Greif attended Northwestern University and graduated from the University of California, San Diego graduate directing program. He was the Artistic Director of the La Jolla Playhouse, LaJolla, California from 1994 to 1999.
He was an Artistic Associate at the New York Theatre Workshop where he directed, among others, Bright Lights, Big City (1998–99) and the original production of Rent for which he received the Obie Award for direction of a musical and which he later directed on Broadway.
Greif has directed several original Broadway musicals and been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical four times. In addition to Rent, his Broadway credits include If/Then (also at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C.), Next to Normal (also at Second Stage Theatre and Arena Stage), Grey Gardens (also at Playwrights Horizons), Dear Evan Hansen (also at Arena Stage and Second Stage), and War Paint (also at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago).
In August 2023, it was announced that his Chicago Shakespeare Theater production of The Notebook would transfer to Broadway in March 2024 and in September 2023, it was announced that he would transfer his Off-Broadway production of Days of Wine and Roses to Broadway in January 2024.
Among his many directing credits Off-Broadway are Alicia Keys' autobiographical musical Hell's Kitchen, Katori Hall's Our Lady of Kibeho, John Guare's Landscape of the Body and A Few Stout Individuals at Signature Theatre, Beauty of the Father for the Manhattan Theatre Club, the 2009 Playwrights Horizons production of Mrs. Sharp (with music and lyrics by Ryan Scott Oliver and starring Jane Krakowski), and Romeo and Juliet, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest at the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Delacorte Theater (2007, 2010, 2015).
From: Photos: Alicia Keys & HELLS KITCHEN Company Get Ready for Broadway
From: Photos: Alicia Keys & HELLS KITCHEN Company Get Ready for Broadway
From: Photos: Alicia Keys & HELLS KITCHEN Company Get Ready for Broadway
Michael Greif, The Low Road
Michael Greif, Dear Evan Hansen
Michael Greif, Dear Evan Hansen
Michael Greif, Dear Evan Hansen
Michael GreifOur Lady of Kibeho
Michael Greif, Next to Normal
Michael Greif, Grey Gardens
Michael Greif , Grey Gardens
Michael Greif, Dogeaters
Michael Greif, Dogeaters
Michael Greif, Dogeaters
Michael Greif, Rent
Michael Greif , Rent
Mary Jane, led by Rachel McAdams, written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Amy Herzog, officially opened on Broadway last night, April 23. BroadwayWorld was there and you can check out photos from the opening night red carpet here!
Read the full list of 2024 Outer Critics Circle Awards Nominations! Leading the nominations are Stereophonic and Dead Outlaw.
In this video, watch as the whole cast and creative team of Hell's Kitchen walk the red carpet before the curtain went up on opening night!
Michael Stuhlbarg is back on Broadway in Patriots, the timely new play by Peter Morgan, and directed by two-time Olivier Award winner Rupert Goold. See photos from the red carpet at Broadway turns out to celebrate opening night of this new political drama.
Read the full list of 2024 Drama League Nominations! Nominations include Cabaret, Merrily We Roll Along and more.
Watch Jordan Tyson sing 'If This Is Love' in The Notebook on Broadway.
See red-carpet photos of the cast and creatives from the Hell's Kitchen opening night celebration here!
HELL’S KITCHEN, conceived by the innovative mind of 16-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys, with music and lyrics by Keys, and book by Pulitzer Prize finalist Kristoffer Diaz, opened on Broadway last night, Saturday, April 21st, and BroadwayWorld was there to capture the festivities. Check out the photos here!
Let's hear it for New York! The new Broadway musical HELL’S KITCHEN, conceived by 16-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys and directed by Tony Award nominee Michael Greif opens tonight at the Shubert Theatre. Check out what the critics are saying!
Get a first look at photos of Hell's Kitchen on Broadway!
The Original Broadway Cast Recording of new musical The Notebook, based on the bestselling novel by Nicholas Sparks that inspired the film of the same name, is available now! The musical features a score by multiplatinum singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson.
Bittersweet serendipity will be in the air when actor Gordon Clapp takes the stage in the Boston premiere of “Robert Frost: This Verse Business,” being presented April 23–28 by Spring Pool Arts at the Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts.
Through a collaboration with TodayTix Group, for every ticket sold during the run of HELL'S KITCHEN, $1 will go to support Alicia Keys co-founded organization, Keep a Child Alive.
BETTY – the award-winning Indie Rock trio of sisters Elizabeth and Amy Ziff and their bestie, Alyson Palmer who have been creating addictively melodic music for almost 40 years – will release their new anthem “Pride” as a single on Friday, May 17.
Tony Award winner Maryann Plunkett has played a wide range of roles in her Broadway career. The Lowell native’s latest, an elderly woman dealing with dementia, in “The Notebook: The Musical,” may be her most personal, however, as she recalls her own mother’s struggle with debilitating memory loss to bring her current character to life.
An all new music video has been released for the original song 'Kaleidoscope' from the new Broadway musical, Hell's Kitchen. Check out the video here!
Ben Walker, who currently stars as 'Romeo' in @AndJulietBway posted a stripped-down version of Ariana Grande's latest hit 'We Can't Be Friends' to his Instagram page. Watch in this video!
Six-time Tony Award Winner Audra McDonald will return to Provincetown with SiriusXM Radio star Seth Rudetsky as music director and host, this Memorial Day Weekend. Learn how to purchase tickets!
This time, the reader question was: How often are people Tony Award-nominated for different shows in the same season?
Performances are now underway for the Broadway premiere of the new musical Hell's Kitchen, which will officially open on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre. Check out a first look photo here!
Michael Greif has been nominated for several awards throughout his career, including Outstanding Director at The Lortels for "The Low Road" and "Our Lady of Kibeho," Best Direction of a Musical at the BroadwayWorld Awards for "Dear Evan Hansen," and the Tony Awards for "Dear Evan Hansen," "Next to Normal," and "Grey Gardens." He also received nominations for Outstanding Director of a Musical at the Outer Critics Circle Awards for "Dear Evan Hansen" and "Grey Gardens," Outstanding Director - Play at the Drama Desk Awards for "Dogeaters," and Direction at the Obie Awards for "Dogeaters." Additionally, he received Special Citations at the Obie Awards for "Rent" and won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for "Rent."
Michael Greif has won the Best Direction of a Musical at the BroadwayWorld Awards for Dear Evan Hansen, Outstanding Director - Play at the Drama Desk Awards for Dogeaters, Direction at the Obie Awards for Dogeaters, and Special Citations at the Obie Awards for Rent.
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