Kyle Holmes

Last updated
Kyle Holmes
Education UC Davis (BA)(MFA)
Occupation(s) Playwright, educator
Website kpholmes.com

Kyle Holmes (born March 23, 1989) is an American educator, playwright and producer best known for writing the book to Ranked, a Musical. [1] He, his collaborator David Taylor Gomes, and their musical Ranked is the subject of the 2022 HBO feature documentary, My So-Called High School Rank. [2]

Contents

Holmes is a co-founder of Uproar Theatrics, an all-digital theatrical licensing company. [3] Ranked, a Musical was included in the company's original catalog for its launch in 2021.

Early life

Holmes was born in Sacramento, California and grew up in Placerville, California where he attended Union Mine High School. [4] He attended the University of California, Irvine for two years, majoring in theatre, before finishing his undergraduate degree at University of California, Davis. He received his M.A. in education in 2012 there. [5]

Career

Holmes began teaching English at Granite Bay High School in 2011. He took over as Director of Theatre Arts the following year. He began writing musicals in 2017 with collaborator David Taylor Gomes. [6]

Ranked, a Musical

In the spring of 2018, Holmes and Gomes began writing Ranked, a Musical for Holmes' students at Granite Bay High School. The play focuses on academic pressure, with the central plot following a student whose parents paid for their grades. [7] The show debuted on April 4, 2019 at Granite Bay High School just weeks after the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal broke, attracting national attention. [1]

After developing the show at UC Davis, in the fall of 2019, it was announced that the musical's journey towards a commercial production would be filmed for an HBO documentary. [8] My So-Called High School Rank was released on HBO and HBO Max on November 29, 2022.

Ranked has been licensed and performed by schools around the world. [9]

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<i>Ranked</i> (musical) American musical

Ranked is a musical written by David Taylor Gomes and Kyle Holmes (book), known as "Holmes & Gomes". The musical focuses on a dystopian world where academic competition defines each student's worth, and students do whatever it takes to get to the top of the leaderboards, including paying for their grades. Holmes & Gomes started writing in the spring of 2018, and Ranked debuted on April 4, 2019 at Granite Bay High School just weeks after the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal broke, launching the show into a national spotlight.

References

  1. 1 2 Nadworny, Elissa (2019-04-12). "A Dystopian High School Musical Foresaw The College Admissions Scandal". NPR.org.
  2. ↑ "My So Called High School Rank | Watch the Documentary on HBO | HBO.com". HBO. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  3. ↑ Harms, Talaura (2021-06-02). "New Licensing Agent Uproar Theatrics Offers New Works With an All-Digital Materials Model". Playbill.com. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  4. ↑ Vonderschmitt, Andrew (2021-03-19). "Musical auditions announced for area high school students". Mountain Democrat. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  5. ↑ "Mother and Son Graduate Together at UC Davis Graduate Studies Commencement". UC Davis Graduate Studies. 2013-10-28. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  6. ↑ Symes, Courtney. "BWW Interview: Kyle Holmes And David Taylor Gomes Speak About Their Original Musical, RANKED, And Its One-Night-Only Encore CONCERT AT THE CREST THEATRE". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  7. ↑ Soltes, John (2022-12-02). "INTERVIEW: HBO doc explores realities of high school rankings". Hollywood Soapbox. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  8. ↑ Meyer, Dan (2020-02-21). "College Admissions Scandal Musical Ranked Now Accepting Submissions". Playbill.com.
  9. ↑ Putnam, Leah (2022-12-13). "In Writing Ranked, Kyle Holmes and David Taylor Gomes Put Teenagers First". Playbill.com.
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