Michael Mayer

Directing

Michael Mayer

Born 1960-06-27 · Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Michael Mayer (born June 27, 1960) is an American stage and film director. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in 2007 for directing Spring Awakening. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Mayer (director), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

La Traviata poster
7.8

Any new Met production of Verdi’s beloved tragedy La Traviata would be noteworthy, but Michael Mayer’s dazzling staging, which premiered during the 2018–19 season, was doubly significant as it marked Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s first performances as the Met’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director. On the podium for this Live in HD transmission, Nézet-Séguin leads a starry ensemble. As Violetta, the consumptive heroine fighting to find true happiness, soprano Diana Damrau delivers yet another compelling portrayal on the Met stage. Tenor Juan Diego Flórez sings his first Verdi role with the company, as Violetta’s ardent yet impetuous lover, Alfredo, and baritone Quinn Kelsey rounds out the principal cast as Giorgio Germont, Alfredo’s implacable father.

La Traviata

2018

Single All the Way poster
6.4

Desperate to avoid his family’s judgment about his perpetual single status, Peter convinces his best friend Nick to join him for the holidays and pretend that they’re now in a relationship. But when Peter’s mother sets him up on a blind date with her handsome trainer James, the plan goes awry.

Single All the Way

2021

The Seagull poster
5.4

At a picturesque lakeside estate, a love triangle unfolds between the legendary diva Irina, her lover Boris, and the ingénue Nina.

The Seagull

2018

Flicka poster
6.9

Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.

Flicka

2006

A Home at the End of the World poster
6.4

Three friends form a bond over the year, Johnathan is gay, Clare is straight and Bobby is neither, instead he loves the people he loves. As their lives go on there is tension and tears which culminate in a strong yet fragile friendship between the three.

A Home at the End of the World

2004

Wig poster
5.8

Spotlighting the art of drag, and centered on the New York staple Wigstock, this documentary showcases the personalities and performances that inform the ways we understand queerness, art and identity today.

Wig

2019

American Heart in WWI: A Carnegie Hall Tribute poster
NR

In this live theatrical event, John Monsky brings to life the story of the Great War through the lens of "The Great Gatsby" and powerful storytelling.

American Heart in WWI: A Carnegie Hall Tribute

2025

Bombshell in Concert poster
9.3

The stars of the NBC musical drama series Smash reunite virtually for a special one-night-only streaming event featuring the never-seen sold-out live performance of Bombshell in Concert.

Bombshell in Concert

2020

The Metropolitan Opera: Rigoletto poster
8.5

Michael Mayer’s acclaimed production, first seen in the 2012–13 season, sets the action of Verdi’s masterpiece in 1960 Las Vegas—a neon-lit world ruled by money and ruthless, powerful men. Piotr Beczała is the Duke, a popular entertainer and casino owner who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Željko Lučić sings Rigoletto, his sidekick and comedian, and Diana Damrau is Rigoletto’s innocent daughter, Gilda. When she is seduced by the Duke, Rigoletto sets out on a tragic course of murderous revenge. Štefan Kocán is the assassin Sparafucile and Michele Mariotti conducts.

The Metropolitan Opera: Rigoletto

2013

The Language of Flowers poster
NR

After being released from the foster care system, a young woman finds work in a flower shop, where she changes the lives of others while working to overcome her own troubled past with her foster mother. Based on the NY Times bestseller.

The Language of Flowers

The Metropolitan Opera: Aida poster
8.0

Soprano Angel Blue makes her long-awaited Met role debut as the Ethiopian princess torn between love and country, one of opera’s defining roles.

The Metropolitan Opera: Aida

2025

The Metropolitan Opera: Grounded poster
8.0

Two-time Tony Award–winning composer Jeanine Tesori’s powerful new opera Grounded, commissioned by the Met and based on librettist George Brant’s acclaimed play, wrestles with the ethical quandaries and psychological toll of 21st-century warfare.

The Metropolitan Opera: Grounded

2024

The Metropolitan Opera: Grounded poster
8.0

Two-time Tony Award–winning composer Jeanine Tesori’s powerful new opera Grounded, commissioned by the Met and based on librettist George Brant’s acclaimed play, wrestles with the ethical quandaries and psychological toll of 21st-century warfare.

The Metropolitan Opera: Grounded

2024

God Bless You, Mr Rosewater poster
9.0

Follows Elliot Rosewater, heir of a massive fortune controlled by the Rosewater Foundation, as he deals with the guilt surrounding his wealth. At the same time, young lawyer Norman Mushari attempts to track down the other. less wealthy branch of the Rosewater family, to convince them to sue their wealthy cousins.

God Bless You, Mr Rosewater

2016

The Metropolitan Opera: Marnie poster
10.0

Composer Nico Muhly unveils his second new opera for the Met with this gripping reimagining of Winston Graham’s novel, set in the 1950s, about a beautiful, mysterious young woman who assumes multiple identities. Director Michael Mayer and his creative team have devised a fast-moving, cinematic world for this exhilarating story of denial and deceit, which also inspired a film by Alfred Hitchcock. Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard sings the enigmatic Marnie, and baritone Christopher Maltman is the man who pursues her—with disastrous results. Robert Spano conducts.

The Metropolitan Opera: Marnie

2018