Des McAnuff

Desmond McAnuff (born June 19, 1952 in Princeton, Illinois) is an American award-winning director of Broadway musical Big River and The Who's Tommy. He has also produced Tony award-winning revivals of Broadway classics like Guys and Dolls, The Music Man, Into the Woods, 42nd Street, The King and I, and many others. McAnuff is a citizen of United States, and Canada, and was raised in Scarborough, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. He attended high school at Woburn Collegiate where he made his first theatrical appearance in the school's production of The Sound of Music, playing the role of Kurt. Later, with the help of two friends, he wrote the music and lyrics to a rock musical called Urbania, which was performed by the high school drama club. McAnuff received training from Toronto's foremost drama coach Basya Hunter, to whom he has announced his indebtedness. He worked with the Toronto Free Theatre as a director, and after several plays that had limited success, he left the Canadian... full article at wikipedia