TV Exclusive: BACKSTAGE WITH RICHARD RIDGE- Tony Winner and AMALUNA Creator Diane Paulus!

Welcome to BWW's exclusive talk show, BACKSTAGE WITH Richard Ridge. Follow Richard as he visits the theater's best and brightest in their dressing rooms, on their stages and favorite hang outs to talk about their lives, careers and all of the things you don't know, but want to know. In the special interview below, Tony-winning director Diane Paulus, updates us on her latest project- AMALUNA, plus she reminisces about HAIR, PORGY AND BESS, PIPPIN, and more. Check out the full interview below!

Diane Paulus serves as the Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University and is the 2013 recipient of the Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical. Diane's recent accomplishments on Broadway includes A.R.T.'s 2013 Tony Award-winning revival of Pippin, A.R.T.'s 2012 Tony Award-winning revival of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess and The Public Theater's 2009 Tony winning revival of HAIR. Her recent work with A.R.T. includes The Donkey Show, a disco adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream; Prometheus Bound, a new musical inspired by Aeschylus's ancient Greek tragedy, written by Tony Award-winner Steven Sater (Spring Awakening) with music composed by Grammy Award-winner Serj Tankian; Tod Machover's Death and the Powers: The Robots' Opera, finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music; Best of Both Worlds and Johnny Baseball. As an opera director, Diane's credits include The Magic Flute, Il mondo della luna, Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, and the Monteverdi trilogy L'incoronazione di Poppea, Il ritorno d¹Ulisse in patria and Orfeo. Other work includes Kiss Me, Kate (Glimmerglass Opera) and Lost Highway (ENO co-production with the Young Vic).

Cirque du Soleil's Amaluna invites the audience to a mysterious island governed by Goddesses and guided by the cycles of the moon. Their queen, Prospera, directs her daughter's coming-of-age ceremony in a rite that honors femininity, renewal, rebirth and balance which marks the passing of these insights and values from one generation to the next. Performances are now on sale until May 18 and audiences can visit www.cirquedusoleil.com/amaluna for tickets and details.