Episode Overview

Podcast: BroadwayRadio
Episode: Class Notes: Rachel Chavkin, Director of My Joy is Heavy
Date: April 2, 2026
Host: Lauren Klasschneider
Guest: Rachel Chavkin (director of My Joy is Heavy)

This episode features an in-depth conversation with acclaimed director Rachel Chavkin about her work on the new production My Joy is Heavy at New York Theatre Workshop. The discussion explores themes of grief, community, artistic process, long-term collaboration, and accessibility in theater. Rachel reflects on her creative relationships—especially with The Bengsons—her history with NYTW, the collaborative spirit of the production team, and the impact that formative experiences (like summer theater camp) have had on her career.

Main Themes and Key Insights

The Genesis of My Joy is Heavy and Collaborating with The Bengsons

• Long-standing Artistic Partnership

  • Rachel recalls first working with The Bengsons (Abigail and Sean) during an adaptation of Iphigenia (2014-2015), lauding their work as both composers and performers (00:39).
  • She describes an immediate enthusiasm for expanding their pandemic-era short film into a full-length stage production:

    "When they asked me if I wanted to help them expand the short film that they had made during the Pandemic into a full length theater show...I didn't have to think twice about it." (Rachel Chavkin, 01:26)

• Identifying the Universal in the Specific

  • Rachel emphasizes how the personal nature of The Bengsons’ story lends the show universality, resonating with broader themes of grief and healing (01:49).
  • She shares how her own proximity to grief enhances her connection to the material:

    "The more specific the story is, somehow...the more universal it becomes." (Rachel Chavkin, 02:32)
    "I just find that holding the joy of my life and the sorrows of it in kind of even hands in community...that's really the central thesis of the show." (Rachel, 02:56)

Artistic Roles and the Development Process

• Director as Dramaturg
  • Rachel explains her approach to directing: she prioritizes the spatial and dramaturgical structure of the work, collaborating closely with set designer Lee Jelinek and The Bengsons on everything from jokes to show structure (03:32).
  • She shares an anecdote about restructuring the climactic songs, which reshaped the show’s arc and contributed to her joy in developmental dramaturgy:

    "That's the kind of stuff that I just live for as someone who spends a lot of my life developing new and formally adventurous new work..." (Rachel, 04:45)

Learning From Past Work and Embracing the Unknown

• Influence of Earlier Musicals
  • Drawing on her wealth of experience (including Hadestown and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812), Rachel credits eclecticism as the core joy of her career (05:25).
  • She values projects that challenge her to learn and approach theater with “genuine naivete”:

    "I am most drawn to work on pieces that I don't recognize and that are actually trying to behave in a totally different way so that I keep growing..." (Rachel, 05:50)

The Importance of New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW)

• A Singular Institutional Home
  • Rachel describes NYTW as her "favorite physical space in the world"—intimate yet expansive, and deeply supportive of artists’ needs (06:49).
  • She praises NYTW’s approach of not assuming a “standard” production method, instead centering artist-lead inquiry and accessibility (07:40).

    "The workshop has been unfailing in terms of centering access through the production...supporting our artists, but also ultimately supporting audiences of all disabilities, abilities, as well as temporarily able-bodied folks to come see the show and experience it to the fullest." (Rachel, 08:31)

Collaboration and Team Dynamics

• A Genuine Artistic “Family”
  • Rachel discusses the deep bonds within the creative team, including choreographer Steph Paul and musical supervisor Or Matias, emphasizing how overlapping histories and mutual respect create a loving, supportive environment (09:08).
  • She reflects on what “family” means in their context—acknowledging the risk of the term being exploited, but insisting their bonds are authentic and rooted in survival and solidarity (09:23).

    "[Family] gets thrown around a lot in our industry, often actually as a way of...potentially implying a sort of false sense of solidarity, but for this...it really has felt like such a family affair." (Rachel paraphrasing Steph Paul, 09:23)

  • She credits this depth and adult professionalism, as well as intentional partnership with leadership coaching, for the production’s collaborative dynamics (10:34).

Personal Foundations: Summer Camp and Early Influences

• The Role of Stagedoor Manor
  • Rachel describes how her father’s discovery of Stagedoor Manor (“sleep boy camp,” as she affectionately calls it) launched her theater journey (11:42).
  • She speaks candidly about the complicated feelings the experience gave her—exposure to privilege but also to the intensity and joy of theater:

    "It was an extraordinary immersion into [the] full time, you know, mania of the show must go on in a really classic sense. I absolutely fed off of it. And I don't think I would have really thought about theater as a profession without having gone there." (Rachel, 12:14)

  • Despite misgivings, she attributes her career trajectory and lasting friendships to those formative summers.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Power of Specificity and Grief:

  "The more specific the story is, somehow I often find the more universal it becomes." (Rachel Chavkin, 02:32)

• On Collaborative Structure:

  "Part of my joy is the more kind of purely directing work, and part of it is dramaturgy…There was one moment where we really began to ask whether two of the climactic songs were in the right order in the last quarter of the show. And it led to really unlocking the whole structure." (Rachel, 03:54)

• On the Eclectic Joy of Directing:

  "I am most drawn to work on pieces that I don't recognize...so that I keep growing because I think learning is like one of my favorite activities." (Rachel, 05:49)

• On NYTW as an Artistic Home:

  "It's my favorite physical space in the world. Truly. I find the theater so delicious in terms of its physical presence." (Rachel, 06:49) "They are led by asking the artist questions to sort of really figure out how does this piece need to come into the world." (Rachel, 07:49)

• On Authentic Collaboration:

  "We bring that into the room either as parents or as auntie and sisters. So it's...just a very loving environment." (Rachel, 11:10)

• On the Complications and Gifts of Early Training:

  "It was an extraordinary immersion into full time, you know, mania of the show must go on...I absolutely fed off of it. And I don't think I would have really thought about theater as a profession without having gone there." (Rachel, 12:14)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:39 — Rachel discusses her introduction to and history with The Bengsons
• 01:49 — The emotional impact and universality of My Joy is Heavy
• 03:32 — Rachel’s directing process and role as dramaturg
• 05:25 — Influence of earlier musicals; learning through new work
• 06:41 — The significance of New York Theatre Workshop
• 09:08 — The show’s collaborative "family" and team dynamics
• 11:42 — Rachel's formative years at Stagedoor Manor and reflections on early influences

Conclusion

Through this rich discussion, Rachel Chavkin offers listeners a window into her creative mind and the collaborative, deeply personal environment of My Joy is Heavy. The episode highlights the power of vulnerability, community, and ongoing learning in artistic practice—central tenets both to this production and to Chavkin’s broader career. Her reflections on past influences and current collaborations will resonate with anyone interested in innovative theater-making and the bonds that sustain it.