Doug Scholz-Carlson is Artistic Director of the Great River Shakespeare Festival where he has directed productions including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Comedy of Errors, Hamlet, The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline, Shakespeare in Love, Richard III, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and Cymbeline and played more than 20 roles including Henry in King Henry V, Thomas in Venus in Fur, Feste in Twelfth Night and Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
Doug was the first intimacy director at the Metropolitan Opera where he has worked on more than 14 productions including Fire Shut Up in my Bones, Grounded, Medea, Dead Man Walking, Rosenkavalier, Hamlet and Eurydice. He is a national expert on intimacy for opera teaching workshops including at the national convention of Opera America and for training programs including Julliard and Minnesota Opera. In addition to the Met, he has worked on productions for Minnesota Opera, San Diego Opera and San Antonio Opera.
Recent opera directing credits include Cosi fan Tutte and Albert Herring for Minnesota Opera, Sweeney Todd for Austin Opera and Utah Opera, Romeo et Juliette for Kansas City Opera, The Pirates of Penzance at Kentucky Opera and She Love Me, A Little Night Music and The Barber of Seville for Madison Opera. He assistant directed Kavalier & Clay, Innocence, Moby Dick, Macbeth, Grounded, Porgy and Bess, Medea, Dead Man Walking and the revival of Fire Shut Up in my Bones for the Metropolitan Opera
Also known as a fight choreographer, Doug’s fights have appeared in productions at theaters including The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, San Diego Opera, Madison Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Utah Opera, The Guthrie Theater, The Children’s Theater Company, Park Square Theatre, Minnesota Opera and the Seattle Police Department, and were featured in the world premiers of the operas The Grapes of Wrath and Silent Night which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013.
As an actor, Doug has performed at theaters including The Guthrie Theater, Children’s Theater Company, Repertory Theater of St. Louis, Utah Shakespeare Festival, The Jungle Theater, Chanhassen Theaters and the Seattle Repertory Theater. Doug is a graduate of St. Olaf College and holds an MFA from the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of Washington.
Up-Coming:
As of September, 2026
The Metropolitan Opera | Assistant Director | Medea
The Metropolitan Opera | Assistant Director | Fancuila del West
The Metropolitan Opera | Intimacy Director | Rosenkavalier
Great River Shakespeare Festival | Director | King Lear
Charlottesville Opera | La Traviata
Resumes:
Updated November 2024: Doug Scholz-Carlson CV
Please contact me for the most recent resumes,
