Marcia Milgrom Dodge

Early years

Dodge was born in Detroit, Michigan, grew up in Southfield, Michigan and attended Vandenberg and Adlai Stevenson Elementary Schools and Birney Junior High graduating from Southfield-Lathrup High School in 1973. As a child, she took dance lessons at the Julie Adler School of Dance in Oak Park, Michigan. She is the daughter of Myron and Jacqueline Milgrom, and her sisters are Carole Lasser, Paula Milgrom and Marianne Milgrom Bloomberg. Dodge received her degree in Speech Communication and Theatre at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, graduating in 1977. Upon graduation, Dodge moved to New York City pursuing a career as a choreographer.

Director/Choreographer

Dodge is the director/choreographer of the 2009 Kennedy Center and Broadway revival of the musical Ragtime. The Guardian noted Dodge's "impassioned staging" of Ragtime. Peter Marks in an article summing up the fate of the Ragtime revival, noted: "Marcia Milgrom Dodge, the director-choreographer...came up with a sleekly beautiful concept for a show with a complex, interwoven narrative about blacks, Jews and white Anglo-Saxons in New York at the turn of the 20th century: She placed the entire enterprise on a single trellised set and put the myriad characters, fictional and historical, more resolutely front and center -- Ragtime not as a history lesson, but as a story about families." She is the "first woman to direct a major musical produced by the Kennedy Center." The Kennedy Center production of Ragtime was nominated for six 2010 Helen Hayes Awards and won four: Outstanding Resident Musical (Winner); Outstanding Director, Resident Musical: Marcia Milgrom Dodge (Winner); Outstanding Musical Direction, Resident Production: James Moore; Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Musical: Quentin Earl Darrington; Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical: Christiane Noll (Winner); Outstanding Costume Design, Resident Production: Santo Loquasto & Jimm Halliday (Winners). The Broadway transfer of the production was honored with 7 Tony nominations including one for Dodge for Best Direction.

In New York, Dodge was the Associate Choreographer for the Broadway musical High Society (1998). Off Broadway she was the choreographer for Life is Not A Doris Day Movie (1982), Romance Language (1984), Romance in Hard Times (Public Theater 1989), Closer Than Ever (1989), The Waves (1990), The Loman Family Picnic (Manhattan Theatre Club 1993), director/choreographer for Radio Gals (John Houseman Theatre, 1996), Seussical for Theatreworks USA (Lucille Lortel Theatre) (2007) (receiving a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Choreography) and consultant for Cookin (Minetta Lane Theatre, 2004).

In regional theatre: In 2012, Dodge directed & choreographed "HELLO, DOLLY!" at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre starring Vicki Lewis and Gary Beach. She directed Mark Brown's "AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS" for Pittsburgh Public Theater, then a new production of "THE MUSIC MAN" for "Glimmerglass Festival". In 2011, Dodge traveled to Fredericia, Denmark to direct and choreograph "The Three Musketeers" at the Frederica Teater by George Stiles, Peter Raby, Paul Leigh and Francis Matthews.Cabaret and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Reprise Theatre Company in Los Angeles, the Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor, NY, productions of Simeon's Gift, The Who's Tommy, Once On This Island, and Hair and director of Fit To Print. At the Riverside Theatre, Vero Beach, Florida she was the director/choreographer for, Dames At Sea, Anything Goes and the director of Blithe Spirit. She has directed and/or choreographed many productions at the Music Circus, Sacramento, California, including The Unsinkable Molly Brown, with Susan Egan, South Pacific with Kerry O'Malley (2006) and Guys and Dolls (2009) with Gary Beach.

World premieres include "Knight Life: The Girl Who would Be King" by Robert Sternin, Prudence Fraser & Jeff Barry (Riverside Theatre); Rupert Holmes' "Thumbs" starring Kathie Lee Gifford and Diana Canova (Helen Hayes Theatre Company); "Cookin'" (New Victory, Minetta Lane, South Korea and International Tour); "One Foot On The Floor" by Jeffrey Hatcher (also conceived, Denver Center Theatre Co.); "Off-Key" by Bill C. Davis and Richard Adler (George Street Playhouse); "Elmer Gantry" by John Bishop, Mel Marvin & Robert Satuloff (LaJolla Playhouse) and "Casino Paradise" by William Bolcom & Arnold Weinstein (American Music Theatre Festival.)

