Lewis Magruder

Lewis joined the Miami faculty in the fall of 2009. Lewis is also producing artistic director of Broad Horizons Theatre Company, in New York City, which develops new works with contemporary playwrights. He is also Immediate Past Focus Group Representative for the Directing Program Focus Group at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) and Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC).

For Broad Horizons, Lewis has developed scripts with such playwrights as Gordon Pengilly, Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich, Eleanor Burgess, Stan Kaplan, James McLindon, and others. In 2013, he directed the premiere of Tom Form and the Speed of Love, by Canadian playwright Gordon Pengilly. Also for Broad Horizons, Lewis has directed the critically acclaimed Evensong; an award-winning revival of Cloud 9; an adaptation of Women of Troy; and readings and workshops of new works.

Favorite directing credits include: A Christmas Carol at the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota; Fool for Love at the English-American Theatre in Düsseldorf; a musical version of Alice in Wonderland at the Pennsylvania Center Stage; The Magic Flute at Rutgers University; and scenes for the Met summer opera program, Tel Aviv.

Other teaching credits include New Jersey Shakespeare Festival and the Summer Theatre Institute of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. In addition, he was assistant professor of theatre at DeSales University, where he directed Cole!, a musical revue of the songs of Cole Porter, and at Texas Tech University, where he directed Angels in America: Perestroika.

Through the years of directing and teaching, Lewis has developed particular interests in a number of areas: teaching actors the fundamentals of scene work with a focus on improvisations as inspired by the work of Sanford Meisner; teaching directing; and working closely with playwrights in developing new works.

At Miami, Lewis directs productions for the theatre department and teaches acting, directing, script development, and introductory courses. He is also the creator and director of London Theatre, a three-week immersion in theatre for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Education

• MFA Directing, Pennsylvania State University
• MA Theatre, Northwestern University
• BA Liberal Arts, Davidson College