“It’s like any relationship,” says Michael Innocenti of his co-direction of “Cabaret” at the Keegan Theatre with Christina A. Coakley. “There are times when you have to fight for what you think is right. You have to be willing to debate. And then there are other times when you have to compromise and relent, mainly so that she can continue to want to sleep with me.”
Okay, so technically this co-directionship is not “like any relationship,” because it is like the out-of-office relationship Innocenti and Coakley have enjoyed for five years: a romantic (and often professional) partnership.
Both Innocenti, 32, and Coakley, 26, have long histories with Keegan. Innocenti has worked there for seven years, by his count acting in 20 shows and production-managing more than 50. Coakley has been at Keegan since 2007, working on 20 productions as a stage manager and assistant director. “Cabaret” is the fourth show she’s directed. Both are executive staff members at Keegan.
For “Cabaret,” they agreed from the start not to “put too much director concept into a show,” said Coakley, because doing so “is not respectful to the production itself. [But] we also want to be original and have our own thoughts and ideas infused into the production.”
