They call her “Stro.”
It stands, of course, for Stroman (as in Susan) because that’s her name.
But it also could stand for strode, as in “she strode across the stage to collect her five Tony Awards.”
And strong, as in working her way up from a hoofer, choreographing dancing beer cans, to one of the best-known and respected women in the theater; as in marrying a magical man, British director Michael Ockrent, and then losing him to leukemia; as in being named New York Magazine’s “New Yorker of the Year” in 1998 and Glamour Magazine’s “Woman of the Year” a couple of years later; as in being the first woman to win both Best Director and Best Choreographer for a Broadway musical – “The Producers.”
And even, if you’re a bit dyslexic, stories. She’s got a million of ‘em.
And now, Stro will be on stage at Guild Hall of East Hampton August 27 through the 29, offering “Stroman Presents! A Weekend Celebration” with conversations about her mega-hit “The Producers,” a sneak peek at her soon-to-be-a-triumph, “Little Dancer,” and a night about the box-office sensation “Crazy for You.” Each night will feature music, special guests, and fun.
It has been 20 years since the Mel Brooks musical phenomenon that is “The Producers” opened on Broadway, breaking every kind of record; the “Hamilton” of the early 21st century before the Miranda rites had begun. With Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom (roles originated in the ’60s film by Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder), you couldn’t get a ticket to save your life.
Another huge success for Stroman as a choreographer (with Ockrent as director) was “A Christmas Carol,” which ran at the Madison Square Garden theater for a decade. The ebullient dancing, especially in “Link by Link,” “Fezziwig’s annual Christmas ball,” and “Abundance and Charity” led to standing ovations over and over.
Ockrent and Stroman also collaborated on Ken Ludwig’s “Crazy for You,” another Broadway smash that Stroman is bringing back to Broadway. Performers including Melissa Errico and Tony Yazbeck will join her on stage at Guild Hall to offer a preview on Sunday, August 29.
Stro began dance and choreography early in life. “Being a choreographer and a director was something I always wanted to do,” she said. “Some people perform for a while and then decide to direct or choreograph, or they get to the point where they can’t perform anymore, but creating for the theater was something I wanted to do since I was a little girl.”
She described in loving detail her father playing the piano when she was small, “and I was the little girl who danced around the living room. But when I came to New York, it was definitely about creating. However,” she said with a smile, “I knew I couldn’t just take over. So I came as a song-and-dance gal, and sort of assessed the situation.”
Her choreographer dream only solidified when she saw Tommy Tune in “Seesaw” (a cast that also featured Ken Howard and Giancarlo Esposito) while in college in Delaware. “I watched those big production numbers, and Tommy Tune dancing in clogs, and I thought ‘This is for me!’”
Stro choreographed commercials and industrial shows, and performed in Broadway tours (including “Chicago” with Jerry Orbach), “but my first legit job was at the Vineyard Theatre, off-Broadway, choreographing the revival of ‘Flora, the Red Menace,’” directed by Scott Ellis and featuring Veanne Cox in the role originated by Liza Minnelli. “And that was the thing that sort of launched me. And I never went back on stage again.”
This past year, of course, there have been those who have been desperate to get back on stage, to get back to work, and Stroman commiserates with her fellow theater peeps. “It’s been heartbreaking. Theater is the last to open up, and it’s been 17 months. For us, that’s like a life force, and to not be a part of that has been very, very difficult for all of us.”
That doesn’t mean Stroman hasn’t kept busy. She joked that she couldn’t even boil an egg before the pandemic, “and now I’m quite the cook.” So good, apparently, that friend and fellow East Hampton resident Ina Garten asked her for a recipe. “So, I have that now!” she said with a hearty laugh.
We hearkened back to the last time Broadway closed – September 11, 2001. “All of Broadway was closed for about three days,” recalled Stroman. “It was difficult – all of New York was collectively grieving, and there was no place to go, no place that offered relief. But the one place you could go, to get comfort, was the theater. I was very lucky to have ‘The Producers’ running, and ‘The Music Man’ running, and ‘Contact’ running, and ‘Thou Shalt Not’ running, and people wanted to laugh.”
Before each show during that first week back, the stars would come out and talk to the audience – in the case of “The Producers,” Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. “They would say that we know it’s a difficult time, but we want to present this show to you to ease the grief of this week.”
“The Producers” won 12 Tony Awards that year – a record that has never been topped.
Stroman will bring more stories about all of her many successes, her trials and tribulations, to Guild Hall the last weekend in August. For tickets, visit guildhall.org. And do it quickly, if the tickets to see her are anything like the tickets to see one of her shows.
To learn more about Susan Stroman, you could visit her website, susanstroman.com, which features an impressive timeline with footage from basically birth until yesterday.
“That’s just something to be done in a pandemic,” she said, laughing. “I never had the time before to do anything like that before.”
