Thomas Kail

Born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia, Thomas Kail first participated in theater at the prestigious Sidwell Friends School, but didn't truly become interested in the art until college. At Wesleyan University, his participation in the production of a play that some friend were putting up sparked an interest, and a course by playwright August Wilson at Dartmouth inspired Kail to write and direct his own play. He did so, his senior year, and while rehearsing, met fellow student, freshman Lin-Manuel Miranda. Once he graduated, Kail headed to New York, where he was hired to be the assistant of singer Audra McDonald. Kail continued to pursue opportunities in theater as well, forming a theater company with some college friends and putting up shows in the 50-seat theater under the Drama Book Shop. Once Miranda had graduated from Wesleyan, Kail approached him about using the Drama Book Shop theater to develop his play "In the Heights." With Kail directing, the show ran for nearly three years, eventually moving to the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway. An avid athlete, Kail also directed the sports centered Broadway plays "Lombardi" (about legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi), which premiered in 2010 at the Circle in the Square Theatre, and "Magic/Bird" about the relationship between basketball players Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in 2012 at the Longacre Theatre. In 2015, he directed Miranda's play "Hamilton" Off-Broadway and on, again at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. The play became a phenomenon with an unbroken string of sold out performances and an original cast recording that became a hit nationwide. In 2016, Kail directed the live broadcast of "Grease Live!" (Fox, 2016).