Rachel Rockwell (born Natalie Rachel Heyde; July 14, 1969 – May 28, 2018) was an American theater director, choreographer and performer.

Early life

Rockwell was born Natalie Rachel Heyde in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

, the daughter of songwriter/teacher Gary Heyde ( Austin Gary) and actress/teacher Glory (Kissel) Heyde. Her brother is

Jeremy Spencer Jeremy Cedric Spencer (born 4 July 1948) is a British musician, best known for playing slide guitar and piano in the original line-up of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. A member since Fleetwood Mac's inception in July 1967, he remained with the ...

(Heyde), the former drummer of heavy metal band

Five Finger Death Punch Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead gui ...

. Beginning at seven, she studied dance with Ricki Smith Newman, Sylvia Watters and Evansville Dance Theater. At 13, she won a scholarship to study ballet at the National Academy of Arts in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

. In 1993, she directed her first musical, ''

Tintypes ''Tintypes'' is a musical revue conceived by Mary Kyte with Mel Marvin and Gary Pearle. Description With its time frame set between the turn of the 20th century and the onset of World War I, this chamber piece with a cast of five provides a mus ...

'', at the New Harmony Theater in Indiana. After college, she moved to Chicago.

Career

Beginning in the mid-1990s, Rockwell directed and choreographed dozens of productions for such theaters as: Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre Oakbrook, Marriott Theatre Lincolnshire, Paramount Theatre, Noble Fool Theatricals, Fox Valley Repertory, Apple Tree,

The Little Theatre on the Square The Little Theatre on the Square is a theater in Sullivan, Illinois. It is located in the heart of Sullivan’s town square on Harrison Street. It is the only professional theater between Chicago and St. Louis. History The theater originally op ...

, SIU Summer Theatre and McCleod Summer Playhouse. She appeared on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in '' Mamma Mia!'' and the national tours of ''Mamma Mia!'' and

Harold Prince Harold Smith Prince (born Harold Smith; January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019), commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre. One of the foremost figures in 20th century America ...

's ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

''. A triple-threat performer, Rockwell was nominated for a

Joseph Jefferson Award The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater star ...

for Best Actress in a review ('' And The World Goes 'Round'') (2001); and Best Supporting Actress in a musical for ''

The Pajama Game ''The Pajama Game'' is a musical based on the 1953 novel '' 7½ Cents'' by Richard Bissell. The book is by George Abbott and Richard Bissell; the music and lyrics are by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. and dances were staged by Bob Fosse in his c ...

'' (2004). As a choreographer, she was nominated for Joseph Jefferson Awards for ''

The King & I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children ...

'' (2007) and ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers ...

'' (2011). As a director, she received Jeff Award nominations for ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed rom ...

'' (2009); ''

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn, based on a book by Rachel Sheinkin, conceived by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spe ...

''—Best Musical (2009); ''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

'' (2010) and ''42nd Street'' (2011). For her acclaimed Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre production of ''Ragtime'' (11 Jeff nominations and seven awards), she received the Joseph Jefferson Award as Best Director of a musical. As Director, Jeff Award nominations (2012) for Best Director and Best Musical: ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...

'' and ''

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London urban legend, legend. A barber fr ...

'' at Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre; and Best Play: ''Enron'' at Timeline Theatre Company. In 2010, she was named "Best Director" by ''

Chicago Magazine ''Chicago'' is a monthly magazine published by Tribune Publishing. It concentrates on lifestyle and human interest stories, and on reviewing restaurants, travel, fashion, and theatre from or nearby Chicago. Its circulation in 2004 was 165,000, ...

''. In 2013, her production of ''Oliver!'' received a Jeff nomination for Best Musical. In 2014, she received Jeff Award nominations (Director, Choreography and Best Musical) for the revival of ''

Brigadoon ''Brigadoon'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and music by Frederick Loewe. The song " Almost Like Being in Love", from the musical, has become a standard. It features two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a ...

'' at The Goodman Theatre and '' Les Miserables'' at Drury Lane Oakbrook. Her production of ''Brigadoon'' was named Best Musical and she was named Best Choreographer for that production. She won the Jeff Award for Best Choreography for her production of ''Billy Eliot'' in 2015. In 2016, she won the Jeff Award as Best Director for her production of ''Ride the Cyclone'' at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. In July 2014,

Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the lan ...

produced the first major revival of ''

'' in two decades—directed and choreographed by Rockwell, who, with Brian Hill, updated the book, with permission from the Lerner and Loewe estates. Her productions of ''Ride the Cyclone'' and ''Billy Eliot'' were named two of the Top Ten productions in Chicago for 2015. Her U.S. premiere Chicago Shakespeare Theatre production of ''Ride the Cyclone'' was then produced off-Broadway at MCC Theater, and named Best of 2016 by the ''New York Times''. She directed the World Premiere of ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' at Minneapolis Children's Theatre in April 2016. In 2017, Rockwell's production of ''Ride the Cyclone'' at MCC Theatre received five Lucille Lortel Award nominations and a Drama League nomination. She directed notable Children's Theatre productions at

Chicago Shakespeare Theater Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) is a non-profit, professional theater company located at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. Its more than six hundred annual performances performed 48 weeks of the year include its critically acclaimed Shakespeare s ...

(CST)—including the premieres of ''The Emperor's New Clothes'' (2010); ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (2011); (Director & Adapter) ''Short Shakespeare! The Taming of the Shrew'' (2012)—and Disney's ''Beauty & The Beast'' (2012) and ''Shrek'' (2013). At CST, she also choreographed productions of ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'', ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'', and ''

Measure For Measure ''Measure for Measure'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604, according to available records. It was published in the ''First Folio'' of 1623. The play's plot features its ...

''. At Timeline Theatre Company, she directed the regional premiere of ''Enron'' (2012).

Personal life and death

She was married to

sound designer Garth Helm. They have a son. Rockwell died on May 28, 2018, of

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rockwell, Rachel 1969 births 2018 deaths American theatre directors Women theatre directors American choreographers Artists from Columbia, Missouri People from Oakland City, Indiana People from Boonville, Indiana University of Evansville alumni Deaths from ovarian cancer