About
Kurt Domoney is a New York City based director, choreographer, actor, and coach and has choreographed a broad spectrum of projects from musical theatre to opera. As a director / choreographer, he has mounted productions of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE at Opera North in NH, A CHORUS LINE with original choreography at Northwestern University, and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME at the Carnegie in Cincinnati, OH. He also recently choreographed EVITA, LA BELLE HELENE, DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT, TALES OF HOFFMAN and BARBER OF SEVILLE at Opera North in Lebanon, NH. In addition, he directed and choreographed the world premiere musical PRINCESS DIANA, THE MUSICAL at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC and his most challenging work to date, THE LION KING JR with 96 5th graders! For two seasons, Kurt choreographed at Transcendence Theatre Company in Sonoma, CA; his work included the concerts of FLY ME TO THE MOON, ONE SINGULAR SENSATION, and the FANTASTICAL FAMILY NIGHT.
His work lives in the honesty of the moment and his favorite is when the work leans towards zany, fun spontaneous and irreverent.
Having been a performer and member of Actors’ Equity for 25 years, Kurt takes his hands on experience having performed in the Broadway company of the revival of A CHORUS LINE, the national tours of 42ND STREET and WHITE CHRISTMAS and tons of regional theatre work to his directing and choreography practice. Mr. Domoney is a graduate of the musical theatre program at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts (focusing on directing and choreography) from Wilson College.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Musical theatre has taken on many forms over the past one hundred years and has always been highly influenced by the internal conflicts of the time. I strive to create work as a director and choreographer within this art form that honors the lineage of the innovators of the past while investing in those serving the contemporary genre. How can I find the human experience in a classic piece and make it relevant to audiences today? How can I best serve a story, a creative team and an audience from rehearsal to performance through clear vision and detailed staging?
My work is usually created within the confines of already written and composed work. For me, researching the time period of a musical while discovering the social and historical influence of the time helps to make a piece relevant to today. The powerful question of “why” is always key in my creation as well as what part of the human experience is being explored? Discovering whether the original intention was to be a social commentary and if not, I try to see if there is an underlying sense of social justice within the piece.
I use style and narrative to create work as a danced monologue or scene. I give the performer specific action(s) within a piece and use the intention to create change within the artist and the audience. Ultimately, my aesthetic is creating a visceral rather than a cerebral experience for the observer. In the past, dance has always been the main artery to the visceral experience for me and then, over time, have also incorporated the power of song and dialogue in my work.