Emma Canalese

Emma Canalese is a director and choreographer working between the USA, UK and Australia.

Theater productions include the international premiere of Es and Flo by Jennifer Lunn at Old Fitz Sydney, the Australian premiere of Kate Hamill's Pride and Prejudice at Old Fitz Sydney, Blithe Spirit (nominated Best Director/Best Play, Broadway World Regional Awards), When We Were Young and Unafraid (nominated Best Director/Best Play, Broadway World Regional Awards), Peter and The Starcatcher (nominated Best Director of a Musical, Broadway World Regional Awards), Silent Sky (Naples Weekly Top Pick), Einstein and Mileva (World Premiere, Theatre Row NYC), Hollywood, Hollywood (MITF, nominated Best Direction/ Choreography). Emma was the director and co-writer of 100 Years of the History of Dance, a Western Australian Critics Choice winner at Fringe World Festival with seasons at Brisbane Powerhouse and La Boite and regional Australian tours in 2019/22. She directed and choreographed the new musical Music and Murder By for Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026.

Associate Director at Goodspeed Musicals on the new musical, Maggie. For Ensemble Theatre: Assistant Director on Uncle Vanya (World Premiere of a new adaptation by Joanna Murray-Smith), assistant directed and choreographed for Midnight Murder at Hamlington and was Assistant Director on Suddenly Last Summer.

Her short film The Joneses has played in festivals in the USA and Europe. In 2020 she directed Holiday’s From The Heart, a virtual performance and fundraising program produced by Bravehearts For Broadway, streamed on Playbill.com for The Actors Fund.

As a teaching artist Emma has produced, directed and performed in The Collective NY’s C:10 To Go, a touring production of short plays and workshops for schools and colleges, taken to Coastal Carolina University in 2017. In 2020 she was choreographer of Pride and Prejudice for KidzAct at The Naples Players (Best Virtual Performance, Broadway World Regional Awards). For several years she was a director, choreographer and teacher for The Papermill Playhouse Conservatory and Intensive Summer Programs and a guest choreographer for The Papermill Playhouse Show Choir. She has taught dance for Rutgers-RSAC, directed for Ponoma College, CA, was guest director/choreographer for UNSW Dance and Drama Dept. , StageDoor Manor, New England Music Camp and NIDA Open among other engagements.

Graduate of The Western Australian Academy of the Performing Arts and The Neighborhood Playhouse, NY. Recipient of the Ensemble Theatre Sandra Bates Director’s Award and Associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC).

Upcoming Projects:

Sound of Siren by Maximilian Gill, an audio podcast produced by The Artist Experiment, NYC

The Henry Sessions, short film written by Emma and Christian Hurtado Pierson, directed by Emma

Chicken, short film written and directed by Emma