Meet the Hottest Stars of the Summer 2013 Broadway Season!
By: BWW Special Coverage Aug. 02, 2013
Summertime is an important season for Broadway, with tourists flocking from all over to check out the stars they watched on the Tony Awards, be the first to visit the newest additions to the Broadway line-up, and even stop back at an old favorite.
Need help keeping track of Broadway's newest and most buzzed-about performers? BroadwayWorld brings you a roundup of the hottest stars of the summer below!
Role: Shlomo
Show: SOUL DOCTOR
Anderson was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his portrayal of Shlomo in the NYTW production of Soul Doctor. Broadway credits include: Kinky Boots and South Pacific. Other credits include The Wild Party (Burrs, L.A. premiere), Ragtime (Tateh), Troubadour Theater Company member. TV: "The Good Wife," "Law & Order," "Alias." Wife: Jessica Rush.
Joseph Leo Bwarie- @JosephLeoBwarie
Role: Frankie Valli
Show: JERSEY BOYS
With the summer 2011 release of his debut album, Nothin' But Love, his starring role as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys, and a musical (for which he penned the book & lyrics) in development for Broadway, Joseph Leo Bwarie is, as Hollywood icon Garry Marshall declared him: "three of the most exciting words in show business." Other credits include stage work from Las Vegas to New Zealand and on-screen roles from television's Mama's Family to the 2010 star-studded feature film Valentine's Day. He has appeared in numerous films including The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement, The Addams Family,Raising Helen, Chronic Town and Race to Witch Mountain.
Role: Spider-Man
Show: SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK
Reeve Carney stars as the young prince Ferdinand in Julie Taymor's film adaptation of The Tempest and also starred in the film version of the acclaimed novel Snow Falling on Cedars. As the front man of up-and-coming rock band Carney, Reeve is accompanied by his brother Zane (guitar), Aiden Moore (bass) and Jon Epcar (drums). Carney's debut album, Mr. Green Vol. 1, is out now on DAS Label/Interscope.
Role: Miss Trunchbull
Show: MATILDA
2013 Tony Nominee
Carvel's work in theatre includes the original production of Matilda in Stratfordupon- Avon and London (Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical); Damned By Despair, The Man of Mode, The Life of Galileo and Coram Boy at The National Theatre; Doctor Dee (Manchester International Festival); Rope (Almeida); The Pride (Royal Court) and Parade (Donmar Warehouse, Olivier Award nomination). TV includes "Restless," "Hidden," "The Crimson Petal and the White," "Just William," "Sherlock," "Doctor Who" and "Hawking." Films include LES MISERABLES. He trained at RADA.
Show: FOREVER TANGO
Maksim Chmerkovskiy has contributed his expertise and choreography skills to Le Rêve - The Dream at Wynn Las Vegas, Broadway's Burn the Floor and various television projects. His success led him to launch one of the nation's leading Latin and ballroom dance studios, Dance with Me, which has four locations across NY, NJ and CT.
Joanna Christie- @JoannaChristie5
Role: Girl
Show: ONCE
Joanna trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and was a member of the National Youth Theatre. Television includes: "Mr Selfridge" (ITV); "Starlings" (Sky 1); "Misfits 3" (E4); "Lewis series II" (ITV); "Small Dark Places" (BBC); "No Angels" (Channel 4); "Holby City" (BBC1). Theatre includes: Equus (Gielgud Theatre); The 24 Hour Plays (The Old Vic); Be My Baby (Hull Truck Theatre); The Ramshackle Heart (Public Theatre NY/The Old Vic); School For Scandal (Greenwich Theatre); Dr Faustus (Greenwich Theatre);Bloody Poetry (Jermyn Street Theatre); Immaculate Conceit (Lyric Hammersmith); One Night In November (Belgrade Theatre Coventry).
