Education
Cromer dropped out of high school Indiana his junior year (later acquiring a General Educational Development), and attended Columbia College Chicago.
Cromer dropped out of high school Indiana his junior year (later acquiring a General Educational Development), and attended Columbia College Chicago.
He has received recognition for his work Office-Broadway and in his native Chicago. Born the third of four sons to Richard and Louise Cromer, he was raised in Skokie, Illinois. In 2005, Cromer made his Office-Broadway debut directing Austin Pendleton"s Orson"s Shadow at the Barrow Street Theatre.
The production originated at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago.
lieutenant is now being produced in regional theaters around the country. In 2009, Cromer performed the role of the Stage Manager in an Office-Broadway revival of Our Town, which he also directed, at The Barrow Street Theatre.
The production, which began in Chicago in 2008, has been acclaimed for its non-traditional elements. In the wake of his Our Town success, The New York Times profiled Cromer, referring to "his suddenly thriving career has etched him as a visionary wunderkind, a genius in a black cape with secrets up his billowing sleeves."
In October 2009, Cromer directed a short-lived Broadway revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs starring Noah Robbins, Santino Fontana, Laurie Metcalf, and Dennis Boutsikaris.
(The planned production of Broadway Bound was cancelled) He directed the Broadway revival of The House of Blue Leaves, which starred Ben Stiller and Edie Falco played a limited run in April 2011 to August 2011.
In June to July 2011, he directed A Streetcar Named Desire, with Jessica Hecht as Blanche, at the Williamstown Theater Festival. He directed Tribes by Nina Raine at the Office-Broadway Barrow Street Theatre, which ran from March 2011 to September 2011. In 2010, he was announced to direct the Broadway production of the musical Yank! by Joseph and David Zellnik.
In 2010, he said of Yank!, "I"m hungrier to work on this than anything in recent memory." However, the production has been postponed, according to The New York Times article of September 2010.
He was announced to direct a Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams" Sweet Bird of Youth starring Nicole Kidman and James Franco and set for Fall 2011, but in August 2011 the production was delayed and Franco dropped out. Cromer says it is "still on the drawing board".
In October to December 2013, he returned to Chicago to star as Ned Weeks in TimeLine Theatre Company"s production of The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer. Personal He was named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow.
Cromer is openly gay.