Rob Schneider

Robert W. Schneider (he/him/his) is an award-winning theater artist. As Artistic Director of the J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company, Robert directed their award-winning revivals of Seesaw, A Class Act, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, Woman of the Year, Sugar, and The Baker’s Wife, in which he collaborated with Stephen Schwartz on an intimate re-telling of the story. Robert received the Broadway World Award for Best Off-Off Broadway Musical and Director for Seesaw and The Baker’s Wife.

As Original Programming Producer at the Tony Award winning 54 Below, Robert has directed and produced over two hundred concerts for the venue and was nominated by Broadway World as Best Cabaret Director of the Decade. In this capacity, he has had the great pleasure creating most of the programs in their MAC Award winning 54 Sings, including original cast reunions of Ain’t Misbehavin, Memphis, and Curtains, as well as creating their widely acclaimed series 54 Celebrates Broadway Theaters and Broadway Bound: The Shows That Never Came to Broadway. While working at 54 Below he has had the pleasure of collaborating with Stephen Sondheim, Ahrens and Flaherty, John Kander, Joe Iconis, Marilyn Maye, Len Cariou, Andre DeShields, Ken Page, Jason Alexander, Darren Criss, Donna McKechnie, and many others.

Since 2016 audiences around the world have been introduced to Rob’s love of musical theatre through his podcast Behind The Curtain: Broadway’s Living Legends, where he interviews artists who have been working on Broadway for thirty plus years. Guests on the podcast have included Nathan Lane, Susan Stroman, Matthew Broderick, Lainie Kazan, Andre DeShields, Daphne Ruben-Vega, John Weidman, Lee Roy Reams, Joe Mantello, and Casey Nicholaw.

As a stage director, Robert has directed over 200 plays, musicals, readings, and workshops and has collaborated with such theatrical institutions as Second Stage, Lincoln Center, New York Philharmonic, Walnut Street Theater, Center Theater Group, MTC, PBS, and The York Theater. Regional directing credits include the regional premiere of Memphis (Ovation Nom/StageSceneLA Winner for Best Director/Best Musical), The Last Five Years, City of Angels, Cinderella, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, No, No, Nanette, Nine to Five, Spamalot, Lucky Stiff, The Drowsy Chaperone, Hairspray, Nine, and Merrily We Roll Along. He has served as an assistant to Lonny Price, Susan H. Schulman, and Richard Maltby, Jr.

Robert is one of the most notable figures in online theatrical education and is the author of Fifty Key Stage Musicals (Routledge Press).

He received his MFA in Direction for the Musical Theatre Stage from Pennsylvania State University and his BA in Political Science from California Lutheran University. Robert is a proud member of SDC, AEA, AGVA, ATHE, and the Dramatists Guild.

PSU Shows: Six Degrees of Separation, Company, Babes in Arms, A Man of No Importance, The Boys Next Door, The Good Doctor, All My Sons, Good People, and Hit The Wall.

One Night on Broadway returns to Centre Stage

Theatre alumnus establishes award recognizing LGBTQIA+ students