L E A V I N G
A
An Interview with Director Thomas Kail
In addition to kicking off Quiara Alegría Hudes’s Signature residency, Daphne’s Dive
also marks director and long-time Hudes collaborator Thomas Kail’s first Signature
production. In 2007, Kail directed the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights,
a salsa- and hip hop-infused exploration of the American dream as seen from a corner
bodega, for which Hudes wrote the book. Since then, Kail has helmed a rich array
of works featuring a diverse range of characters, from an NFL coaching legend in
Lombardi to a rapping Founding Father in Hamilton, and from the iconic Greasers
and Pink Ladies in Fox Television’s Grease: Live! to a Kansas City family struggling
to make ends meet in Broke-ology. Before beginning rehearsals, Kail spoke
with Literary Associate Nathaniel French about meeting Hudes for the first time,
putting together the play’s ensemble, and being part of Jim Houghton’s
final season at Signature.
(left) Lin-Manuel Miranda
and the Broadway cast of
In the Heights, 2008;
(above) Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise
Goldsberry, and Jasmine Cephas
Jones in the Broadway production
of Hamilton, 2015; (above right)
Thomas Kail in rehearsals for
The Public Theater’s production
of Hamilton, 2015.