Thomas W. Jones, II
Thomas W. Jones, II (Director) was born and raised in Queens, New York. He is an acclaimed, award-winning director, writer, and performer of more than 200 plays worldwide. His work has received 48 Washington DC Helen Hayes Award nominations winning 15 awards, including Best Director for Samm Art Williams’ Home and his own Bessie’s Blues. He has also received 3 New York AUDELCO Award nominations, the Drama-Logue Award, the San Diego Critics Award, NAACP Phoenix Award, among others.
In 1978, Tom founded Jomandi Productions, where, as Co-Artistic Director and Producing Director, Tom led Jomandi to become the third largest African-American theater company in the United States. In 2000, Tom and his co-founders left Jomandi to create the entertainment company VIA International Artists, Inc. and subsequently a musical theater company VIA Theatrical.
He is Artistic Associate at Washington DC’s MetroStage where many of his original musicals have premiered and has directed 14 productions at Atlanta’s Horizon Theatre. His most recent works include Athol Fugard’s The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek (MetroStage, DC), Trey Anthony’s How Black Mothers Say I Love You and ‘da Kink In My Hair (Horizon Theatre, Atlanta), Blackberry Daze (Horizon Theatre, Atlanta), Fool In Love: The Frankie Lymon Story, Three Sistahs, Gee’s Bend, Point of Revue, Two Queens One Castle, Bricktop, Heart ‘n’ Soul, Love Johnny, A Cool Drink A Water, and Holler and Sheddin’. Tom’s musical Cool Papa’s Party completed a workshop in New York with Wayne Brady. He recently directed Kandi Burress’ (Xscape, Real Housewives of Atlanta) musical A Mother’s Love, Only Just a Minute and Mary Honey B. Morrison’s play Single Husbands and has taken the production of Janet Langhart Cohen’s Anne and Emmett (MetroStage) to the Oprah Winfrey Theater at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Washington, DC), National Black Theatre Festival(Winston-Salem, NC) and on tour to the Netherlands.