Dodge directed several productions of Ain't Misbehavin', first at Virginia Stage in 1991, followed by River Arts Rep, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Cleveland Play House, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Huntington Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theater, and the Philadelphia Drama Guild, receiving 2 Barrymore Award Nominations for Outstanding Choreography & Best Musical.

For the Cape Playhouse she directed "Crimes Of The Heart"starring Sandy Duncan, Accomplice with Stephanie Zimbalist & Richard Kind and Angel Street starring David McCallum, Jean LeClerc and Mia Dillon.

As resident director of the Phoenix Theatre Company at SUNY Purchase Dodge directed and choreographed Ken Ludwig's "Sullivan & Gilbert" starring George Grizzard and "High Spirits" and she directed "The Crucifer Of Blood" and "There's One In Every Marriage."

At the Arena Stage, Washington, D.C., she choreographed On the Town (1989), Closer Than Ever, Merrily We Roll Along (1990), and Of Thee I Sing (1992) (Helen Hayes Award Nomination for Outstanding Choreography).

Dodge choreographed Sullivan and Gilbert at the Kennedy Center in 1983 and directed Tell Me on a Sunday (2002) with Alice Ripley at the Kennedy Center.

For Television, she choreographed SESAME STREET (Emmy Award-winning episode "The Tango Festival") and REMEMBER WENN for AMC. Video: Elmo's World- Wild Wild West featuring Bill Irwin, Michael Jeter & Kristin Chenoweth (Sony Wonder.)

Writer

She was the dramaturge for a new musical Quanah by Larry Gatlin and Anthony Dodge, which received a staged reading at Pace University in January 2010. The musical Hats: The Musical, for which she wrote the book with Anthony Dodge, was presented by the Willows Theatre Company, Martinez, California, from November 23, 2009 through January 10, 2010. Hats also ran in 2007 in several venues, including Las Vegas, Denver, New Orleans and Chicago starring Melissa Manchester. Anthony Dodge wrote "Free Burt Lancaster" and Venus Flytrap and Marcia also directed readings of both plays at the Bay Street Theatre and she directed a reading of "Venus Flytrap" at the LGBT Center in NYC for Orange Hanky Productions in June 2008. The Active Theater Company will produce the play in November 2010 in NYC. Marcia and husband Anthony Dodge wrote their first play, the Edgar Award-nominated Sherlock Holmes & The West End Horror, produced at the Bay Street Theatre in 2002, and later produced by the Asolo Theatre, Sarasota, Florida and the Pioneer Theatre Company, Utah, (2005.) Marcia directed all three productions. The play was published in 2006 by New York play publisher Playscripts, Inc.

Educator

Devoted to the training of young performers, Dodge is a frequent guest director at universities: For Marymount Manhattan College she directed & choreographed Drood. At CAP21/NYU--Divorce Me Darling, David Krane's Times Square, Drood and Merrily We Roll Along; also at SUNY-Buffalo. At Fordham College--Of Thee I Sing and Guys & Dolls; and Pacific Overtures at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She has been on the faculty of The American Musical and Dramatic Academy since 1996, and was on the faculty of Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21) at NYU Tisch School of the Arts from 1996-2002.

Personal life

Marcia Milgrom married Anthony Dodge (also from Detroit) in 1980, and they have one daughter, Natasha, born in 1997. The family resides in New York City.

Ragtime Awards

2010 TONY AWARD NOMINATIONS Best Revival of a Musical; Best Direction of a Musical: Marcia Milgrom Dodge;

2010 DRAMA DESK AWARD NOMINATIONS Outstanding Revival of a Musical; Outstanding Director of a Musical: Marcia Milgrom Dodge; Outstanding Choreography: Marcia Milgrom Dodge;

2010 HELEN HAYES AWARDS Outstanding Resident Musical: Ragtime, The Kennedy Center WINNER!; Outstanding Director, Resident Musical: Marcia Milgrom Dodge WINNER!;

2010 ASTAIRE AWARD NOMINATION Choreographer: Marcia Milgrom Dodge;

2010 DRAMA LEAGUE NOMINATION Distinguished Revival of a Musical