Tara Branham’s directorial work, which has been presented by companies across the United States, encompasses classical mainstays, world premieres, and is consistently praised for its compelling attention to detail, blisteringly truthful performances, and edge-of-your seat staging.
Most recently, she directed a new production of Cosi fan tutte for Opera Theater of Saint Louis and wrote and directed a new pastiche for the Heiman Digital Studio at Opera San Jose. As the Resident Director for Opera San Jose, Tara made her California Theater premiere with Puccini’s Tosca. During her tenure, she directed eight digital productions. By developing a hybrid medium during the global pandemic, she gave opera lovers the breathtaking sound of live opera and stunning visuals not possible in live theater when many companies had stopped production. Her direction of Three Decembers produced by Opera San Jose starring Susan Graham has been streamed around the world.
With a penchant for introducing new audiences and young people to live performance, Tara’s digital productions of The Barber of Seville and The Magic Flute have been seen by over 80,000 students nationwide. She also directed the puppet-centered, family friendly, remount of Amahl and the Night Visitors with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. She also helmed an environmentally conscious US premiere of Coraline, an adaptation of the YA novel by Neil Gaiman, co-produced by West Edge Opera and Papermoon Opera Productions.
In her 10 years of directing indie theatre in Chicago, Tara developed, led dramaturgy, and directed 14 world premiere plays. Playwrights and actors she’s mentored have gone on to write nationally recognized plays, lead writers rooms and act for prime-time television shows, and star in Academy Award winning films. She is the teacher and creator of the Unbridled Sound – a physical/vocal technique for performers. She graduated cum laude from Ball State University and currently teaches Opera Theater for San Jose State University.
