Tony Award-winning Director, Writer, and Dramaturg Rachel Chavkin is one of the most distinctive and innovative directors working on Broadway. She is best known for her award-winning musicals Hadestown and Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812.

A longtime staple of the off-Broadway scene, Chavkin has become recognized for her visceral directing style and seamless blend of experimental avant-garde with the traditional Broadway aesthetic. In her speaking engagements, she discusses the importance of diversity in theater, both in diversity of talent and in the incorporation of diverse elements in order to create innovative work.

After a twisty 13-year road to Broadway, Chavkin’s Hadestown finally opened in March 2019. Released to critical acclaim, the New York Times called it “sumptuous, hypnotic” and “gorgeous,” while the WSJ ranked it as “the best new musical of the season.” Based on the music, lyrics, and book by Anaïs Mitchell, Hadestown is a folksy reimagining of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It received 14 Tony nominations, winning eight, including for Best Musical and Best Original Score, and earned Chavkin a Tony, Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Director of a Musical. 

Chavkin directed Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1912, based on a 70-page segment from Tolstoy’s War and Peace. The show was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, winning two, while Chavkin was nominated for Best Direction of a Musical, and won an Obie Award, Elliot Norton Award, a Drama Desk Award, and several others for Best Director. 

She is the founding artistic director of Brooklyn-based group the TEAM, an ensemble dedicated to creating new work about the experience of living in modern America. They have performed all over the U.K., including at the National Theatre, the Royal Court, and in multiple collaborations with the National Theatre of Scotland.

Chavkin’s first film, Remind Me, was an official selection of the Venice and Beverly Hills Film Festivals. Proud NYTW Usual Suspect and Member SDC. 

She is currently working with composer Dave Malloy on an adaptation of Moby Dick.

Chavkin earned her BFA at NYU where she now serves on the directing faculty at Playwrights Horizons Theater School and earned her MFA at Columbia University.