Victoria Bussert

Biography

Victoria Bussert has directed more than 400 shows on prominent stages across three continents, including 38 seasons at Cleveland’s Great Lakes Theater and 17 at Idaho Shakespeare Festival, acting as resident director for the sister companies. Her national work includes productions at the Manhattan Theatre Club, York Theatre, Goodspeed Opera, Playhouse Square, Portland Stage, Dallas Theater Center, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Anchorage Opera. Her international credits include Friar Tuck in Russia, The Who's Tommy in Brazil, the Danish premiere of Avenue Q (nominated for a 2012 Reumert Award), and the European premieres of Lizzie and [title of show] for Fredericia Teater in Denmark. Bussert made her London directorial debut with the critically acclaimed production of Lizzie. Recent directing projects include the regional premiere of Ride the Cyclone for Beck Center for the Arts, Ordinary Days for Playhouse Square, and Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 for Great Lakes Theater, which won the Cleveland Critics Award for Best Musical of the Year. She has long balanced her award-winning directing career with her role as an educator, serving as director of music theater at Baldwin Wallace University for 27 years. Her many accolades include a 2019 Cleveland Arts Prize for theater and dance, where the jury praised her directing and teaching. Music School Central named her one of the 10 Legendary Music Professors Teaching Today.