Ellie Heyman

Ellie Heyman is a Drama League Award-winning director of theatre and film. She uses beauty and physicality to crack open the heart of a story.

She directs new musicals, new plays, and film. She is currently developing a film with Tony Kushner.

Her production of The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America — featuring Glenn Close, Patti LuPone, Laura Linney, Paul Dano, Brian Tyree Henry, and Andrew Rannells — won the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production and was named "Best Theater" by both the New York Times and New York Magazine.

She co-created The Orbiting Human Circus (of the Air) for Night Vale Presents and WNYC, featuring John Cameron Mitchell, Tim Robbins, Charlie Day, and Mandy Patinkin — downloaded over 5 million times and rated #1 on Apple Podcasts.

She is the director of Scarlet Night, Virgin Voyages' flagship full-ship spectacle, running across all four ships of the fleet.

She was the Director in Residence at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater for four years, where she directed Becca Blackwell's solo debut, They, Themself and Schmerm, among many other shows.

Her work has been produced by the Public Theater, MCC, Barrington Stage, Pioneer Theatre Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Lincoln Center, Theater J, and others, and has earned Lortel, Drama Desk, Bessie, and Producers Guild Award nominations and wins.

She has worked closely with writers and artists including Tony Kushner, Dave Malloy, Jenny Rachel Weiner, Jeff Talbott, Will Van Dyke, Julian Koster (Neutral Milk Hotel), and Jesse Malin.

Ellie holds a BS from Northwestern University and an MFA from Boston University. She is a Drama League Directing Fellow and a Time Warner Directing Fellow at WP Theatre.