Richard Kimmel is a New York City-based theatre director, writer, and theatrical producer. He is executive director of The Box, a venue for theater, music, and nightlife on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, and artistic director of Cannon Company, a performing ensemble.

Biography

Kimmel is a graduate of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

program in Directing. He has created and directed live performances and special events such as ''Pandora'' (The Box), a light and video show for

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, producer, and talk show host. Having received List of awards and nominations received by Jennifer Hudson, numerous accolades for ...

's New York concert debut ''One Night Only: Dreamgirls'' (Hammerstein Ballroom), and ''Schwarzwald'' (Roseland). In 2007, ''Schwarzwald'' was made into a feature film, ''Schwarzwald: The Movie You Can Dance To'', written and directed by Kimmel. The film, which has no spoken words, is based on music and footage filmed at the 2006 Black Party in the Roseland Ballroom, noted for its sexually charged shows. Following premieres in New York (NewFest) and Los Angeles (OutFest Platinum Selection), the film screened in Paris, Amsterdam, and Montreal. Kimmel's other New York directing and producing credits include ''Puss'' (the

Performing Garage The Performing Garage is an off-off-Broadway theater in SoHo, New York City. Established in 1968, it is the permanent home of the experimental theater company originally named The Performance Group (under Richard Schechner) that morphed in 1980 i ...

), ''Pleasuredome I and II'' (Combustive Arts), ''Witches' MacBeth'' (HERE,

Angel Orensanz Center The Angel Orensanz Center is an art and performance space at 172 Norfolk Street, between Stanton Street and East Houston Street, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was originally built as a synagogue, running through a su ...

, WAH Center), and ''Three Sisters'' (28th Street Theater), ''

The Secret Agent ''The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale'' is an anarchist spy fiction novel by Polish-British author Joseph Conrad, first published on 12 September 1907.. The story is set in Soho, London in 1886 and deals with Mr. Adolf Verloc and his work as a sp ...

'' (Dactyl). He also produced and directed the Pleasure Blister

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

series at downtown New York City nightclub Filter 14, and the ''New Lost City'' 2004 New Year's Eve extravaganza at the Lunatarium in

Dumbo, Brooklyn Dumbo (or DUMBO, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It encompasses two sections: one situated between the Manhattan Bridge, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, which ...

. His international and regional credits include ''

The Tooth of Crime ''The Tooth of Crime'' is a musical play written by Sam Shepard which made its premiere in London's Open Space Theatre on July 17, 1972. It tells the story of aging rock singer Hoss, doing battle with rival Crow. Plot The play is set in a vagu ...

'' (New Grove Theatre, London), '' Endgame'' (Actor's Workshop,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

), '' American Buffalo'' (14th Street Playhouse,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

), ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

'' (Alliance Theater,

), and ''

The Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play ...

'' (Theatre Emory,

). For many years, Kimmel has been an associate with

The Wooster Group The Wooster Group is an experimental theater company based in New York City known for creating numerous original dramatic works. It gradually emerged from Richard Schechner's The Performance Group (1967–1980) during the period from 1975 to 198 ...

, working in a variety of roles ranging from producing the

's "Visiting Artist Series" and "Emerging Artist Series" to helping secure funding for special projects. He was assistant director of the Group's 2002 repertory production ''To You, The Birdie! (Phèdre)'', and has toured to more than 20 cities internationally with the show, including London, Paris, Berlin,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Barcelona, and

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. Kimmel co-founded the New York City performance-art theater The Box on Valentine's Day in 2007 with partners Simon Hammerstein (the grandson of famed lyricist and playwright

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director in musical theater for nearly 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Award ...

) and

Randy Weiner Randy Weiner (born March 10, 1965) is an American playwright, producer and theater and nightclub owner. Weiner co-wrote the Off-Broadway musical ''The Donkey Show'' and, as one-third of EMURSIVE, produced the Drama Desk Award winning New York p ...

. The club, which ''The New York Times'' said "was labeled the savior of hip Manhattan nightlife" when it opened, was the subject of controversies in 2008. The extreme nature of some of the club's acts were criticized, and noise complaints lead to the local community board recommending that the club's liquor license renewal be denied. (The license was ultimately renewed.) In 2011, Kimmel and his partners opened The Box Soho in London. Kimmel is a member of the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

Director's Lab, and recipient of awards from the

NEH The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, the Princess Grace Foundation, and the

New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) serves to foster and advance the arts, culture, and creativity throughout New York State, according to its website. The goal of the council is to allow all New Yorkers to benefit from the contribution ...

References

External links

The Box NYC.com
– official website
The Box Soho.com
– official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimmel, Richard American theatre directors American male writers American theatre managers and producers Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people