Tom Moore is an award-winning director whose original Broadway production of Grease ran for 3,388 performances. He also has received Emmy nominations for directing the hit TV drama series LA Law and ER, and the comedy series Mad About You. After graduating from Westside in 1961, Moore attended Purdue University where he earned a BA in Theatre in 1965. He then went on to earn a master’s fine arts from the Yale Drama School, after which he launched his directing career with Loot at Brandeis University and Oh, What a Lovely War! at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He also directed the nostalgic World War II musical Over Here! which earned him a Tony Award nomination in 1974. Other critically acclaimed stage productions directed by Moore include 1978 Broadway revival of Once in a Lifetime; and the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama ‘night, Mother, for which he received another Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Play.
Additional credits include The Octette Bridge Club and Moon Over Buffalo. Moore also has directed several film and television productions in addition to those for which he received Emmy nominations. They include Thirtysomething, Cybill, Suddenly Susan, Picket Fences, Northern Exposure, Ally McBeal, Dharma & Greg, Gilmore Girls, Felicity, and Huff. Feature films include Return to Boggy Creek and an adaptation of ‘night, Mother, which was featured at the 37th Berlin International Film Festival. He also recently finished a documentary, “The Flight Fantastic” which will play the Byron Bay Film Festival in Byron Bay, Australia in March. Moore Recently joined the Yale School of Drama Advisory Board. He also was presented with the Presidents Award from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Moore says he fondly remembers his high school days when he got involved with theater and starred in The Man Who Came to Dinner. “When I toured the new high school a while back, I found it impressive and satisfying that the old high school had been totally absorbed into the center of the new one,” Moore says. “The old had ceased to exist in the service of something greater. What could be better? The old theatre was in part now a wrestling room. It’s sort of ironic, as I had dropped out of wrestling to pursue the theatre, which was painful at the time, but in retrospect, a good choice!”