TOM ZIEGLER
PLAYWRIGHT | SCREENWRITER | TEACHER
Tom Ziegler’s play, Grace & Glorie, starring Estelle Parsons and Lucie Arnaz, opened at the Laura Pels Theatre Off-Broadway in July of 1996. The play continues to be performed in the United States, North and South America, and numerous countries in Europe.
Ziegler worked on the teleplay of Grace & Glorie, along with Grace McKeaney, for Hallmark Hall of Fame. The show first aired on CBS in December, 1998, starring Gena Rowlands and Diane Lane.
Grace & Glorie has been published by The Fireside Theatre and Samuel French.
Other New York productions include Home Games (Published - French) at the Hudson Guild Theatre, The Last Resort at the Triangle Theatre, and The Ninth Step at the Riverwest Theatre.
In 2020 The Ninth Step was produced at The Bulandra Theatre in Bucharest, Romania.
His play, Mrs. Kemble’s Tempest, was featured in October, 2013, at the United Solo Theatre Festival in New York City. Previously the show received Five Star reviews at the famed Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play has been performed at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Baltimore Shakespeare Company, Fulton Opera House, and many others.
Ziegler wrote the book for the musical drama, Glory Bound, with Tony Award winning composer, Jack Herrick. The play premiered at Lime Kiln Theater in Lexington, Virginia, in 1995 and was revived again the next year. The play was awarded a developmental grant by the National Endowment for the Arts.
His play Sundays at Eleven was featured at the CCT Theatre in St. Croix, Virgin Islands in 2012.
Additional plays include Father Frances, Body Shop, Weeds (published - French), Small Talk, adaptations of The Servant of Two Masters and Six Characters in Search of an Author, and a number of one-act plays.
His screenplays include 2018 Portland Comedy Festival selection, Say Goodbye to Boris; New York Screenplay Contest 1st place winner for Drama 2013, Father Frances; and Page International Screenwriting Competition, finalist, Subway Series.
While a professor in Theatre at Washington and Lee University, he was awarded the Anece F. McCloud Award for Diversity in Education for his work in attracting minority students to the arts.
Photo by Patrick Hinley
“I love to laugh myself and I love to make other people laugh. I think laughter is a wonderful way to loosen people up so you can slip them some serious material.”