Kate Sullivan Coombs

Most recently, Kate directed Dragons Love Tacos, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, and Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed for Northbrook Theatre. From 2019 – 2023, Kate served as Resident Director & General Manager of Chicago’s Drunk Shakespeare, crafting jokes and curating debauchery for a rotating cast. Previous directing projects include Avenue Q (Redhouse Arts Center), The Maid (NHSI), Finding Belief (Ghostlight Ensemble’s Make/Believe Festival), LezSing (PrideArts), Spring Awakening (glory|struck productions), and the immersive cabaret send-up A Day at The Beaches in Los Angeles. Kate is the creator of The Album Project, under which she created and directed Los Angeles stagings of Rumours, Jagged Little Pill, and Ed Sheeran’s +. Playwriting credits include Snow White (Orphan Girl Children’s Theatre), Click (Fireflower Productions), Family Reunion (Chicago Children’s Theatre Ensemble), and Sex, Love, and Yoga (MACHA Theatre).

Working with screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, Kate co-wrote 8, the Play, which debuted at Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre in 2011 (dir. Joe Mantello) and was follow up by a starry Los Angeles reading to benefit the American Foundation for Equal Rights (watch it here). Katealso produced and directed the Sacramento premiere of “8,” which has now been performed in hundreds of cities across the world. Outside of the theatre, Kate can often be found buying far too much fruit at the farmers market and turning it into wacky jams.

Link: “8”: A Play about the Fight for Marriage Equality

Bio as of 2025