Former Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department student and faculty member David Cromer HDR ’17, recipient of a 2017 Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Columbia College and winner of the 2018 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for The Band’s Visit, is the director of Prayer for the French Republic, which begins a Broadway run December 19 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, located at 261 W. 47th in New York City’s Midtown Manhattan Theatre District. The production’s official opening is January 9, 2024. The play, which ran off-Broadway in 2022, follows five generations of a French Jewish family, offering a sweeping look at history, home, and the effects of an ancient hatred. For tickets, click here.

David Cromer

As previously reported in this blog, Cromer won the 2018 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for The Band’s Visit. Though best known for directing productions on and off Broadway, in Chicago, and around the U.S., he is also an actor with Broadway credits including The Waverly Gallery (costarring Elaine May and Joan Allen) and A Raisin in the Sun (costarring Denzel Washington, Phylicia Rashad, and Sophie Okenedo). Prior to relocating to New York, Cromer was well known as an actor and director in Chicago, where he won several Joseph Jefferson Awards for directing plays. Cromer studied acting and directing at the Columbia College Theatre Department and later taught and directed shows there. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Columbia College when he spoke at the college’s 2017 commencement ceremony.