David Taylor Little

David Taylor Little has worked all over the United States as a director of plays, musicals and operas. He received his MFA in direction from The New School for Drama in New York City where he was an assistant director for the 24 Hour Plays both on and off Broadway, as well the director of a number of off-off Broadway plays and musicals. He has also served as the artistic director for The Theatre Factory in Pittsburgh, PA (his beloved home town). Recent directing projects include Donizetti’s opera Il Campanello for Blue Lake Opera and Henry VI and Love’s Labor’s Lost for The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company based in Grand Haven, MI. He will be returning to Grand Haven in 2023 to stage The Comedy of Errors for The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company.
David recently wrote a new book for...

David Taylor Little has worked all over the United States as a director of plays, musicals and operas. He received his MFA in direction from The New School for Drama in New York City where he was an assistant director for the 24 Hour Plays both on and off Broadway, as well the director of a number of off-off Broadway plays and musicals. He has also served as the artistic director for The Theatre Factory in Pittsburgh, PA (his beloved home town). Recent directing projects include Donizetti’s opera Il Campanello for Blue Lake Opera and Henry VI and Love’s Labor’s Lost for The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company based in Grand Haven, MI. He will be returning to Grand Haven in 2023 to stage The Comedy of Errors for The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company.
David recently wrote a new book for The Desert Song which premiered with the St. Louis Winter Opera in March of 2023. His new play, Shades of Gay, had a developmental reading at Ball State University in April of 2023. He has had short plays performed in The Short Play Festival with The Players Theatre, Blurring Boundaries with The New Ambassador’s Theatre, and The Winter Fest with The Chain Theatre, all in New York City. David’s play Christmas Gifts, written for Indiana Public Radio, appeared live on their radio station in 2019 as well as live online for The Theatre Factory and Speranza Theatre Company, both in 2020. He was commissioned to write Arlo Whittaker and the Viola Verdict for The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company. This play also received a full production at Ball State University as well as developmental readings at The Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Additional commissions for Pigeon Creek Shakespeare include new plays in the Arlo Whittaker series: Arlo Whittaker and the Petruchio Problem, produced live online in 2021, and Arlo Whittaker and the Mackers Mistake produced in 2023. His young adult play, The Disappearance of Ezra Clybourne will appear on stage with The Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp professional company in the Summer of 2023.
As a teaching artist, David has worked as the Young Playwrights Coordinator in the education department of City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, PA, and at The Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp as a musical theatre instructor. He currently serves on the directing faculty at Ball State University. While working at Ball State he has directed productions of Green Day’s American Idiot, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and Our Town.

Scripts

All Out for Christmas

by David Taylor Little

Synopsis

Will the show go on? It’s 1947, and Dorothy Sullivan, a big Broadway star, has returned to her hometown of Argyle, IN to save the local radio station by acting in their annual Christmas broadcast. Her antics, however, create additional anxiety for station owner and childhood friend Jack Edwards. Will her appearance save the radio station from financial ruin? Will the ingenue and the young radio producer find...

Will the show go on? It’s 1947, and Dorothy Sullivan, a big Broadway star, has returned to her hometown of Argyle, IN to save the local radio station by acting in their annual Christmas broadcast. Her antics, however, create additional anxiety for station owner and childhood friend Jack Edwards. Will her appearance save the radio station from financial ruin? Will the ingenue and the young radio producer find love? Will the Broadway song writers compose a catchy enough melody to rival "White Christmas?" Find out in this delightful showbiz fable. Find out in this delightful showbiz fable.

Arlo Whittaker and the Viola Verdict: A Mystery of Shakespearean Proportions

by David Taylor Little

Synopsis

Murder She Wrote meets Slings and Arrows in this fun play! During rehearsals for a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, The Arden Globe Trodder's managing director is murdered on stage. Now director Arlo Whittaker must solve the murder in order to save his production. Will he find the culprit before it's too late?

Murder She Wrote meets Slings and Arrows in this fun play! During rehearsals for a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, The Arden Globe Trodder's managing director is murdered on stage. Now director Arlo Whittaker must solve the murder in order to save his production. Will he find the culprit before it's too late?

Shades of Gay

by David Taylor Little

Synopsis

The experiences of 6 gay men, are shared in this cycle of interwoven stories: love, loss, fear, expectation, regret...humanity...in multiple snapshots.

The experiences of 6 gay men, are shared in this cycle of interwoven stories: love, loss, fear, expectation, regret...humanity...in multiple snapshots.

Podunk

by David Taylor Little

Synopsis

Ten-minute play - Tyson and Micah are about to finish their first date when Tyson goes in for a kiss. Micah recoils. But maybe not for the reasons Tyson initially thinks. This short play explores public displays of affection as well as who gets to share them and when and why they get to be shared.

