When Director and Choreographer Jeff Whiting returned to The Phoenix Theatre Company to helm The Roads to Loch Lomond, he was stepping into something rare: a world still being written, refined, and discovered in real time. With the musical currently lighting up our stage, we sat down with Whiting for a Director’s Download about the process of bringing new work to life and the resonance of a story that feels both timeless and deeply personal.
In our discussion, Whiting – an award-winning Broadway director, choreographer, producer, and owner of Open Jar Studios credits include Bullets Over Broadway, The Scottsboro Boys, Big Fish, Hair, and Young Frankenstein – shared insights into the creative process and the emotional heartbeat of the show.
“The Roads to Loch Lomond is really the story behind a song that most everybody knows, ‘You take the high road and I’ll take the low road.’ But there’s a little-known legend behind the song, which is the story of two brothers. And this is what our play talks about,” he said. “We utilize that beautiful traditional Scottish song, but the rest of the musical is all original music by Neil Douglas Reilly and Maggie Herskowitz, who’ve created this wonderful tapestry detailing the story of the legend behind Loch Lomond.”
Sixteen years in the making, The Roads to Loch Lomond began as a shared dream between writer Maggie Herskowitz and composer Neil Douglas Reilly. When it joined The Phoenix Theatre Company’s Festival of New American Theatre in January, the creative team found space to reflect, revise, and rediscover what makes the story pulse with life.
For Whiting, that evolution extended beyond the page and into the physical world of the show. “The set design really begins with a prison, and then because there’s a series of flashbacks that just happen rather quickly – in a flash that prison disappears and comes back – we go to some really beautiful places and then back to this really intimate prison,” he said.
“My challenge to our lighting designer and our video designer was: how can we make sure that the set looks imposing, this prison that’s surrounding us, and in one flash really take us somewhere else?”
Those visual transitions mirror the emotional ones, blurring the line between captivity and memory, duty and longing. It’s through that shifting world that Whiting guides his cast, grounding each moment in honesty. Whiting’s connection to the material runs deep. Not only as a storyteller, but as someone who understands the complexity of sibling bonds. His approach to directing the show balances emotional truth with visual storytelling, drawing out the heart beneath the history
“As much as time changes, relationships often don’t,” Whiting said. “Brothers who don’t understand each other, brothers who come together, those are the same emotional things we deal with today. I think at the end of the play, everyone holds their dear ones a little closer.”
Through his direction, Whiting invites audiences not only to witness a legend, but to feel the life within it.
“What excites me the most about this show is the ability to bring this legend to life in a way that most people don’t know,” Whiting said.
“It’s beautiful music, it’s uplifting. Audiences are going to get a little bit of everything there’s dance in it, there’s beautiful vocals, and this cast is extraordinarily talented.”
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Event Details
What: The Roads to Loch Lomond
When: October 8 – November 2, 2025
Where: The Phoenix Theatre Company, Hormel Theatre, 1825 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004
Tickets: Available at www.phoenixtheatre.com or by calling the Box Office at (602) 254-2151
Click here to watch the full Director’s Download.
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