Barbara Wallace Grossman
(617) 627-2535
Aidekman Arts Complex
Research/Areas of Interest
American popular entertainment, musical theatre, women in theatre, the Holocaust and the arts, voice and speech (especially speaking with confidence and listening generously), and mindfulness practice to alleviate anxiety, develop resilience, and promote positive change.
Education
- PhD, Drama, Tufts University, United States, 1984
- MFA, Directing, Boston University College of Fine Arts, United States, 1976
- MA, English literature, Brandeis University, Waltham, United States, 1970
- AB, English literature, Smith College, United States, 1969
Biography
Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at Tufts University, Dr. Barbara Wallace Grossman (MFA, PhD) is a theatre historian, voice specialist, theatre director, and author. Her strong interests as a researcher and practitioner focus on Holocaust-related theatre and film, contemporary musical theatre, arts advocacy, voice and speech, and mindfulness to alleviate anxiety, develop resilience, and promote positive change. In addition to her books, Funny Woman: The Life and Times of Fanny Brice and A Spectacle of Suffering: Clara Morris on the American Stage, she has written book chapters on musical theatre as well as on the Holocaust and the arts. A presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts (1994-1999) and the United States Holocaust Memorial Council (2000-2005), she was Vice Chair of the Massachusetts Cultural Council from 2007 to 2019 and recently joined the Advisory Council for Holocaust Museum Boston, scheduled to open in 2027.
Named a Board Member Emerita of the American Repertory Theater in 2025, Professor Grossman currently serves on the boards of Arlekin Players Theatre, the Anti-Defamation League's New England Region, and MassCreative, the principal advocacy organization for the cultural sector in Massachusetts. Recognized for "Outstanding Service" by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts in 2015, she and her husband Steven were honored with the Terezín Music Foundation's Legacy Award in 2018 for their "commitment to diversity, tolerance, and dialogue through acts of civil service, philanthropy, scholarship, or artistry." In May 2026, she received the Seymour O. Simches Award for Distinguished Teaching and Advising at Tufts University, which recognizes two senior faculty members –one from the School of Arts and Sciences, the other from the School of Engineering – who demonstrate a lifetime commitment to outstanding instruction, mentorship, and student advising.
Professor Grossman teaches a variety of graduate and undergraduate courses at Tufts including Imagining the Holocaust on Stage and Screen, The American Musical: Radical Acts and Adaptations, Telling American Stories: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Musicals from Of Thee I Sing to A Strange Loop, Breaking the Frame: Innovative Musicals in Their Cultural Moments, and Voice & Speech: The Art of Confident Expression. As a theatre director, her dramatic work at Tufts has ranged from Timberlake Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good to Molière's The Learned Ladies, Tony Kushner's The Illusion, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, Tadeusz S�obodzianek's Our Class, Joyce Van Dyke's Daybreak, Bathsheba Doran's Kin, and Kate Hamill's spirited adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Musical productions have included A Little Night Music, Parade, Company, Kiss Me, Kate, Rent, Spring Awakening, and Cabaret. Deeply committed to Jewish arts and culture, she sings with Newton's Kol Emanuel Choir throughout the year.
Named a Board Member Emerita of the American Repertory Theater in 2025, Professor Grossman currently serves on the boards of Arlekin Players Theatre, the Anti-Defamation League's New England Region, and MassCreative, the principal advocacy organization for the cultural sector in Massachusetts. Recognized for "Outstanding Service" by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts in 2015, she and her husband Steven were honored with the Terezín Music Foundation's Legacy Award in 2018 for their "commitment to diversity, tolerance, and dialogue through acts of civil service, philanthropy, scholarship, or artistry." In May 2026, she received the Seymour O. Simches Award for Distinguished Teaching and Advising at Tufts University, which recognizes two senior faculty members –one from the School of Arts and Sciences, the other from the School of Engineering – who demonstrate a lifetime commitment to outstanding instruction, mentorship, and student advising.
Professor Grossman teaches a variety of graduate and undergraduate courses at Tufts including Imagining the Holocaust on Stage and Screen, The American Musical: Radical Acts and Adaptations, Telling American Stories: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Musicals from Of Thee I Sing to A Strange Loop, Breaking the Frame: Innovative Musicals in Their Cultural Moments, and Voice & Speech: The Art of Confident Expression. As a theatre director, her dramatic work at Tufts has ranged from Timberlake Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good to Molière's The Learned Ladies, Tony Kushner's The Illusion, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, Tadeusz S�obodzianek's Our Class, Joyce Van Dyke's Daybreak, Bathsheba Doran's Kin, and Kate Hamill's spirited adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Musical productions have included A Little Night Music, Parade, Company, Kiss Me, Kate, Rent, Spring Awakening, and Cabaret. Deeply committed to Jewish arts and culture, she sings with Newton's Kol Emanuel Choir throughout the year.