Sarah Hinzman was born and raised in Iowa. In May 2024, she graduated from Florida State University with an M.F.A. in Directing. She has also earned an M.S. in Adult Learning & Organizational Performance from Drake University and a B.F.A. in Music Theatre with a dance minor from Viterbo University. She further trained with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (Consent Forward Artist Program) and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (Summer Shakespeare Short Course).
At Florida State University, she directed Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical! and The Ruby Sunrise for the main stage season. She also adapted and directed The Fault (a.k.a. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar). Other projects included an absurdist one-act: Prefers Bright Indirect Light, and devised works INK, Inc. and #FREEBRITNEY. She also served as Assistant Director for Newsies on the main stage under Broadway’s Michael Fatica.
She recently served as the Associate Producer and Director of Education for the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre. She directed Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical! and Dragons Love Tacos for the TYA season and Associate Directed Constellations and All Shook Up under Artistic Director James Beaudry. In addition, she co-produced Always…Patsy Cline, Smokey Joe’s Café, Church Basement Ladies, and Pinkalicious.
At Theatre Cedar Rapids, she was selected to direct the new works Black Box: An Adoption Story and Again, I’m You for the Underground New Play Festival and Halloween:1977 for the Flash Play Festival. She also Assistant Directed Shakespeare in Love under Artistic Director Angie Toomsen.
Sarah has been a professional actor for 19 years. Some of her favorite roles include Mother in Ragtime, Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, and Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker. Regional theaters include Timber Lake Playhouse, Riverside Theatre (Iowa City) Blue Gate Theatre, Stagewest Theatre Company, Des Moines Onstage, Epic Stage Productions, Kata Klysmic Productions, SPT Theatre, Old Creamery Theatre, and Allenberry Playhouse. She has also appeared in short films, commercials, and industrials.
Sarah enjoys teaching and coaching students of all ages. In higher education, she has served as Instructor of Record and Graduate Teaching Assistant at Florida State University and an Adjunct Instructor at Drake University, leading courses on directing, musical theatre, performance, and design. For many years, she freelanced as a children’s theatre instructor at the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy, the Zach Johnson Foundation, and more. She provides private coaching in acting, public speaking, and career advancement.
Sarah served in a variety of interesting day jobs including 2 years of service in AmeriCorps, in which she served as an Environmental Educator at a nature center. She also worked for the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service as the Training and Inclusion Coordinator and the Iowa Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman as the Volunteer Ombudsman Program Manager. She has certificates in Grant Writing & Management from Drake University and Volunteer Management from Des Moines Area Community College.
To strive. To seek. To find. And not to yield. - Tennyson