Ten-minute play - Tyson and Micah are about to finish their first date when Tyson goes in for a kiss. Micah recoils. But maybe not for the reasons Tyson initially thinks. This short play explores public displays of affection as well as who gets to share them and when and why they get to be shared.

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Missing Mistress

by David Taylor Little

Synopsis

Sherlock Holmes, the world's most famous detective, and his friend Dr. John Watson, are called to a girls college to help find a missing French teacher. Is she in danger? Did she escape under cover of darkness? Will they be able to find her before something terrible happens? Find out in this original play.

Sherlock Holmes, the world's most famous detective, and his friend Dr. John Watson, are called to a girls college to help find a missing French teacher. Is she in danger? Did she escape under cover of darkness? Will they be able to find her before something terrible happens? Find out in this original play.

The Desert Song

by David Taylor Little

Synopsis

New libretto to the original operetta
Music by Sigmund Romberg
Original book by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Frank Mandel

When the fictional country of Sharahbat is occupied by the equally fictional Marnish army, Marne countryman Pierre takes it upon himself to become The Red Shadow and secretly fight alongside the people of Sharahbat. Chaos ensues when love is thrown into the mix. A romantic adventure...

New libretto to the original operetta
Music by Sigmund Romberg
Original book by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Frank Mandel

When the fictional country of Sharahbat is occupied by the equally fictional Marnish army, Marne countryman Pierre takes it upon himself to become The Red Shadow and secretly fight alongside the people of Sharahbat. Chaos ensues when love is thrown into the mix. A romantic adventure from the 1920s re-imagined for a contemporary audience.

Contact Winter Opera St. Louis for rights

Christmas Gifts

by David Taylor Little

Synopsis

Christmas Gifts combines two of O. Henry’s beloved short stories, The Gift of the Magi and The Last Leaf, into a contemporary, holiday story that highlights the importance of caring for people through the act of giving gifts. On Christmas Eve, siblings Aiden and Sophia sneak downstairs to take a peek at their haul of presents, only to discover that their parents have been expecting them. They find a singular...

Christmas Gifts combines two of O. Henry’s beloved short stories, The Gift of the Magi and The Last Leaf, into a contemporary, holiday story that highlights the importance of caring for people through the act of giving gifts. On Christmas Eve, siblings Aiden and Sophia sneak downstairs to take a peek at their haul of presents, only to discover that their parents have been expecting them. They find a singular gift that they are allowed to open, a strange book, called Christmas Gifts. As they read the story aloud, they meet Jim and Della, a married couple from 1960s New York City, and the contemporary friends and roommates, Johnsy and Sue. How will these stories come together? Will Aiden and Sophia learn the lesson their parents have intended them to learn? Will they discover the true importance of gift giving? Find out by tuning in to Christmas Gifts.

The Dissapearance of Ezra Clybourne...?

by David Taylor Little

Synopsis

It's time for Jake Mitchell, Devon Bennet, and Ezra Clybourne's favorite time of the year...a week and a half at Red River Ridge Summer Arts Camp! But, while this band of best friends is usually excited to spend time at their favorite place, things are different this year. Ezra and Devon have recently broken up, Devon is angry with Jake for some reason, and now that camp has begun Ezra hasn’t even arrived to...

It's time for Jake Mitchell, Devon Bennet, and Ezra Clybourne's favorite time of the year...a week and a half at Red River Ridge Summer Arts Camp! But, while this band of best friends is usually excited to spend time at their favorite place, things are different this year. Ezra and Devon have recently broken up, Devon is angry with Jake for some reason, and now that camp has begun Ezra hasn’t even arrived to register! Things really go haywire when a stranger, calling himself Ezra Clybourne, shows up on the second day of camp. Without access to phones, or the internet, or the outside world, Jake takes it upon himself to find out what has happened to Ezra and mend the rift that has occurred between him and his two best friends. Will he be able to do it all before the end of his time at Red River Ridge? You’ll have to tune in to this live podcast to find out.

The General

by David Taylor Little

Synopsis

Ten Minute. Peter and George are facing a crossroads in their relationship. Will an impromptu trip on the Staten Island Ferry help them mend their broken fences?

Ten Minute. Peter and George are facing a crossroads in their relationship. Will an impromptu trip on the Staten Island Ferry help them mend their broken fences?

Admissions

by David Taylor Little

Synopsis

In this ten minute play, Caleb is applying for student loans, but needs his sister Haley's assistance. Will their past be a barrier to them coming to some sort of agreement?

In this ten minute play, Caleb is applying for student loans, but needs his sister Haley's assistance. Will their past be a barrier to them coming to some sort of agreement?