Sher served as associate
artistic director at Hartford Stage (Hartford, Connecticut) and company director at the
Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, Minnesota) where he worked with Garland Wright, who was a mentor as was
Robert Woodruff. Sher has directed, taught and led workshops across the country and internationally. He was artistic director at
Intiman Theatre in Seattle and in 2008 was named resident director at
Lincoln Center Theater in New York City.
Intiman Playhouse, Seattle Sher served as
artistic director at
Intiman Playhouse in
Seattle from 2000 to 2010. During 2010 Sher handed over this job to his successor,
Kate Whoriskey. (The Intiman cancelled its 2011 season due to financial problems.) His productions at Intiman have included: •
Nickel and Dimed, a world premiere by
Joan Holden based on the book by
Barbara Ehrenreich; •
Tony Kushner's
Homebody/Kabul (British housewife becomes fascinated with Afghanistan); •
Ingmar Bergman's
Nora (adaptation of
Henrik Ibsen's ''A Doll's House'' ); •
G. B. Shaw's
Arms and the Man; • Shakespeare's
Cymbeline and
Titus Andronicus; •
Carlo Goldoni's
The Servant of Two Masters ; • Works by
Craig Lucas: :
The Dying Gaul (a funny and tragic story of a grieving Hollywood scriptwriter) :
The Singing Forest (neurotics and therapists sparring) — world premiere :
Prayer for My Enemy (
dysfunctional family, friendship, war in Iraq) :
The Light in the Piazza, book by Lucas (a chance meeting in Florence leads to romance)
Other theatre and opera At the
Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) in New York, Sher directed productions of
Waste by
Harley Granville Barker in 2000 (its American premiere, winning the 2000 Obie Award for Best Play),
Cymbeline by Shakespeare in 2002,
Dom Juan by Molière in 2003, and
Pericles, Prince of Tyre by Shakespeare in 2004. He directed
Cymbeline,
Dom Juan, and
Pericles at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music. In 2006 Sher directed
Gioachino Rossini's
Il barbiere di Siviglia (
The Barber of Seville) at the
Metropolitan Opera in
Lincoln Center. In 2009 Sher directed the opera
Tales of Hoffmann at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York (opening December 3, 2009). In 2011, Sher directed
Mourning Becomes Electra for
Seattle Opera. In March 2011,
Le Comte Ory by
Rossini opened at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York, in a production directed by Sher. The reviewer for
The New York Times called the production "lively, colorful and inventive." In June 2011, Sher's production of the world premiere of
Nico Muhly's
Two Boys was presented at the English National Opera. The American debut took place in October 2013, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The Met commissioned the production. Sher directed a London revival of
Kiss Me Kate at the
Barbican Theatre for a run lasting from June through September 2024.
Broadway and Lincoln Center Sher made his
Broadway debut in 2005 when his production of
The Light in the Piazza which had originated at the Intiman Playhouse premiered at the
Vivian Beaumont Theatre. Sher received
Tony Award nominations for
The Light in the Piazza and a 2006 revival of
Awake and Sing!, winning the
Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for the 2008 Broadway revival of
South Pacific. He received another Tony nomination for the 2009 revival of ''
Joe Turner's Come and Gone. In 2010 Sher directed a musical production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown based on the 1988 film by Pedro Almodóvar. The show opened November 4, 2010 on Broadway in a Lincoln Center Theater production. The musical was criticized by Ben Brantley of The New York Times
as being distracted, gimmicky and overdesigned. A previously announced revival of Funny Girl'' that Sher was expected to direct with a Broadway opening in February 2012 was ultimately postponed. In December 2012,
Golden Boy by
Clifford Odets as directed by Sher opened in New York to a positive review in
The New York Times. This production was staged at the
Belasco Theatre, the same spot where
Golden Boy was first presented on Broadway, 75 years earlier. The production received eight Tony Award nominations, including Sher's fifth for directing. Sher had directed Odets'
Awake and Sing! in 2006. The production ran from December 2012 into January 2013 for 53 performances. In 2014 Sher directed a
musical production of the novel
The Bridges of Madison County. The production ran for 100 performances from February to May 2014. Sher directed a Broadway revival of
The King and I, which opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center on April 16, 2015, with Kelli O'Hara as Anna Leonowens, Ken Watanabe as The King of Siam, and Ruthie Anne Miles as Lady Tiang. He received a 2015 Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical, and the production received Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (O'Hara), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Miles) and Best Costume Design of a Musical (Catherine Zuber). He reproduced the musical when it transferred to the
West End's
London Palladium in 2018. Sher directed a Broadway revival of
Fiddler on the Roof, starring Danny Burstein as Tevye and Jessica Hecht as Golde, which opened at the Broadway Theatre on December 17, 2015 and played its final performance on December 31, 2016. Sher directed the world premiere of J.T. Roger's play
Oslo which opened at the
Mitzi Newhouse Theater in July 2016. The production transferred to the
Vivian Beaumont Theater for an open run in April 2017. Sher directed the 2021
television film adaptation of
Oslo. Sher received Tony Award nominations for
Oslo, a 2018 revival of
My Fair Lady, and the
2018 play adaptation of
To Kill a Mockingbird. In 2023, it was announced that he would direct the stage musical adaptation of
Damien Chazelle's 2016 film
La La Land. In September 2024, Lincoln Center Theatre appointed Sher as its executive producer. ==Personal life==