Zhailon Levingston is a Louisiana-raised storyteller, director, and activist who co-directed CATS: The Jellicle Ball, an immersive reimagining of the classic musical that premiered in 2024 at New York City’s Perelman Arts Center. The production earned him an OBIE Award (co-directing) as well as a Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Outstanding Direction of a Musical.
Zhailon’s first “Broadway” job was selling tickets to Broadway shows in Times Square. In 2017 he sold concessions for multiple Broadway theaters. At 27 years old, he became the youngest Black director in Broadway history, directing the Broadway production of Chicken and Biscuits. His other directing credits include Wonderful Town at New York City Center Encores!; Reconstructing at Brooklyn Academy of Music (co-directed with Rachel Chavkin); Little Miss Perfect (Olney Theater Center); Patience at Second Stage Theater; and Table 17 at MCC Theater (Lortel Award nominee for Outstanding Direction) and currently at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse.
Levingston is a board member of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Artistic Director of Inheritance Theater Project, and co-created a ‘Theater of Change’ course at Columbia University School of Law that is still being taught today. Once a year he returns to his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana to direct.