We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lauren Lenz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lauren, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
While there have been many projects that have been meaningful to me, last summer I had the opportunity to direct Fiddler on the Roof, a production that has been broadly acclaimed as eternally relevant. The story is one of a Jewish community living near Kyiv in the early 1900s, a time of great political unrest. The plot of the show primarily follows one family and how they deal with elective and forced changes within their community and country by exploring themes of tradition as resistance, evolving feminism in conservative communities, and the loss of displacement. The production ends with the community’s forced migration as a result of increasing police violence and militarism. We see how political turmoil directly affects marginalized communities, and as such it’s impossible to do this show at this time and not relate to the current genocide of Palestinians still being committed by Israel and Ukrainian resistance against invading Russian forces. In our enduringly charged world, I believe it is an artist’s responsibility to communicate values and make the audience think about what they are seeing and how it can relate to the world today. As Sheldon Harnick, lyricist of Fiddler, said, “…it’s tragic that every time it has gotten to the last scene, the exodus, there has been something in the news that relates to that…” For a production that is said to have been performed everyday since its premiere in 1964, I am saddened by this continued relevance and proud to have been a small part of bringing these ideas to the forefront of some audience member’s minds.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’ve been doing theatre all my life, starting with dance lessons when I was four, then community theatre, then receiving my degree in music. Since then I have worked with opera companies throughout the US in different backstage capacities from stage management to directing and all things in between. My interests and activist work inherently nudge me to operas that incorporate political commentary. I want opera to feel accessible to as many people as possible by removing language barriers and stuffiness wherever possible, so many of the works I do are shorter contemporary operas sung in English. The most recent opera I directed was The Gift of the Magi, a 2006 adaptation of the O. Henry short story, and we set it in late 1960s Detroit as an homage to mine and the company’s home city and community. By showing the audience a setting they feel at home in, it can allow them to connect to the story in a more direct way, and because the show is only an hour long and in English, newcomers to the genre can feel relaxed and more open to trying a different style of performance.
I am also a trained intimacy choreographer and work to build more consent-based practices in the performing arts. Because theatre is such a competitive industry to work in, performers are taught directly or indirectly to say “yes” to anything a director asks for, even if it conflicts with their personal boundaries. I want all the performers I work with to feel safe and like we are working as collaborators to bring a piece to life rather than being a dictator director. The best theatre is about creating something that is more than the sum of its parts, and I believe that when performers feel comfortable sharing their own thoughts and selves, they are able to truly thrive.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Go to the theater! That is hands down the best thing you can do to support the art form. Companies set their budgets based largely on attendance, and the higher the budget, the more artists can be paid to be involved in a project. But ticket cost can certainly be a barrier to audiences enjoying the artform. If you’re on a budget, go see the local company’s and local college’s productions – I promise you’ll see something great and support young artists at the same time, often for $20 or less for hours of great entertainment. Community theatre productions have brought me to tears, and you can see Broadway level talent for way cheaper than a trip to New York. If you have kids, take them to a high school production! You’ll be at home with other families with kids and it’s a cheap and local way to introduce younger people to the craft. Many companies are setting up relaxed performance days for audience members who have trouble sitting in silence through a longer show, and you can bring a craft or something else to do as you watch. Artists exist in your community, and if we don’t support them, the less access we will have to live performance overall. And remember, you aren’t just supporting the artists onstage, but a huge group of set designers, lighting technicians, stage managers, textile artists, rehearsal pianists, arts administrators, and many more.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Success in theatre often comes from stubbornness. I knew this is what I have wanted to do with my life since I was very young, and I have done many different jobs to support my work in the arts, especially right out of college. Most entry-level theatre jobs are unpaid or come with very low pay, and as such I have worked up to eight part time and seasonal jobs at a time to support my arts career. I’ve been a bartender, office assistant, wedding event worker, chocolate shopkeeper, nanny, pet sitter, and restaurant manager among many other positions while also pursuing my career in opera. While this does require resilience, I am very privileged to have been able to make it all work to get to where I am now. When starting off I lived in a very inexpensive area, am able-bodied, had a car and a college degree, have no children, and have the capacity to balance so many different jobs at once. There are many artists who have not had such access. Resilience is only a part of the puzzle – I have also been extremely lucky.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://throughlaurenslenz.com/
- Instagram: @throughlaurenslenz
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurenLenz/
- Other: Bluesky – @thejelliclechoice.bsky.social
Image Credits
Christopher Frith, Alisa Garin, Ana Miller, Alex Rettburg