Signature Stories Vol. 16 | Page 12

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.