Sammi Cannold

(Forbes 30 Under 30)

www.sammicannold.com

17 May 2019 7 Min Read

Sammi Cannold: Empowering Next Generation of Theater Directors

Let me introduce you to Sammi Cannold, a young female theatre director with an artistic soul and an inspiring story. This year, Sammi became the youngest director in American Repertory Theater history, which got her recognized by Forbes. She was featured on their 30 under 30 US & Canada 2019: Hollywood & Entertainment list.

Sammi earned her B.A. in Drama and History at Stanford University. She then completed her Master’s Degree in Arts in Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. While Sammi is relatively new in the field of directing, she has worked in theatre her whole life, which has helped her in her current career.

I welcome you to read on and learn more about Sammi’s inspiration, advice, and goals for the future as she does more exciting things in the theatre world. What led her to this path? Was it her childhood dream or something else? Let’s hear her story firsthand!

The Logician

Hi Sammi, and welcome to this interview! Thank you for being a part of this mission. Now, can you tell us more about yourself? Who is Sammi Cannold? How and why exactly did you choose your current career path?

Sammi Cannold

I’m a freelance theater director working mostly in New York and Cambridge, Mass.

I most frequently make musicals, but also spend time in the world of straight plays, ceremonies, circus, and film.

I think I ended up on this path initially because my parents are both in entertainment – my mom produces musicals and my dad produces TV and film, so from a young age, I was exposed to this magical place where people get to tell stories for a living!

I was really entranced by that and got lucky in that I started ‘directing’ (and loved it) when I was a teenager, so by the time I got to college, it was sort of inevitable.

The Logician

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on being among Forbes 30 under 30! Did you see this coming? What is the single thing you believe most contributed to your success?

Sammi Cannold

Thank you! I didn’t see it coming at all — I think part of being an artist is making work without the expectation of accolades for it. If you go in expecting everything you make – and by extension you — to be heralded as the best, you only have disappointment ahead of you.

And at the end of the day, it’s not about that to me – it’s about the process of making the work and the impact of it.

That said, it’s of course, an immense honor to be recognized by Forbes in this way. I don’t know their specific reasoning, but I’ve been given a number of opportunities to direct at a high level at a young age (i.e. at the American Repertory Theater and on Ellis Island) and am so tremendously grateful for them.

The Logician

As a theater director, you must have creative ideas all the time. Do you think that creativity involves putting your heart and soul into work? Or is it more like letting your mind flow freely? What do you do when you have no ideas?

Sammi Cannold

All of the above! I think creativity involves heart, soul, limitless thinking, and much more!

Personally, most of my ideas come from listening to music. I tend to make work that takes existing musicals and adapts/re-imagines them in some new way.

That new way tends to come when I’m listening to the album of a certain musical and imagining how it would be staged in my head.

And then as soon as I have that idea, I have to tell someone, usually my mom — I’m a big sharer. I trust that an idea is good, but I usually have to test it on her and a few trusted friends before pursuing it with full force.

The Logician

How hard is it for you to keep yourself motivated and interested in your work? Has your personal life influenced your career in general?

Sammi Cannold

It’s not hard for me at all because I love this line of work more than I can possibly express.

I think most directors of musicals would say that the line between our personal lives and our careers is very, very blurry — partly because these careers are all consuming but also partly because they require a lot of passion.

There’s this Eva Perón quote that is a little sick, but I love it: “I am nothing; my work is everything.”

To me, who I am as a human is inextricably tied to who I am as an artist. I don’t know who I’d be if I didn’t direct.

The Logician

According to you, how important is education? Do all people need to be well educated in order to be successful?

Sammi Cannold

I think it depends on how you define education.

I personally don’t think people need to go to college, for example, to be successful — many artists, in particular, don’t.

But I wouldn’t call myself any sort of expert on that subject.

My undergraduate and graduate courses were incredibly useful in what I do now, but I’m sure another route would have worked also.

The Logician

Who is your most significant influence? Why? Who is the person you could not have made it without?

Sammi Cannold

I have three I think — Rachel Chavkin, Diane Paulus, and Diane Borger.

Rachel and Diane P. are both Broadway directors whom I’ve had the great fortune of being an assistant and associate director for.

The way they’ve helmed musicals in particular and taught me how to do the same has been deeply inspiring.

And then Diane Borger is the Executive Producer of the American Repertory Theater (where Diane Paulus is the Artistic Director) and she’s taught me so much about leadership and artistic vitality.

The three of them have given me the most meaningful opportunities of my life and I am endlessly grateful.

The Logician

What is the ultimate message your work passes on? How would you like to be remembered?

Sammi Cannold

I think the beauty of working in theater is that you don’t have to choose one ultimate message — every piece has a different one, so over the course of your career, you can say a lot of different things in different ways.

But I tend to be most passionate about work that celebrates powerful women of history, work that confronts injustice and works that talks about climate change.

In terms of how I’d like to be remembered, I’m just 25 so admittedly haven’t totally thought about it yet.

The Logician

What do you do for fun? What matters in life? Can you explain what happiness means to you?

Sammi Cannold

Theater. I think that’s my honest answer; I go see theatre for fun as do most of my colleagues. That’s what I mean by ‘my work is everything.’

But it’s the benefit of working in this industry — when you can both be entertained and moved by something you ostensibly have to see for your job, it’s like winning the jackpot!

The Logician

Let’s say it is the year 2025. Where are you by then? What about your work? Do you have any plans?

Sammi Cannold

I can’t quite predict how far off any of this might be, but I’d like to direct Broadway musicals, I’d like to direct for Cirque du Soleil, I’d like to direct for film and TV, and one day in the far off future, I’d like to direct an Olympic Opening Ceremony!

And many future plans — that’s part of being a freelance artist — you always have to be planning your next project, because it’s not like other industries in which you can hold the same job for 10 years.

So, in the immediate future, I’m working on a number of readings and workshops of new plays and musicals as well as one revival of an existing musical this fall.

The Logician

Finally, yet importantly, what are your words of wisdom for someone starting in your field?

Sammi Cannold

I hesitate to phrase this as advice, because A. I’m still quite new myself and B. everyone’s experience is different, but my experience has been that it is exceptionally valuable to work in as many different theatrical capacities as you can if directing is where you want to end up.

The role of a director necessarily requires you to have a hand in all the departments that report to you, so the more time that you can spend as a young theatre-maker learning the challenges of different lines of work, the more you’ll be able to have a grasp on the full picture of your production later on.

When I first started working in theater, I stage managed, I acted, I ran crew, I set design, I produced, I lighting designed, and I choreographed — none of those things are what I’m doing now, but all have proven to be enormously helpful in what I’m doing now.

And actually, my one concrete piece of advice to any theater-maker starting out professionally is – please, for the love of God, make a website that represents you and what you do.

For better or worse, so much theatrical hiring and casting happen on the internet now and if you don’t have a way to represent yourself thereupon (for actors, meaning reels with both singing and straight acting on them) then it’s very easy to get passed over.

The Logician

Thank you, Sammi, for sharing your story with me. Your words on marketing yourself and getting yourself noticed are great advice. Your comments on blending your career and personal life have also struck me. The way you pour your heart and soul into your work is truly astounding. So, it will indeed pay off. I hope you will reach your future goals, and we will see you soon as a director on Broadway. I wish you the best of luck, as you have everything else you need to get there!

The Logician

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Sammi Cannold: Empowering Next Generation of Theater Directors

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