Making the Most of Your Resources With Task Unification

Director John Doyle replaced the cost of hiring musicians in staging musicals by giving the responsibility to his actors to play musical accompaniments onstage. This innovative technique allowed him to produce crowd-pleasing musicals on a tiny budget. His actor-musicianship method turned out to be much more than an exercise in penny-pinching as it sent shock waves through the international theater scene. He won a Tony Award for Best Director for his production of Sweeney Todd in 2006 and Best Musical Revival in 2007 for his production of Company.