Role: Jack Kelly
Show: NEWSIES
Corey makes his Broadway debut in Disney's Newsies having just graduated from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama. University credits include Suddenly Last Summer, Assassins, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Sweeney Todd directed by Joe Calarco, among others. He appeared in several productions at Pittsburgh CLO and recently in the reading of Bare directed by Stafford Arima.
Role: Guy
Show: ONCE
Arthur is an English actor and musician. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Theatre: Our Boys (Duchess), Dr Faustus (Shakespeare's Globe), Swimming with Sharks (Vaudeville),Marine Parade (Market), Stacy (Arcola), Terre Haute (Trafalgar Studios). Film: Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Pelican Blood, Robin Hood. Television: Arthur Played Rory Williams in the BBC's "Dr Who," "Little Dorrit" (BBC), "The Paradise" (BBC), "Broadchurch" (Kudos/ITV). Arthur has written songs for The Lightning Child - Shakespeare's Globe - Summer 2013 and can next be seen as Buckingham in the BBC/Starz adaptation of the Philippa Gregory novels The White Queen.
Brandon Victor Dixon- @BrandonVDixon
Role: Berry Gordy
Show: MOTOWN
His Broadway credits include: The Color Purple, Harpo (Tony Award nomination), City Center Encores!; Cotton Club Parade w/ Wynton Marsalis, Host, City Center Encores!; House of Flowers, Royal; The Lion King, Adult Simba. Off-Broadway: The Scottsboro Boys, Haywood Patterson (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle, and AUDELCO Award nomination);RENT, Tom Collins. Regional: Ray Charles Live!, Ray Charles (Ovation nomination); Far from Heaven, Raymond Deagan; Columbia University's 107th Annual Varsity Show, as well as numerous other productions. TV: Quincy Jones's "America's Millennium;" ABC's "One Life to Live," Darryl (recurring); "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," Dix (feature); "The Good Wife," clerk (guest star).
Role: Elder Price
Show: THE BOOK OF MORMON
Doyle's Broadway credits include: War Horse (Billy Narracott), Spring Awakening (Hanschen), Bye Bye Birdie (Hugo Peabody). National Tour: Spring Awakening (Melchior). Regional: Giantat Dallas Theater Center (Jordy Jr.). Film/TV: Gossip Girl (Jonathan), Private Romeo(Glenn). Recordings: Bare (Peter). Matt's solo EPs, Daylight and Constant (co-written by Will Van Dyke), are now available. Attended The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Role: Mr. Wormwood
Show: MATILDA
2013 Tony Winner
Ebert's Broadway credits include: Brief Encounter, by Noël Coward adapted and directed by Kneehigh Theatre's Emma Rice; Red, directed by Michael Grandage. He is the recipient of Juilliard's Robin Williams Scholarship and John Houseman Award. Other credits include the Roundabout's Suicide Incorporated, dir. John Berry; the Public's The Sacrifices, dir. Sam Gold; ART's Prometheus Bound, dir. Diane Paulus. He received an Obie for his performance in Amy Herzog's 4000 Miles, dir. Daniel Aukin at the Duke Theater and Lincoln Center's Mitzi Newhouse Theater. TV: CBS' short lived "Made in Jersey." His most exciting theatrical adventure was playing Konstantin in a site-specific Seagull at a lake in upstate New York, directed by Brian Mertes.
Santino Fontana- @SantinoFontana
Role: Prince Topher
Show: CINDERELLA
2013 Tony Nominee
Fontana's Broadway credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, Brighton Beach Memoirs, for which he received a 2010 Drama Desk Award, Billy Elliot: The Musical and the 2007 revival of Sunday in the Park with George. Off Broadway credits include Roundabout's acclaimed production of Sons of the Prophet for which he received the 2012 Obie Award, and Matt in the 2006 Off Broadway revival of The Fantasticks.
