Exonian Profiles
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Marlo Hunter ’95: Enter, Stage Left
Think of all the actors in New York City trying to find work in the theater world. Very tough odds, but with hundreds of productions going on at any given time, at least the jobs are plentiful, if not easy to land. Now think of the odds faced by an aspiring young director trying to find work in the theater world. With only one director per production, the odds are pretty daunting. “To make it as a theater director, you have to really believe in your own voice and the stories you want to tell,” says emerging director and choreographer Marlo Hunter ’95. “You know going in that it’s going to be hard and that the rejection is going to be plentiful, but you have to keep pushing forward.” Hunter knows of what she speaks. Since graduating from Princeton and moving to New York City three years ago, she has been nothing if not in forward motion. Her passion for directing and choreography—not to mention considerable talent and ambition—have led to an impressive list of credits, including work with Tony Award-winning director Susan Stroman (The Producers, Contact) on the Broadway revival of The Music Man. She has also worked for the past two summers at the prestigious Williamstown Theater Festival, serving as assistant director of Diva, starring Eric Bogosian and Bebe Neuwirth, and assistant directing and choreographing the world premiere of Alfred Uhry’s Without Walls. Hunter’s first big break was working with Stroman, who chose her over hundreds of other applicants from a program sponsored by the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers to be her observer on The Music Man. “It was,” says Hunter, “a tremendous experience being thrown into that world at age 22, less than one year out of school.” In the summer of 2001, the momentum continued when Hunter landed a directing internship at the Williamstown Theater Festival, and then was asked back again this past summer to work as a directing assistant. In addition to working on a variety of high-profile productions, she was also able to present some of her own work in front of a very influential audience. “Williamstown is like a celebrity summer camp,” says Hunter. “Lots of very important theater people see your work, and then hopefully recommend you for jobs.” Back in New York, Hunter works steadily on productions both big and small, on Broadway and Off (as well as Off-Off and nowhere near), building her experience and expanding her connections. She landed a job as resident director and choreographer for Inside Broadway, a company that mounts theatrical productions in schools around New York City, and has put together tours of Sophisticated Ladies, Smokey Joe’s Cafe and Richard Rodgers’ Broadway. She also assistant directed the original Broadway cast reunion of Once on This Island and was a preproduction choreography assistant on Into the Woods. Hunter attributes her love of the theater to her father, a big fan of Broadway musicals who filled their home with show tunes while she was growing up. She started studying dance at age two and was notorious in her family for being something of a ham, mounting elaborate productions of Annie and A Chorus Line in the living room whenever there was a big enough audience. By the time she arrived at Exeter, Hunter was already a well-seasoned performer, and became an active and visible member of DRAMAT. While she spent much of her time on the stage she also got her first real taste of directing. “I choreographed and performed in Grease while I was at Exeter, which was my first introduction to taking on a large musical theater project by myself.” At Princeton, Hunter was involved in over 30 theatrical productions, five of which she directed. “I knew I wanted to be a director at the age of 14,” she says, “and I’m definitely in it for the long haul.” —Bill
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