Miles Phillips

Director

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In tandem with his work as an actor, Miles enjoys a fulfilling career as a director. His directorial ventures range from regional companies to New York, from contemporary to classical theatre, from full scale musical to nightclub cabaret, from film to television and digital media.

He's served as Artistic Director for Musical Theatre Renegades in Chicago and The Hot Spot Theatre Company in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was lauded for his work as author and director in his marriage of Classical Theatre and Cabaret in the smash hit revue of Shakespeare in song Words Words Words & Music and has been nominated for multiple projects as Outstanding Director by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs. Most recently, Miles received Po'okela Awards from the Hawai'i State Theatre Council, for his direction of 1776 at Paliku Theatre and Shear Madness at Manoa Valley Theatre. He was recently named Best Director for his direction of a short film of his staged reading of Carol Polcovar’s fascinating play Zarah! for PlayBuilders PlayFest 2021.

Miles received his graduate training with the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and his Master of Fine Arts degree from the National Theatre Conservatory (ANTA).

Miles also serves as a private acting and audition coach. He coaches in groups, one on one, and remotely, via video chat. For information about his availability and services, please visit the contact page.

 

On The Boards

The Mystery of Edwin Drood - Curtain Warmer & Logo

Miles directed the acclaimed production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood for Manoa Valley Theatre’s 2022-2023 season. It was a smash hit with audiences and critics alike and extended its run due to popular demand.

Based on Charles Dickens’ final novel, which was abruptly left unfinished at the time of his death, The Mystery of Edwin Drood takes on the challenge of picking up where Dickens left off by presenting the plot as a performance in a boisterous music hall, circa late 19th Century London. The company members of The Music Hall Royale enlist the help of the audience to solve the mystery when the original story comes to an abrupt halt midway through the second act by voting on various key plot points. The result is a delightfully funny musical with a glorious score by Rupert Holmes who conceived of the show, wrote the libretto and score, and won a slew of Tony Awards for his first Broadway show!

It’s a joyous and complicated show for performers and audiences alike, with many characters, dialogue, and plot twists and turns. Miles came up with a design concept that would help audiences keep track of both sets of characters (the actors of The Music Hall Royale as well as the Dickens characters they portray). He envisioned a vibrant and colorful world for the Music Hall that takes place in front of the big red velvet curtain, and then behind the curtain an old Victorian style Wing & Drop set inside a cameo proscenium where all the action is in sepia toned black and white, inspired by the original illustrations of Dickens’ novels. Thanks to an incredibly talented and dedicated design team, that vision became a reality, complete with two dimensional cutout set pieces and props, and vibrantly colored costumes that turned to shades of grey and black under sepia light. The end result was a theatrical feast for the eyes and ears.

The brilliant cast greeted audiences as they found their seats, ingratiating themselves in hopes of being voted the murderer in the final scenes. And they more than met the challenge of multiple perfomance styles while singing and dancing to Holmes’ sumptuous score.

This comprehensive collection combines production photos by photographer Brandon Miyagi and lighting designer Jonah Bobilin (plus a few by Miles, taken from the audience perspective) and captures the beautiful production design and remarkable performances.

 

The Third Act

After a 30+ year career in the theatre from San Francisco to New York and all major stops in between, Miles felt the pull of the Pacific and decided to take the opportunity to move back to Hawaii for his “Third Act” — the intention being to unplug, unwind, and reconnect with the beauty of the islands while watching the glorious sunsets over the Pacific. But Hawaii had other ideas…

Since arriving, Miles has been embraced by the theatre community and he has happily continued his directing career. Each major production Miles has directed since arriving in Hawaii have been delightfully vibrant and, while dramatically different in subject matter and style, shared Miles' visual aesthetic and approach to storytelling. Fortunately, they’ve been captured on film by some of Hawaii's finest photographers. Below are fairly comprehensive galleries that capture the colorful, kinetic productions Miles has directed in Hawaii.

 
Desperate Measures Poster

In March of 2020, one night before the first preview performance, after numerous meetings among all the various decision makers on the Board of Directors and the Hawai'i State Theatre Council, the call was made to postpone the opening of the highly anticipated Manoa Valley Theatre production of the hilarious wild west musical Desperate Measures. The entire company hit pause while navigating the uncertain waters of COVID-19, Social Distancing, MVT’s commitment to the theatre community and the public at large, not to mention the health of the amazing cast and crew.