Role: Billy Flynn
Show: CHICAGO
His Broadway credits include: Les Miserables(Drama League nomination), Sweeney Todd (Drama Desk nomination), Assassins (Theatre World Award), The People In The Picture, Sunday In The Park With George. Off-Broadway: Road Showat The Public (Drama League nomination), Headstrong at EST andAvenue Q at The Vineyard. Favorite Regional: The Three Sisters at Cincinnati Playhouse and the title character in Saint-Ex at The Weston Playhouse. Concerts: The N.Y. Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, The N.Y. Pops at Carnegie Hall and The L.A. Philharmonic at The Hollywood Bowl. TV: "Homeland" and "The Good Wife." His solo show, All At Once, premiered at The Kennedy Center in 2011. Alexander is a graduate of The University Of Michigan.
Role: The Phantom
Show: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Peter's work on stage, record, film and television has made him one of Scandinavia's biggest stars. After being awarded a Swedish Tony for creating the role of Robert In Björn Ulvaeus' and Benny Andersson's musical Kristina, Peter was brought to London by Cameron Mackintosh to play Chris in Miss Saigon and later Michael in the original cast of The Witches of Eastwick. He received his second Swedish Tony as the Emcee in Cabaret. Peter has sold over one million albums, including the best-selling Swedish albums of 2006 and 2008, plus Scandinavia's best-selling Christmas album of all time. He's been nominated for three Swedish Grammy Awards and two of his TV specials have been nominated for the Silver Rose at the Rose d'Or Festival. In 2010, he performed at the Royal concert for Crown Princess Victoria's wedding. Peter's album La Vie, L'Amour, La Mort was accompanied by a 30-minute film with Peter at the helm of creative production. His upcoming album is I Love Musicals, which was also the name of his sold-out arena tour last year.
Role: Fiyero
Show: WICKED
Klena was most recently seen off-Broadway as Eddie Birdlace in Dogfight, directed by Wicked's Joe Mantello and co-starring Lindsay Mendez (Elphaba) at Second Stage Theatre. Prior to that, he portrayed Tommy Ross in Carrie at MCC. Regionally he's been seen in Hairspray (Link), Glory Days (Will), Happy Days (Richie),Cinderella (Prince), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Joseph), and Big River (Huck).
Role: Chauncey Miles
Show: THE NANCE
2013 Tony Nominee
Most recently playEd Hickey in the acclaimed Robert Falls production of The Iceman Cometh in Chicago. Credits include: Some Americans Abroad, The Frogs, Present Laughter (Drama Desk nom.), Merlin, The Wind in the Willows, On Borrowed Time, Guys and Dolls (Tony nom., Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards), Love! Valour! Compassion! (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards), The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Producers(Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards and the Olivier Award), The Odd Couple, Butley, November, Waiting for Godot (Outer Critics Circle nom.), The Addams Family (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle noms.). In 2006 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2008 was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Role: Diana Ross
Show: MOTOWN
2013 Tony Nominee
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, she has been blessed to grace the Broadway stage in numerous productions such as The Book of Mormon, The Threepenny Opera, 110 in the Shade andRagtime. Other New York credits include the John Denver musical, Almost Heaven, as well as many readings and workshops. Her portrayal of "Sarah" in the Drury Lane production ofRagtime garnered her a 2010 Joseph Jefferson Award and a Black Theatre Alliance nomination. Other regional credits include Caroline, or Change ("Emmie"), Dreamgirls("Deena Jones"), Big River ("Alice's Daughter"), Godspell ("Joanne") and Little Shop of Horrors ("Chiffon"), for which she was nominated for a Kevin Kline Award. She was featured in the "Live at the Lincoln Center" production of Camelot, which aired on PBS.
