The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance announces that Jane Lanier, a Tony Award-nominated actor, an award-winning choreographer, a director, and an arts educator, will join the Department of Musical Theatre as an assistant professor in August 2026.
“I’m beyond excited to continue my journey here at Michigan!” Lanier said. “The opportunity to teach several classes and work with students on a presentation of ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’ from Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ has given me a glimpse into the enormous talent, passion, and dedication of the student body here.”
Lanier has appeared in six Broadway shows, including Fosse, which earned her a Drama Desk nomination; Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, which earned her a Tony nomination; Anything Goes; Sweet Charity; Guys and Dolls; and On Your Toes. Regionally, she has performed around the country in productions including A Chorus Line, And the World Goes Round, A Little Night Music, The Wild Party, and Pippin, as well as the play Counsellor-at-Law, for which she won an Ovation Award and an L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award. Lanier’s film and television credits include the film Michael, recurring roles on Murder One and Medium, and a guest appearance on Glee.
Lanier’s choreography credits include Guys and Dolls, Big Rosemary, Chicago, Mamma Mia!, Emma, The King’s Speech, The Cher Show, Little Fish, The Wild Party, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Pippin, and Kiss Me, Kate. She also choreographed the short films Not Your Time and Spells. She earned a Jeff Award nomination for Chicago and, for The Wild Party, she won L.A. Weekly and Back Stage Garland Awards and nominations for Ovation and NAACP Awards. Her directing credits at various regional theatres include Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, A Chorus Line, Bad Dog, The Conex, Jukebox, Sophisticated Broadway, and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.
“It is thrilling to welcome Jane Lanier to our faculty. She is, quite simply, a legend in our field,” said Cynthia Kortman Westphal, Arthur and Martha Hearron Endowed Professor of Musical Theatre and chair of the department. “A Tony Award-nominated performer, director, choreographer, and educator, Lanier brings a remarkable breadth of experience spanning Broadway, regional theatre, film, television, and higher education. I am especially excited for what she will bring to our students: a powerful combination of technical rigor, structured training, and an integrated approach to technique and storytelling, while offering a meaningful connection to the history and lineage of musical theatre.”
As an educator, Lanier previously served as an associate professor and head of musical theatre with a dance concentration at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, as a visiting professor at Elon University, and as a guest instructor at SMTD. Her prior university experience also includes teaching and choreography at UCLA and Pepperdine University.
“Using my years of experience working on Broadway with many of the legendary directors and choreographers,” Lanier said, “I’m looking forward to paying that forward and passing down that knowledge to the students here, getting this next generation of performers ready to begin their journey as artists once they leave and go out into the world. Go Blue!”