March is Women’s History Month and The Happiest Medium would like to take the opportunity to highlight, showcase and celebrate just a fraction of the wonderful women we’ve had the great good fortune to cross paths with over the last year. These women of the arts hail from different disciplines, but they all have an indomitable spirit and a luminescent spark that makes them amazing human beings who are out there every day, doing amazing work.
We kick off our series today with Glory Kadigan – Executive Director/Artistic Curator of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. Ms. Kadigan has served as the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity’s Executive Director for two seasons. Prior to founding Planet Connections, she worked as the Artistic Director and as the Managing Director of various other theater festivals. She has also worked extensively as a Special Events Coordiator, Box Office Manager, Stage Manager, Director, and Internship Coordinator.
The Happiest Medium was honored to be a sponsor of Planet Connections last year and we hope to continue that partnership for years to come! I’ll let Glory tell you more . . .
Glory Kadigan
Talk to me about being a woman who does what you do.
I don’t want to glamorize it and say that it is always easy and perfect – it isn’t. But I do believe that more people like me should step up to leadership positions because not everyone in a capitlist society thinks about their community. I’m very passionate about my community. My ability to care about the world, and about other people, has sometimes been viewed by my competitors as a weakness – but really – it is a great strength and should be valued.
Are there days it makes a difference – good or bad?
Definitely. I know that me and my team always make a difference not only to the artists we support but to the causes they have elected to champion and to the enviroment over all which means we have global impact.
Are there barriers you fought against in the past that are now becoming easier?
I’m not affected as much by the challenges – but yes, there are still barriers. It is never easy to lead anything – but, I believe its important to use whatever strengths you were given, to help others – and Planet Connections – as well as directing plays – is how I do that.
The men that you work with and interact with – do they treat you as an equal?
Well I’m not really sure that any straight man I’ve EVER met has thought of me as his equal – one way or the other. When I meet this man, I’d like to go on a date with him.
For more information about Glory you can visit her website and also see what’s happening at the Planet Connections Festivities site.
A little more about Ms. Kadigan:
She is an alum of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and of The Labyrinth Theater Company’s Master Class. Ms. Kadigan is an associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and has been the recipient of the Meritorious Achievement Award in Direction from the Kennedy Center A.C.T.F.
Among her directing credits are: Always Family (The Kirk Theatre at Theatre Row), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Robert Moss Theatre), Two Rooms (Active Theatre Company at The Workshop Theatre), North of Providence (Altered Stages), Serenading Louie (Stella Adler Black Box) Anomal (ATA-Off Broadway), Avalon (Looking Glass Theatre), The Tempest, Measure For Measure, The Snow Queen, Special Delivery, Foursome (HERE), Evening with Family (The Brick), Golem Stories (Chashama), and the Maternal Instinct (Workshop Theatre).
Regional Credits Include: The Glass Menagerie, Pippin, Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Uncommon Women and Others, Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Lady of Larkspur Lotion, The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man in The Moon, Marigolds, and Ten Little Indians.
Besides directing, Ms. Kadigan is an actress and playwright. Her work as a playwright has been performed at The Public, The Looking Glass Theatre, The Players Club, and Playwrights Horizons. As an actress she has performed at The Bleecker Street Theater, TADA, and The Connelly.
Outside of theater, Ms. Kadigan has been an active supporter of her community. She works in a soup kitchen, leads a Girl Scout Troop in Harlem and has raised thousands of dollars for Breast Cancer research and other causes. Ms. Kadigan is also part of The New Orleans Initiative and has traveled to New Orleans to work with Katrina survivors.
Thank you so much, Glory, for sharing a little bit about yourself with us today, and for helping us kick off our celebration of Women in the Arts.
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