In April 2000, Lincoln Center Theater's Directors Lab Alumni Nick Abruzzo, Ernest Figueroa, Olivia Honegger, Kappy Kilburn and Andrew Sachs, came together with a single goal: create a place for emerging and mid career Stage Directors and Choreographers to be in the same room and learn; not only from each other, but from masters of the craft. The five had met during a session of the Lincoln Center Theater’s Directors Lab in New York, and with the support and encouragement of the New York lab’s Founding Director, Anne Cattaneo, the founders of Directors Lab West launched a program at the Greenway Court Theatre in Los Angeles. 

Eventually landing at Pasadena Playhouse, and with additional support from Boston Court Pasadena, Directors Lab West has grown to boast over 600 alumni across the world. Each year, between 40-50 directors and choreographers are selected for the intensive, which features workshops, panel discussions, rehearsals, investigations, performances with talkbacks, and much more. Directors Lab West is funded through the generous support of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.