After a 22 month pandemic pause, Desperate Measures finally opened in January of 2022 to standing ovations and unanimous critical and audience acclaim! After close to three years, beginning with pre-production, Miles was delighted to share his unique vision of David Friedman & Peter Kellog’s joyous musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure with not only Hawaii, but the world, thanks to live streaming of three performances and a weekend, after the show completed its run, via the popular streaming platform Broadway On Demand!

This comprehensive collection of production photos by Jonah Bobilin provides a glimpse into the beautiful production design and the hilarious/moving/gloriously sung performances from a remarkably talented cast.

 

Making Theatre During a Pandemic

After several months of lockdown, Miles teamed up with Kailua Onstage Arts to stage two live productions, both inspired by the times we were all facing, as a creative community, as a nation, and as a global civilization. Both productions were staged in a massive covered parking garage, Drive-In style, with the actors performing within a huge circle of parked cars, and the sound transmitted to their FM radios. Both productions were met with enthusiastic critical and audience response and enjoyed extended runs. Miles shared some insight into the creative process for both shows.

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“I was particularly excited to have had the opportunity to find inventive ways to create socially distanced, site-specific/environmental theatre at a time when we were longing to participate in theatre, but couldn’t gather in groups. We rehearsed via Zoom until we moved into the parking garage for tech/dress. We opened the week of the election, and honestly we weren’t sure what world we could be playing to until opening night. The increasing anger, hostility, division, and fear, absolutely inspired my setting of Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s brilliant play, which lent itself perfectly to such tumultuous times! 

“The action focuses on the events around the legendary battle between Achilles and Hector, during the Trojan War. For me, it’s not a war play or an anti war play, but an exploration of the potential for blinding, devastating rage we all have within us, as well as our capacity to choose to let that rage go. Our ability to seek calm, embrace empathy and understanding.”

 
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“I was struck by how timely Christopher Durang’s hilarious and moving examination of 80s New York City felt. Social anxiety, racial inequality, gender inequality, LGBT rights, religious oppression, new age spirituality, climate change, gun violence, polarizing politics, reality TV, and oh yes a devastating global pandemic. As Peter Allen sang, back in the 80s ‘Everything Old Is New Again.’

“But even more, I was moved by the central theme of the play – the fundamental need we all have to connect, even in the face of what feels like insurmountable obstacles, whether real, imagined, or self-imposed – and the masks we wear as we navigate the comedy and tragedy of daily human existence in a modern society.”

 
Shear Madness Poster

Miles was invited by Manoa Valley Theatre to direct their revival production of Shear Madness, which had played to great success 20 years before. The wildly funny murder mystery farce set in a hair salon, has been in constant production since it opened in Boston 40 years ago and it is officially the longest running play in America. Hit productions have opened around the world, and they have been primarily directed by the original creators. Miles happily accepted the opportunity to take on the direction of such a beloved comedy. Each production of Shear Madness around the world is updated to reflect current events and local references. Miles spent months writing new jokes and populating the script with names and places that filled it with Hawaiian flavor. He enlisted the help of a wonderful production team, notably Set Designer DeAnne Kennedy, Costume Designer Carlynn Wolfe, Hair & Makeup Designer Lisa Ponce de Leon, Lighting Designer Janine Myers, and Graphic Designer David Cox, to create a delightful, tropical world that clearly reflected 2018 Waikiki while honoring the concepts of the original production. He also enlisted the talents of videographer Paul Goto and local television news celebrity Pamela Young, as well as cameo photo appearances from local celebrities like Hawaii Five-0’s Jorge Garcia and Hawaii State Legislator Chris Lee, to give the production additional moments of surprise, crowd-pleasing local authenticity. The result was a smash hit! The original run sold out, playing to standing room only houses, and then enjoyed multiple sold out extensions. The cast featured six remarkable actors who displayed exceptional character skills and the ability to take anything the (very) enthusiastic audiences threw at them, and turn it into comedy gold. The entire cast (Dan Connell, Fabienne Flandre Herold, Sean Koegel, Alan Shepard, Shannon Winpenny, Stephen J. Wyman) was honored with the Hawai'i State Theatre Council Po'okela Award for outstanding achievement by an Ensemble in a Play. And Miles received his third Po'okela Award, this time for Director of a Play!

Production photos by Erich Steinwandt, with additional photos by Chuck Babbitt and Miles Phillips.