Michael Arden

He was really writing about some real-life things.

And at the same time I was doing that show, I lost both my grandparents.

Pat and Jim passed away during that process.

Kind of suddenly.

My grandpa had a stroke.

She passed away that same week.

Suddenly.

And then I was kind of taking care of him for a long time and then he passed away.

But in a way, I'm so grateful for that show because it allowed me a place to place my grief.

Quasimodo.

Oh, my God.

I mean, he he buries his father and the one person who ever showed him kindness like he as it through a child's mind has to process grief.

And that was an intense time.

And I luckily had a place I could grieve every night on stage.

After Spring Awakening was revived, you got your first Tony nomination in 2016.

And then in 2018, you were nominated again for the play you directed once on this island.

You transformed Circle in the Square into a post-hurricane Haitian landscape, which changed dramatically.

The physical relationship between the audience and the story itself.

I saw the show.

I was seated in the first row, which meant I literally was on the stage, my feet in the sand.