Kait Kerrigan is an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

and

book writer {{unreferenced, date=January 2014 The book writer is the member of a musical's team who creates the book—the musical's plot, character development, and dramatic structure. Essentially, the book writer is the playwright of the musical, working ver ...

Biography

Kait Kerrigan is a

and a

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

of musicals. Originally from

Kingston, Pennsylvania Kingston is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the western bank of the Susquehanna River opposite the city of Wilkes-Barre. Kingston was first settled in the early 1770s; it was incorporated as a borough in ...

, she graduated from

Wyoming Valley West Senior High School Wyoming Valley West High School is a public high school in Plymouth, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. It is the only public high school in the Wyoming Valley West School District. The current building was completed in 1978. Students and faculty ...

(

Plymouth, Pennsylvania Plymouth is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located west of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre, along the Susquehanna River. The population was 5,763 as of the 2020 census. History ...

, 1999) and

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

(2003, with a degree in English Literature). She is a member of the

BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BMI's repertoire of over 20.6 milli ...

. Kerrigan is most well known for her collaborations with Bree Lowdermilk. Their works together include shows such as '' The Woman Upstairs'' and '' The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown'' (with Zach Altman). She and Lowdermilk collaborated on TheaterworksUSA's adaptation of '' Henry and Mudge'', which premiered

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in 2006 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. They worked on the project, ''Republic'', an adaptation of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's '' Henry IV'', set in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. In 2011, Kerrigan and Lowdermilk released their first CD, ''"Our First Mistake"''. The CD was a result of fan support through a campaign on Kickstarter. To celebrate both the CD and their fans, Kerrigan-Lowdermilk launched a series of New York City concerts under the name ''You Made This Tour''. A selection of recordings from these concerts was bundled for their follow-up album, ''"Kerrigan-Lowdermilk Live"''. The pair made their London debut at the

St James Theatre St. James Theatre is a Broadway theatre in New York City. St. James Theatre may also refer to: Australia * St. James Theatre, Sydney, multi-storey building in Elizabeth Street, not to be confused with diminutive St James' Hall, Sydney New Zeala ...

in February 2014 in a concert series produced by United Theatrical - a London-based theatrical production company run by

Stuart Matthew Price Matthew Price (born 6 August 1983 in Kidderminster, England) is a British actor, dancer and West End stage and concert singer known for playing Riff Raff in three European tours of ''The Rocky Horror Show''. He is also a composer, having writt ...

and

James Yeoburn James Yeoburn (born 30 December 1989) is an English producer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of international theatre production company United Theatrical Early life and education Yeoburn was born in Exeter, Devon and grew up on the Harefi ...

. The featured singers included West End performers

Rachel Tucker Rachel Kelly Tucker (born 29 May 1981) is a Northern Irish West End and Broadway actress, best known for her portrayal of Elphaba in the hit musical '' Wicked''. She most recently starred in Come from Away on Broadway, having originated the role ...

Julie Atherton Julie Atherton is a British actress and singer. On 3 October 2009, she finished portraying the roles of Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut in the West End production of '' Avenue Q''. She released her debut album, ''A Girl of Few Words,'' on 2 Octo ...

Daniel Boys Daniel Boys (born 26 March 1979) is an English musical theatre actor, who was a contestant on the BBC talent series '' Any Dream Will Do'' in 2007 before becoming known as a stage actor in various musicals including '' Avenue Q'', ''Spamalot'' an ...

and

Lauren Samuels Lauren Alvarado (born 26 March 1988) is an English singer/actress who performs under the stage name "Lauren Samuels". She became well known to the British public as a contestant on the 2010 BBC UK TV series '' Over the Rainbow''. Since appearing ...

. Her plays include ''Imaginary Love'', ''Her Old Possessions'', ''Tender Wars in the Green-Gold Room'' and ''Transit''. Kerrigan is married to lyricist

Nathan Tysen Nathan Tysen (born January 15, 1977) is a Grammy-nominated American songwriter whose musicals have appeared on Broadway and the West End. Musicals with composer Chris Miller include ''Tuck Everlasting'', ''The Burnt Part Boys, Fugitive Songs'', ' ...

. The couple has one child.

Works

*'' Henry and Mudge'' (with Bree Lowdermilk) *''Her Old Possessions'' *''Tender Wars in the Green-Gold Room'' *''Transit'' *''Imaginary Love'' *'' The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown'' (music and lyrics by Bree Lowdermilk; book and lyrics by Kait Kerrigan; additional book and concept by Zach Altman) *''Tales from the Bad Years'' (with Bree Lowdermilk) *'' The Woman Upstairs'' (with Bree Lowdermilk) *''Wrong Number'' (with Bree Lowdermilk) *''Republic'' (with Bree Lowdermilk) *''Unbound'' (with Bree Lowdermilk) *''Flash of Time'' (with Bree Lowdermilk) *''Justice'' (With Bree Lowdermilk)

References

External links

kerrigan-lowdermilk.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerrigan, Kait Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American musical theatre lyricists American musical theatre librettists American dramatists and playwrights Barnard College alumni