Shreveport native wins direction award at 2026 Tony Awards

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - Shreveport native Zhailon Livingston wins the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” which is playing now on Broadway.

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Shreveport-native Zhailon Levingston has been nominated for a 2026 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for his work on Cats: The Jellicle Ball.

This marks the first Tony nomination for Levingston, who co-directed the musical with director Bill Rauch.

Levingston currently has an Obie Award and a Lucille Lortel Award. His work spans a wide range of productions, including:

• Tina: The Tina Turner Musical (Broadway)
• Hadestown (Korea), Chicken & Biscuits (Broadway)
• Patience (Second Stage Theatre)
• Little Miss Perfect (Goodspeed Musicals)
• The Wiz Jr. (The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati)

Levingston serves as a board member of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, which received an honorary Tony Award in 2021. He also serves as Artistic Director of the Inheritance Theatre Project.

Levingston is a graduate of Captain Shreve High School.