Scott Keys

THEATRE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

SCOTT KEYS holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre Performance from Syracuse University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre Writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he was awarded the Oscar Hammerstein Fellowship for Distinguished Writing as well as recognition by the Edward Kleban and Jonathan Larson Foundations. Scott holds a degree in Secondary Education from Eckerd College and certification as a teacher of The Meisner Technique under the renown Larry Silverberg. He has been a theatre educator in Florida for 18 years and has been part of the theatre faculty at Booker Visual & Performing Arts High School in Sarasota since 1999. In 2008-2009 he was named Teacher of the Year at Booker. Recently he was nominated by Broadway World as Arts Educator of the Decade  in Sarasota. He is on the Board of the Florida Theatre Conference and served as the Chairman of the High School One Act Festival in 2020. He has directed over 150 plays and musicals in professional, civic and educational theatres throughout the country, and locally has directed for FST, Sarasota Players, Manatee Players and Venice Theatre including award winning productions of Kiss of The Spider Woman, Into The Woods and Assassins.  In 2005 he was awarded Best Director of a Secondary Production at The South Eastern Theatre Conference for BHS production of Seussical. Other awards and recognition include Passionella (FTC Best Production 2014), and original devised works such as The Anatomy of Steampunk, Alchemy: Tales of Transformation and the 2020 virtual work The Bone Orchard. With colleague and composer Johnnie Mnich he has written book and lyrics for Sleepy Hollow, and the upcoming political allegory, The Kingdom of Soilitaire.  He has served  as an adjudicator for the Florida Theatre Conference, Thespians, Theatre Odyssey as well as many area theatre competitions.  He was the Artistic Director of Weathervane Playhouse in Ohio for 8 seasons.  A published composer, playwright and lyricist, Scott served as an Artistic Associate at Playwright’s Horizons in New York and has had his work produced professionally nationally and internationally, including New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, L.A., Seattle, Madrid, and Dayton, OH, his hometown. He is proud to have devoted so much time to arts education and nurturing young talent, many who have gone on to successful careers in all aspects of the entertainment industry.