Lincolnshire native achieves success as director, choreographer
When Brenda Didier was 8 years old, her best friend enrolled in ballet class. Didier's mother thought Brenda should take ballet too.
She disagreed.
She hated putting on tights. She hated attending class. She hated it right up until she found herself in costume, under the lights onstage, front and center for the annual recital.
That experience changed her opinion about dance. It also set Didier on her life's course, which has taken her from professional dancer and teacher, to choreographer and director.
Along the way, the Lincolnshire native picked up Joseph Jefferson Award nominations, earning five for choreography and two for directing. Her latest project, Theo Ubique's "A Light in the Piazza," which she codirected with Fred Anzevino, received rave reviews that resulted in the show being extended through May 20.
Her choreography also has been seen at Bohemian Theatre Ensemble, Porchlight Music Theatre, Cirque Shanghai at Navy Pier's Skyline Stage, Teatro Vista, Stage Left and at the Chicago Shakespeare, Goodman and Mercury theaters among others.
"I feel really lucky," said the vivacious Didier.
Luck has nothing to do with Didier's success, said Fred Anzevino, founder and artistic director of Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre; it's all about talent. Anzevino met Didier in 2009, after a scheduling glitch cost him his "Evita" choreographer and someone recommended Didier.
"The first time I met her, we went through the score and she blew me away with her enthusiasm, knowledge and creative artistry," said Anzevino, who encouraged Didier to pursue directing.
Didier, while relatively new to directing, says she approaches it without fear.
"You have to make strong choices and plow through," she said.
So far it's paid off.
"She knows how to tell a story through dance," said Anzevino, who codirected 2010's "Chess" with Didier.
She's also a favorite among actors, one of whom inquired where he could buy the happiness pills Didier takes, Anzevino said.
"She has such an open heart. The performers love and respect her," he said. "But she's sharp. There's no fooling around."
Her dedication started early.
By 16, Didier was dancing professionally at Great America in Gurnee. Two years later, the Carmel Catholic High School graduate was off to the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana on a dance scholarship.
That set the stage for a career that saw Didier perform with various dance companies. She also danced in musicals at Drury Lane Theatre in Oak Brook, Evanston's Light Opera Works and Theatre at the Center, in Hammond, Ind., among other places. At the same time, she taught at U of I, Northwestern University, Carthage College and at Elizabeth Campbell's Dance Academy in Lincolnshire.
After Campbell sold her school, Didier opened the Lincolnshire Academy of Dance in 1999. She had 16 students initially. Now she has 475, with 100 enrolling since June 2011, when the school moved into a larger Vernon Hills space.
"I anticipated (the school) would last five years. Here it is 13 years later," said Didier.
Didier had it all: a career, a husband, a thriving school and choreography jobs that took her around the country and as far away as China. At 38, an age by which many other dancers have already retired, she was still doing eight shows a week until a Sunday matinee convinced her it was time to hang up her dancing shoes.
"My knees," she said, "you really feel it."
Retiring from the stage left more time for choreography which - like directing - is all about telling a tale.
"Your job as a choreographer is to tell a story and serve the piece," said Didier.
She says she's learned more from her missteps than her triumphs.
While working on "Parade" in 2004 for Bailiwick Repertory Theater, director David Zak took Didier aside and told her to focus not on what the actors were doing, but why they were doing it.
"That was a challenge because I was coming at it from a dance and not an audience point of view," said Didier. But she took Zak's suggestion, refined her choreography and earned a Jeff nomination her efforts.
More accolades followed, and two years ago Anzevino invited Didier to codirect Theo Ubique's revival of "Chess."
"Our goals are the same but our ways of going about it are different," said Didier. "He's slow and methodical. I'm not."
"I come from a strict acting background. She comes from a strict dance background," Anzevino said. Yet "we have a humility and an honesty in our approach that complements each other."
That same year, Didier directed and choreographed Theo Ubique's acclaimed re-imagined revival of "Cats," which earned her a pair of 2011 Jeff Awards.
Anzevino says he'd love to see Didier tackle a straight drama or comedy, and he'd like to give her a show during the upcoming season.
"I totally trust Brenda. As artistic director I have all the confidence in the world to put a project in her lap," he said.
Didier's dance card is pretty full. Along with teaching three classes (down from 20) at the Lincolnshire Academy, she's choreographing Silk Road Rising's "Re-Spiced: A Silk Road Cabaret" opening Wednesday, April 4, and a college production of "The Drowsy Chaperone." Next year, she'll team up with director Michael Weber and music director Doug Peck for Porchlight's revival of "Pal Joey."
At 47, Didier has become more selective about projects while still embracing new challenges.
"I love taking risks," she said. "I'm not afraid to fail."
“The Light in the Piazza”
Location: No Exit Cafe, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday through May 20. No shows May 3 and 10.
Tickets: $34-$39. Call (800) 595-4849 or