About this Event
Join two remarkable directors for a conversation about the hit of the summer: Cats: the Jellicle Ball at the Perelman Performing Arts Center. We'll discuss the origin of the idea and how it developed, the nature of their unique collaboration, the full-throated passion this new version has inspired and where they're both headed next. Moderated by Mercury Store Director Will Frears.
B IOS
Zhailon Levingston
ZHAILON LEVINGSTON (Director) is a Louisiana-raised storyteller and Director. He is a board member for the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, which received an honorary Tony Award in 2021. Zhailon is also the Artistic Director of Inheritance Theatre Project. Select credits include: TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL (Broadway), HADESTOWN (Korea), THE WIZ (Cincinnati Children’s Theatre), CHICKEN AND BISCUITS (Broadway), PATIENCE (Second Stage), LITTLE MISS PERFECT (Goodspeed), CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL (Perelman Performing Arts Center).
Bill Rauch
BILL RAUCH is the inaugural artistic director of Perelman Performing Arts Center. His work as a theater director has been seen across the nation, from low-income community centers to Broadway. New York credits include CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL at the Perelman, Naomi Wallace’s NIGHT IS A ROOM (Signature Theatre), Sarah Ruhl’s THE CLEAN HOUSE (Lincoln Center Theater), and a site-specific OCCASIONAL GRACE in multiple Manhattan churches (En Garde Arts).
From 2007 to 2019, Bill was artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF). Among his initiatives at OSF, Bill committed to commissioning 37 new plays to dramatize moments of change in American history.
Bill is also co-founder of Cornerstone Theater Company where he served as artistic director from 1986 to 2006, directing more than 40 productions. He has directed at Portland Center Stage, Center Theater Group, South Coast Rep, American Repertory Theater, Yale Rep, the Guthrie, Arena Stage, Seattle Rep, Long Wharf Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Pasadena Playhouse, and Great Lakes Theater Festival.
Among many honors, Bill is the only artist to have won the inaugural “Leadership for a Changing World” award from the Ford Foundation.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Mercury Store, 131 8th Street, Brooklyn, United States
USD 35.00