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Desmond McAnuff (born 19 June 1952) is the Canadian-American artistic director of the Stratford...

Desmond McAnuff (born 19 June 1952) is the Canadian-American artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and director of musical theatre of such Broadway productions as Big River, The Who's Tommy and Jersey Boys. He has also produced Tony award-winning revivals of the Broadway classics, Guys and Dolls, The Music Man, Into the Woods, 42nd Street, The King and I. Born in Princeton, Illinois to John Nelson and Ellen Boyd, McAnuff is a citizen of United States and Canada. He was raised in Scarborough, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, and attended high school at Woburn Collegiate Institute where he made his first theatrical appearance in the school's production of The Sound of Music, playing the role of Kurt. Later, with the help of two friends, he wrote the music and lyrics to a rock musical called Urbania, which was performed by the high school drama club. McAnuff received training from Toronto's foremost drama coach Basya Hunter, to whom he has announced his indebtedness. He worked with the Toronto Free Theatre as a director, and after several plays that had limited success, he left the Canadian scene for New York City. There, McAnuff co-founded the Dodger Theatre Company in