Michael Arden

Everyone who worked on that show believed 100% that if we could just get people to see it, that it would melt any heart that came through the door.

Michael Arden builds theater that asks us to listen differently, see differently, and pay closer attention to one another.

Over the last two decades, he has moved through film, television, and theater, first as an actor and now as one of the most celebrated directors working in theater today.

He has created productions that hold intimacy alongside spectacle and humanity alongside extraordinary craft.

From Spring Awakening to Parade, from Maybe Happy Ending to bringing The Lost Boys to the stage, his productions return again and again to questions of belonging, connection, and what becomes possible when people truly feel seen.

Michael Arden, welcome to Design Matters.

So happy to be here with you.

Michael, is it true that one of your earliest adult performances was starring in a Domino's pizza commercial?

This is true.

It was one of my first jobs out of after I left school, living in New York, very, very broke actor at the time.

So I was very happy to get that job.

And were you a Domino's pizza fan or are you still one now?

I was not.

I mean, I do partake.

My husband is a huge Domino's fan.

Really?

Good to know.

But I'm a Papa John's guy.

I happen to be a big fan of Gotham Pizza, which is a pizzeria in Chelsea on 9th Avenue, and they have the best crust.

Well, let's be real.