Role: Aaron
Show: FIRST DATE
Levi was last seen on NBC's hit show "Chuck," playing a regular guy whose life gets scrambled when he inadvertently has government secrets downloaded into his brain while reading an email sent from a long lost friend. "Chuck" has been a media and fan favorite since its fall 2007 release and continues its popularity even after the series finale. Fans will be thrilled to see Levi in the 2013 release of the Marvel film Thor: The Dark World in the role of Fandral the Dashing. The film is set for a holiday release. Levi also recently appeared in feature films as the lead role opposite MAndy Moore in Disney's twist on its classic Rapunzel, entitled Tangled. The Oscar-nominated film was a huge success at the box office and in DVD release. Additionally, Levi appeared in the 20th Century Fox film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel which broke box office records in its Christmas 2009 release. Levi was also seen starring with Amber Tamblyn in the independent feature filmSpiral and in the franchise film Big Momma's House 2 with Martin Lawrence.
Billy Magnussen- @BillyMagnussen
Role: Spike
Show: VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE
2013 Tony Nominee
Magnussen's theatre credits include: The Ritz, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Paper Dolls. Film: Twelve, Happy Tears, Damsels in Distress, 2nd Serve, Surviving Family, The Brass Teapot, The East, The Lost Valentine. Television: "Boardwalk Empire," "Blue Bloods," "Your Pretty Little Face is going to Hell," "In Plain Sight," "Law & Order," "Poopstains," "Law & Order: CI," "The Unusuals," "NCIS: Los Angeles," "CSI," "As the World Turns." Education: University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He is also a member of the rock band "Reserved for Rondee."
Lindsay Mendez- @LindsayMendez
Role: Elphaba
Show: WICKED
Lindsay Mendez received an Outer Critics Circle nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical as well as a Drama League nomination for her performance as Rose Fenny in the off-Broadway musical, Dogfight, featuring a score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, book by Peter Duchan, and direction by Joe Mantello. Lindsay appeared on Broadway as the "Bless the Lord" soloist in the 2011 Revival of Godspell. Other credits include Everyday Rapture (both on Broadway and in its off-Broadway world premiere), Grease (2007 Broadway revival), and The Marvelous Wonderettes (off-Broadway). She debuted Ryan Scott Oliver's 35MM in NYC at Galapagos Arts Space and recorded the original cast album. Other regional credits include Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living In Paris (TRTC) and Princesses (Goodspeed, 5th Avenue Theatre). Lindsay can be heard in New York City singing jazz and contemporary music with her collaborator, pianist Marco Paguia.
Role Leading Player
Show: PIPPIN
2013 Tony Winner
Her theatre credits include: Sister Act (Tony, DD, Drama League & OCC Award nominations),Ragtime, Lost in the Stars, Hair, Romantic Poetry. Regional: Pippin(A.R.T.), First You Dream (Kennedy Center), Sister Act (ALLIANCE THEATRE, Pasadena Playhouse), Being Alive (Philadelphia Theater Company). West End: Sister Act (Olivier Award nomination). Graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.
Role: Sonia
Show: VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE
2013 Tony Nominee
Her credits include: Ubu. With Christopher Durang: Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them (Drama League, Outer Critics Circle noms.); Miss Witherspoon; Betty's Summer Vacation (Obie, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle noms.); Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, To Be or Not to Be, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Spring Awakening, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Green Bird, Jackie, The Iceman Cometh. Off-Broadway: Crazy Mary, Our Leading Lady, Dog Opera (Obie Award). Regional includes Old Globe, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Guthrie, Huntington Theatre, Long Wharf, McCarter, Alley Theatre, Edinburgh International Festival, La Jolla Playhouse. Film: Morning Glory, That's What She Said, The Savages, Adelaide, Small Time Crooks. Television: "Political Animals," "Smash," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: CI," "Third Watch." Education: M.F.A., Yale School of Drama; B.S., Northwestern.
Role: Ned
Show: THE NANCE
His theatre credits include An Early History of Fire (The New Group), Be a Good Little Widow (Ars Nova), Banished Children of Eve (Irish Repertory Theatre). Select regional: The Little Dog Laughed (Hartford TheaterWorks), After Ashley (Company One, IRNE nom. Best Actor). Film: Beneath, Generation Um..., Girl Most Likely, King Kelly, Rocksteady, Cigarette Candy (Best Short, South by Southwest/Outstanding Performance, Florida Film Festival).
