Brian Kite
Professor, Department of TheaterUCLA Dean and Vice Provost of Graduate Education
Brian Kite is an acclaimed director known for his work in live theater across the United States and internationally. He currently serves as Dean and Vice Provost of Graduate Education at UCLA. Previously, he was the Dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and Chair of its Department of Theater.
As a director, Kite has helmed productions at major regional theaters, festivals, and touring companies, earning recognition for his dynamic and visually compelling storytelling. His work has garnered awards and critical acclaim for productions such as American Idiot, Billy Elliot, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Little Shop of Horrors, and Dinner With Friends, among others. His direction has featured celebrated actors, including Cathy Rigby in Steel Magnolias and Michael Learned in Driving Miss Daisy.
Kite’s achievements in musical theater include receiving the Joel Hirschhorn Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and an Ovation Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Spring Awakening. He was also nominated for his direction of Les Misérables and American Idiot. His national touring work includes directing the productions of Judgment at Nuremberg, In the Heat of the Night, The Graduate, and Pride and Prejudice for L.A. Theatre Works. His international directing credits include the first production of Miss Saigon in China, closing the Macau International Music Festival, and the landmark Chinese tour of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, the first U.S. play presented at Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA).
Recent projects include directing the premiere of the musical Irena in Poznań and Warsaw, Poland, and Cabaret in Bermuda under the patronage of the Queen’s Governor. His work extends to collaborations such as From Baghdad to Brooklyn with Michelle Azar, which premiered at the United Solo Festival in New York and continues to tour nationally.
Beyond directing, Kite has played a vital role in arts organizations, serving as chair emeritus of the L.A. Stage Alliance Board of Governors and artistic director of the Buffalo Nights Theatre Company. He is also a visiting professor at the Shanghai Theatre Academy and has directed over 20 productions at New York’s French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts.
