David Alpert is an award-winning New York City-based director (SDC), whose work has been applauded by both The New York Times and The New Yorker. As a director of both musicals and plays, his work has taken him across the country and has brought him into rehearsal rooms with some of the leading players in the Broadway community. On Broadway, he served as the Associate Director on If/Then (written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning team of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, directed by Michael Greif) and the Tony-Award winning production of The Trip to Bountiful (also at the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles), and assisted on The Best Man as well as Guys and Dolls. David serves as the creative director for Tony Award-winner Idina Menzel (Carnegie Hall Tour 2019, Radio City 2014, Bridges Tour with Josh Groban 2018), is an adjunct professor on the acting faculty for the NYU Steinhardt Vocal Performance program, and is the proud producer of the “Living for Today” concert series, the main fundraiser for Gilana's Fund.
David has had the great pleasure to work with some of Broadway and Hollywood’s leading actors including Angela Lansbury, James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Renée Fleming, Betty Buckley, LaChanze, John Larroquette, Idina Menzel, Danny Burstein, Jefferson Mays, Vanessa Williams, Elizabeth Ashley, John Stamos, Cuba Gooding Jr., Sarah Paulson, Blair Underwood, and Candice Bergen.
Selected New York credits as Director: The Apple Boys (by Ben Bonnema & Jonothon Lyons, HERE Arts Center, Ars Nova, Dixon Place), A Little Night Music (NYU Steinhardt), Death Note (Music by Frank Wildhorn), A Scythe of Time (by Alan Harris & Mark Swanson, NYMF, Best Director Nomination), Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera (by Elizabeth Searle & Michael Teoli, NYMF), The Moon and the Sea (by Creighton Irons), Barnyard Follies (by Sam Carner), Rails (by Tom Kelly & Tom Kenton, NYMF), The Wonderful Mr. & Mrs. O’Leary (by Matte O’Brien), Joseph...Dreamcoat, The Four of Us, Do Me a Little (NY International Fringe Festival), Everything is Fine (ASCAP/Stephen Schwartz), Here Today (Theatre Row), 8Minute Musicals (NYMF), Cocaine: The Band: The Musical starring Tony-Award winner Lena Hall (NYMF), concerts at Joe's Pub, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Room, Sweet Caroline’s, the Duplex and the Laurie Beechman Theater. He is the founding Artistic Director of Headline Programming for BroadwayCon, a convention for thousands of Broadway fans held in New York City.
Selected Regional: Vanya & Sonia... (Farmers Alley Theatre), Fully Committed (Mason Street Warehouse, Wilde Award Winner), Unnecessary Farce (Mason Street Warehouse), Baby with the Bathwater (Western Michigan University, Guest Artist), It's Only a Play (Farmers Alley Theatre), Misconception (Jabez Sanford Hardin Center), Urinetown, Little Shop Of Horrors, 1776 (Guthrie Theater, directing team), and Cherry County Playhouse.
As an Associate Director, David’s credits include the world premiere of Tony Kushner’s The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide… (Guthrie Theater), Talley’s Folly (Roundabout), The Old Friends (Signature), Flashdance (National Tour), A Walk on the Moon (NY Stage and Film), and White Noise (Whoopi Goldberg, producer).
Every year, David proudly presents the “Living for Today” concert series, which brings together Broadway performers for a night of music to benefit Gilana’s Fund, a non-profit organization that supports educational programming celebrating acceptance. The concert has attracted such stars as Idina Menzel, Vanessa Williams, Jim Dale, Alice Ripley, LaChanze, Tituss Burgess, Lena Hall, Paige Davis, Kate Mulgrew, Bebe Neuwirth, Candice Bergen, and many, many more. The Fund was created in 2007 after David’s sister Gilana passed away at the age of 26, and to date, Gilana’s Fund has raised nearly $100,000.
As part of the Broadway Podcast Network, David created and hosts "E-Ticket to Broadway," a new podcast where Broadway stars share their love of the Disney Theme Parks. Guests include Susan Egan, Idina Menzel, Jessie Mueller, Andrew Barth Feldman, and more.
David is currently an adjunct professor at NYU Steinhardt. He has taught for The American Theatre Wing's Springboard NYC, Broadway Evolved, Broadway Arts Factory, Camp Broadway, The Usdan Center, Play Group Theater, The Broadway Experience (in NYC and Rome, Italy), Muskegon Civic Theatre, Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, and Western Michigan University, as well as Broadway Audition Workshop for professional actors in New York City with Kaitlin Shaw of Tara Rubin Casting. In 2006, David was selected to direct a new play at the American College Theatre Festival.
David is a member of SDC and graduated summa cum laude from Western Michigan University with a BA in Directing, as well as a BA in Stage Management. Upon graduation, he was awarded both of the Department's top honors, the Presidential Scholar, and the Conspicuous Achievement in Theatre Award, and in 2016 was selected as a Distinguished Alumni.