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David Coolidge is Associate Professor and serves as Director of Musical Theatre & Theatre at Anderson University. Currently, David is teaching the core curriculum for Musical Theatre and Theatre majors, and serves as Director for Main Stage productions (musicals, plays and operas). His passion for cultivating young talent has gone hand-in-hand with his professional career leading him to work at the highest levels of the Entertainment Industry as an Actor, Director, Writer and Coach.

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Upon graduation from the prestigious University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), David was cast in the Broadway National Tour of Parade directed by Hal Prince and toured the country with Jason Robert Brown. From there he worked with Jeff Calhoun in Deaf West Theatre’s pre-Broadway production of Big River, featuring a cast of deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing actors performing in both spoken English and American Sign Language (ASL).

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Coolidge went on to work at regional theatres in New York City and across the country including: The St. Louis MUNY, The Milwaukee Rep., Triad Stage, Clinton Showboat Theatre, Napa Valley Broadway Playhouse, Stamford Theatreworks, and workshop productions at the Abingdon Theatre Company, Huntington Theatre Company, Second Stage, and Playwright’s Horizons.

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The majority of David’s professional career was spent in the arena of new works and the cultivation of young talent. As a director and member of the team for New Works creative development, David was a proud contributor at TheatreworksUSA in New York City for five years. Starting as an Assistant Director, David went on to remount six national tours, and later was asked to come on board as Assistant Artistic Director. In this capacity he oversaw thirty national touring productions reaching an annual audience of over three million children, and directed the annual gala at the Rainbow Room in NYC featuring performances by cast members from the Broadway shows: Spring Awakening, Curtains, and The Ritz. David had the privilege of working with Broadway greats: Bobby Lopez, Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens, and many others.

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In Los Angeles, David acted as Director for Performing Arts Workshop’s Musical Theatre Summer Camp (rated Best Summer Camp in L.A. Parent’s Magazine, 2010), and developed the After-School Theatre Arts Program at James Jordan Middle School directing their very first school musical Peter Pan.

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In 2009 David began working with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Ohio to create multi-media productions to raise awareness of the issues surrounding mental illness in Northwest Ohio. Telling the stories of every-day citizens living with mental illness, these productions began to build bridges within the community by dismantling stigma and fostering an ongoing dialogue of openness and hope. The efforts of this endeavor garnered the Executive Director’s Award from NAMI of Ohio, and The Media Award from the Ohio Empowerment Coalition, and, in January 2011, David was named NAMI of Ohio’s Stigma Buster of the Month.

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In addition to David’s Academic teaching and directing, his creative scholarship interests include continuing to work professionally as a director, actor, and writer. Most recent professional directing credits include: Art at the Alley Theatre, My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra at the Clinton Showboat Theatre, and Broadway Review featuring MET tenor Lawrence Brownlee with the Anderson Symphony Orchestra. Most recent performing credits include: Felix in The Odd Couple at the Clinton Showboat Theatre, and a cabaret of new musical theatre works at Anderson University in collaboration with Valerie Maze, Associate Conductor of Lyric Opera of Chicago. As a writer, David secured grant funding to work on a new musical based upon the life of Albert Einstein; a public presentation of this work was performed by students at Anderson University. Having recently earned his teaching certification in Archetypes, he is currently conducting scholarly research on the effectiveness of utilizing rituals in arts education and performance practices.

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David is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.

B.F.A., University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

M.F.A., University of North Carolina, Greensboro