, Tony Nam and Song Kim in Olney Theatre Center & Everyman Theatre's Aubergine directed by Vincent Lancisi.

Stan Barouh

The cast of Everyman Theatre's Noises Off directed by Vincent Lancisi.

Clinton B Photography

Bruce Randolph Nelson and Vichet Chum in Everyman Theatre's M. Butterfly directed by Vincent Lancisi.

Clinton B Photography

VINCENT LANCISI, founder and artistic director of Baltimore’s Everyman Theatre, returns to Rep Stage to direct Sam Shepard’s True West through May 13. This week’s Take Ten finds him longing for Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, and Emma Thompson and dreaming of getting to Moscow.

1) What was the first show you ever saw, and what impact did it have?

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was the first show. I was seven or eight. I was mesmerized by the performers and wanted to be up on that stage.  

2) What was your first involvement in a theatrical production?

I was Hamlet in Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth by Stoppard.

3) What’s your favorite play or musical, and why do you like it so much?

Death of a Salesman because it’s about Everyman.

4) What’s the worst day job you ever took?

Selling encyclopedias door to door.

5) What is your most embarrassing moment in the theatre?

Breaking my ankle warming up in a dance call in college. I never forgave that choreographer.

6) What are you enjoying most about working on True West at Rep Stage?

The supportive environment of the staff and crew and leadership. It’s a wonderful place to do plays.

7) Other than your significant other, who’s your dream date (living or dead) and why?

Emma Thompson. Just because.

8) What is your dream role/job?

Director at the Moscow Art Theatre.

9) If you could travel back in time, what famous production or performance would you choose to see?

Judi Dench and Ian McKellan in MacBeth at the RSC.

10) What advice would you give to an 8-year-old smitten by theatre / for a graduating MFA student?

Don’t do it / Do it.

VINCENT LANCISI founded Everyman Theatre in October of 1990 and has directed over 35 productions including Aubergine, M. Butterfly, Noises Off, Dot, Death of A Salesman, Under the Skin, Blithe Spirit, Deathtrap, Tribes, The Glass Menagerie, The Beaux’ Stratagem, August: Osage County, You Can’t Take It With You, Stick Fly, All My Sons, Two Rooms, Rabbit Hole, The Cherry Orchard, Doubt, Much Ado About Nothing, The Cone Sister, And a Nightingale Sang, The School for Scandal, A Number, Amadeus, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Buried Child, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, A Delicate Balance, Hedda Gabler, Proof, Uncle Vanya and The Last Five Years. In addition to his work at Everyman, he has taught acting and directing at Towson University, University of Maryland, Catholic University, Howard Community College, and at Everyman Theatre. He is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. Vincent sits on the boards for the Bromo Tower Arts & Entertainment District and the Market Center Merchants Association. In the past, he has sat on the boards of the Baltimore Theatre Alliance and the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance as well as panels for the Maryland State Arts Council. Vincent holds his undergraduate degree in Theatre from Boston College and his master’s degree in Directing from The Catholic University of America.

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