About

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Hunter Bird is a working producer, director, and performer in Los Angeles. BA in Theater from UCLA (Emphasis in Musical Theater and Directing); Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts Short Directing Course. Producing credits include Founding Artistic Director of Act III Theatre Ensemble at UCLA, Event Coordinator of the Festival of New American Musicals (with Stephen Schwartz, Bob Klein, and Marcia Seligson), the Los Angeles County of the Arts Internship Program, Directors Lab West Internship, and Center Theatre Group Executive Offices Internship. Directing credits include Nightmare Alley (Asst. Dir; Gil Cates- Dir) at The Geffen Playhouse, Happy End (Winner of the George Burns and Gracie Allen Scholarship and Fellowship in Comedy), Jukebox: The Musical and Positively Wicked (with Ryan Scott Oliver), See What I Wanna See, The Wild Party (with Christopher Albrecht), A.R. Gurney's The Problem, Positively Wicked, and Dreamchild: A New Musical. Writing credits include Dreamchild: A New Musical, It's Sunny and Raining, The White Birds, and iTalk uListen. Awarded the UCLA Emerging Director Award (2011), Charles Speroni Memorial Award (2010), Gilbert Cates Fellowship (2009).

I'm a producer, director, and performer from Los Angeles. And I'm passionate about presenting theatre in all its forms, with a special interest in the development of new musical theater. Currently finishing up school at UCLA's Ray Bolger Musical Theater Program and Undergraduate Directing Continuum. I serve on the Event Coordinator for the Festival of New American Musicals, and am the UCLA Undergraduate Student Faculty Representative.

I'm interested in the intersection of music, narrative, and movement along a wide spectrum of combinations. Everything from rock concerts, opera, musical theater, a cappella performances, or any imagined genre involving the three elements. Through my work, I like to constantly test the combination of those three elements to engage audiences in new ways and break traditional theatre forms.

Currently inspired by the work of Joe Iconis, Ryan Scott Oliver, Anais Mitchell, and all those who are exploring the newer possiblities of what musical theater can be. Where will the genre go? Who knows? But, in my work, I hope to explore how new musical theater is continuing to re-shape itself, and where we're all going.

Always inspired by friends and family, and those artists pushing boundaries and questioning the established forms of their respective fields. I find special meaning in the work and lives of Harold Prince, Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Michael John LaChiusa, Stephen Sondheim, DV8 Physical Theater, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Bertolt Brecht, Artaud Antonin, Lady Gaga, and all those who use their artwork to shift/challenge/change our understanding of how we live our lives. So here's to continuing to push the envelop and to seeing where life takes us!