Darren Butler

Darren Butler

For over thirty years, Darren has written, directed, and taught for stage and film. For twenty-one years, Darren directed The Miracle Worker at Helen Keller’s Birthplace, internationally recognized production and the Official Outdoor Drama for the State of Alabama. Darren wrote and directed the short film, A Fix, starring the late Skye McCole Bartusiak and Emmy nominated actress Julianna Mauriello. In 2006,...
For over thirty years, Darren has written, directed, and taught for stage and film. For twenty-one years, Darren directed The Miracle Worker at Helen Keller’s Birthplace, internationally recognized production and the Official Outdoor Drama for the State of Alabama. Darren wrote and directed the short film, A Fix, starring the late Skye McCole Bartusiak and Emmy nominated actress Julianna Mauriello. In 2006, Darren was fortunate enough to have an hour long drama entitled, Succession, optioned by NBC/Universal, which gained his admittance into the Writers Guild of America. Currently, he serves as a story producer for a major streaming network and conducts speaking engagements on education and writing.

In 2022, Darren was a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill production award for his writing on the new musical, Out of the Blue. The play had an industry reading in New York City last summer for potential producers. His stage musicals - Runaway Home and We The People have been produced around the country, and two of the monologues from Runaway Home were published in Young Women’s Monologues from Contemporary Plays #2 edited by Gerald Ratliff. Recently, his short screenplays of Teddy and The Last Mile were finalists in the Big Shoulder Film Festival in Chicago. His writing for television and film won at the Virgin Cinefest, Rome Independent Prisma Awards, and the Festigious Los Angeles Festival.

As an author, Butler has written four books in the Abbie, Girl Spy series - The Case of the Missing Locket, The Ducks and Diamonds Mystery, The Secret of Crybaby Hollow, and The Masterpiece. Additionally, he published a children’s fantasy novel entitled Merlin’s Curse and Helen Keller - Leader Without Sight or Sound for Seacoast Publishing. His professional book Countdown to Assessment trained teachers how to prepare students for the Alabama Direct Assessment on Writing for 5th, 7th, and 10th grade students. His literacy research led to the release of RIP & Write - Integrating Reading Comprehension.

For twenty years, Darren served as the director and acting teacher for The Backstage Theatre Company. The professional side of the organization spent seven years touring educational theatre into schools across the South. In the studio, Darren taught hundreds of students, many who went on to work in professional theatre and film or pursue a teaching career in high schools or the university level.

Working as an educational consultant, Darren helped Alabama schools raise their scores on the Alabama Direct Assessment on Writing and the ARMT. Schools under his guidance went from 8 - 42% to 90 - 100%. Butler founded Virtual Village Classroom and created Weekly Writer, an online curriculum resource for teachers based on his field research in training teachers how to teach writing. For four years, he served as the CEO of Creative Development.

Darren taught theatre in Florence City Schools for three years. Later, Darren served as the Fine Arts Director and theatre teacher for Orange Beach High School and Middle School for three years.
He holds an MFA from Point Park University in Writing for the Screen and Stage.

Darren lives in Orange Beach, Alabama with his wife, Freda and their four children, Evie Rosa, Jack, Hans, and Coco.

Plays

  • Take My Seat
    In 1963 Montgomery, a young woman struggles to understand her place in a world of racism, fear, and hate. #YouAreEnough

    When Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus at the age of 15, she lit the fuse to a court case which would elevate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to the spotlight of the Civil Rights Movement. The year is 1963. Dr. King has already given his famous “...
    In 1963 Montgomery, a young woman struggles to understand her place in a world of racism, fear, and hate. #YouAreEnough

    When Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus at the age of 15, she lit the fuse to a court case which would elevate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to the spotlight of the Civil Rights Movement. The year is 1963. Dr. King has already given his famous “I Have a Dream” speech and four innocent girls have died at the 16th Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham.
    At 17, Maggie wants to know where she fits into an integrated world. Her fears keep her from enjoying the rights Claudette, Rosa Parks, and Dr. King have fought for. Maggie continues to sit at the back of the bus. She doesn’t drink from public water fountains or use public restrooms. Her best friend, Jim encourages her to take a leap and join the charge for equality.
    In a new musical play by Darren J. Butler and award winning songwriter, Judy Rodman, Maggie must make a choice - stand up to her fears or let them consume her. Chosen as an official event of The Alabama Bicentennial, Take My Seat presents a unique perspective on a crucial time in Alabama’s history.
  • We the People
    Addie hates change, especially when change is thrust upon her. Set in the summer of 1776, We the People tells the story of four young women working at Philadelphia Hall where a group of men are about to change the course of history.

    Addie and her friends are as divided as the colonists about whether to declare independence or stay loyal to the Crown. When Addie's boyfriend, Jacob, decides...
    Addie hates change, especially when change is thrust upon her. Set in the summer of 1776, We the People tells the story of four young women working at Philadelphia Hall where a group of men are about to change the course of history.

    Addie and her friends are as divided as the colonists about whether to declare independence or stay loyal to the Crown. When Addie's boyfriend, Jacob, decides to join the revolutionaries, she must confront her fears and decide whether or not she will marry him.

    With a rock style score by award winning artist, Judy Rodman and book by Darren J. Butler, We the People is not only entertaining but educational. The story blends themes of independence, equality, and friendship that continue to ring true in today's world.

    We the People is the perfect production for high school and community theatre organizations. The musical can be performed with seven cast members and with a chorus if desired.