Landau's early work included site specific productions with New York City's En Garde Arts, including
Orestes and
The Trojan Women: A Love Story, both by
Charles L. Mee, as well as her original play "Stonewall: Night Variations."
Floyd Collins, with a book by Landau and a score by
Adam Guettel, opened off-Broadway at
Playwrights Horizons in 1996. Landau was nominated for the
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding
Book of a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical, and the production won the
Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical. A later version of the show played at San Diego's
Old Globe Theater, The
Goodman Theater in Chicago, and The
Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia (where it was originally commissioned and produced.) In 1997, she became a member of the
Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where she has directed numerous productions including
The Wheel,
The Hot L Baltimore,
Tarell Alvin McCraney's
The Brother/Sister Plays and
Head of Passes,
The Tempest,
The Time of Your Life (which later moved to Seattle Rep and A.C.T.),
The Diary of Anne Frank,
The Cherry Orchard,
Theatrical Essays,
Time to Burn, Berlin Circle, and
The Ballad of Little Jo. She made her
Broadway debut directing the 2001 revival of
Bells Are Ringing with
Faith Prince, and in 2009 she returned to Broadway with the Steppenwolf production of
Tracy Letts'
Superior Donuts. In February 2015 Nickelodeon announced that she had been tapped to co-adapt and direct
SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical, a stage adaptation of
SpongeBob SquarePants. The show opened on Broadway on December 4, 2017. For
SpongeBob SquarePants, Landau was nominated for the 2018
Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical at the
72nd Tony Awards. She won Best Director of a Musical at both the 2018
Drama Desk Awards and
Outer Critics Circle Awards, and the production won for Best Musical in both awards as well. Landau's other New York City directing credits include
Old Hats (with
Bill Irwin and David Shiner) at the Signature Theater,
Paula Vogel's
A Civil War Christmas at New York Theatre Workshop,
Charles L. Mee’s
Iphigenia 2.0 at the Signature,
Dream True,
Mary Rose,
Miracle Brothers and
Wig Out!, all at
the Vineyard Theater, as well as
In the Red and Brown Water,
Space, and
Saturn Returns all at
The Public Theater. Landau's many other regional credits include
Antony and Cleopatra at Hartford Stage, ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream at the McCarter Theater and Paper Mill Playhouse, Of Thee I Sing at Papermill, The Cure at Troy'' at Seattle Rep, Zack Zadek's
Deathless at
Goodspeed Musicals, and the musical
Dave at
Arena Stage. In addition to
Floyd Collins, Landau's writing includes book and lyrics for
Dream True and
States of Independence, both with scores by
Ricky Ian Gordon, the plays
Beauty at
La Jolla Playhouse (San Diego Critics Best Play),
Space at Steppenwolf, the Public, and the Mark Taper Forum (TIME magazine Top Ten),
Stonewall: Night Variations, and
1969 (or Howie Takes a Trip). With
Anne Bogart, Landau co-authored
The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition. Landau has taught at Yale University and the
Yale School of Drama, Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Columbia University. In 2024, Landau directed
Mother Play by
Paula Vogel on Broadway. In 2025, she directed a revised Broadway production of
Floyd Collins at the
Vivian Beaumont Theater, as part of their 2024–2025 season. She directed and wrote the book and lyrics for
Redwood on Broadway, starring
Idina Menzel, with whom she conceived the musical. ==Awards and recognition==