Artist Vignettes with BETHANY director Gaye Taylor Upchurch

We sat down with director, Gaye Taylor Upchurch, and asked her to share a few of her favorite things with you…

Favorite NYC pastime:
Walking/biking along the Hudson at Riverside Park, searching for the best burger, reading at my coffee shop/office, a bloody mary brunch with friends.

Best neighborhood restaurant:
Toss up between Fred’s and Good Enough to Eat (Upper West Side)

Cocktail hotspot:
My kitchen

Theater that’s inspired you lately:
Ann Hamilton at the Armory: the event of a thread; Melissa James Gibson’s What Rhymes with America (directed by Daniel Aukin); Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (directed by Rachel Chavkin)

Who’s on your fantasy dinner party guest list:
Martha Graham, J.R.R. Tolkien, Marie Curie, Nicholas Kristof, Zadie Smith, Louise Nevelson, Caitlin Moran, Mark Rothko, Michael Stipe, Isabella Blow, Ben & Jerry.

What’s on your playlist for walking around NYC?
The National
Beach House (Myth)
Sharon Van Etton (All I Can, Don’t Do It)
TV on the Radio (You)
Alt-J (Something Good, Tesselate)
The Lumineers (Ho Hey)
Bach (Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 & Yo-Yo Ma playing the Cello Suites)
Ravel (String Quartet in F Major)
St. Vincent (Chloe in the Afternoon, Paris is Burning)
Laura Marling (Ghosts, Rambling Man)
Florence + The Machine (Dog Days are Over)
Avett Brothers (Head Full of Doubt)
Atlas Sound (The Shakes, Te Amo)
Elliot Smith (Waltz #2 XO)
Dvorak (Silent Woods)
Cowboy Junkies (their cover of To Live is to Fly)

Dream holiday destination?
Right now, it’s India.

A quote you love:
All we gotta do is be brave and be kind. –The National

What are 5 facts about you that would surprise your theater friends?
1. I am a marching band fanatic.
2. I went skydiving to overcome my fear of heights*. (*I am still afraid of heights.)
3. I lived in Yosemite National Park for 6 months.
4. I make an amazing squash soufflé.
5. I want to be a drummer.

GAYE TAYLOR UPCHURCH directed WP’s production of BETHANY by Laura Marks, 2012/13 Season. Other Off-Broadway credits: Simon Stephens’s Harper Regan with Mary McCann (Atlantic Theater); Simon Stephens’s Bluebird with Simon Russell Beale (Atlantic Theater). Her work has been seen at the Culture Project, La Mama, and Lincoln Center Institute among others, and she has developed new work at New Dramatists, NY Stage & Film, The Kennedy Center, Dixon Place, Playwright’s Center, Geva, LCT Director’s Lab, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. She worked with Sam Mendes as Associate Director on The Bridge Project’s productions of The Cherry Orchard, The Winter’s Tale, Tempest, and As You Like It (BAM/Old Vic/International tour). She is an alumna of the Women’s Project Directors Lab and The Drama League.