Role: Cinderella
Show CINDERELLA
2013 Tony Nominee
Osnes was nominated for the Tony Award for her performance in Frank Wildhorn's Bonnie & Clyde (Bonnie Parker, San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award). She also starred as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and appeared in the recent revival of Anything Goes. She made her Broadway debut as Sandy in Grease, having won NBC's reality competition "Grease: You're the One That I Want." In addition to portraying Rodgers + Hammerstein's Nellie Forbush and Cinderella, she recently appeared in their musical Pipe Dream at New York City Center ENCORES! and starred in The Sound of Music in concert at Carnegie Hall.
Billy Porter- @theebillyporter
Role: Lola
Show: KINKY BOOTS
2013 Tony Winner
His Broadway credits include: Miss Saigon, Five Guys..., Grease, Smokey Joe's..., Dreamgirls. Off-Broadway/ Regional: Angels In America, Merchant of Venice, Radiant Baby, Birdie Blue, Songs For a New World, Ghetto Superstar (One-Man Show), Topdog/Underdog, King Lear, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler. Film/ Television: The Broken Hearts Club, Shake Rattle & Roll, Noel, "Law & Order," "The Big C." Recording: Untitled, At The Corner Of Broadway & Soul.
Role: Miss Hannigan
Show: ANNIE
Prince has been dazzling Broadway audiences since winning the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards forGuys and Dolls. Other Broadway credits: A Catered Affair(Tony, DD, OCC noms), The Little Mermaid, Bells Are Ringing(Tony, DD, OCC noms), Nick & Nora (OCC Award), Jerome Robbins' Broadway (Tony, DD noms), Little Me, The Dead, Noises Off. TV: "Drop Dead Diva", "Ugly Betty", "CSI", "Huff", "Spin City", "Faith". Film: Our Very Own, Picture Perfect, Dave, My Father the Hero. Music: Prince recently released "Total Faith" on Broadway Records.
Role: Annie
Show: ANNIE
Richarson is currently starring as Duffy in ANNIE. Her regional credits: Irving Berlin's White Christmas (Susan Waverly) and Honk!.
Kate Rockwell- @KateRockwellNYC
Role: Sherri
Show: ROCK OF AGES
Rockwell's Broadway credits include: Original Broadway Cast of Bring It On: The Musical (Skylar); Hair (Tribe, Sheila Cover); Legally Blonde (Margot, Elle Cover); and the First National Tours of all three. Film/TV: Sex and the City: The Movie (Young Samantha); NBC's "Grease: You're The One That I Want." NYC: Hands On A Hardbody, Pan, F#@King Up Everything.
Krysta Rodriguez- @KRYSTAR0DRIGUEZ
Role: Casey
Show: FIRST DATE
Most recently appeared on Broadway originating the role of Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family alongside Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. She also was in the original Broadway casts of In the Heights, Spring Awakening and Good Vibrations, as well as playing Bebe in the revival of A Chorus Line. She can currently be seen as Ana Vargas on the NBC show "Smash."
Role: Charlie Price
Show: KINKY BOOTS
2013 Tony Nominee
His Broadway credits include: American Idiot, Journey's End (Tony Award nomination, Theatre World Award). Off-Broadway: Twelfth Night(Shakespeare in the Park), The Tempest (Classic Stage Company, St. Clair Bayfield Award). Film includes Die, Mommie, Die!; Flags Of Our Fathers; Pretty Persuasion; Shall We Dance; Chasing Liberty; 11:14; Catch That Kid. Television includes "Generation Kill," "Nip/Tuck," "Six Feet Under." BFA: USC.
Justin Matthew Sargent- @justinmsargent
Role: Drew
Show: ROCK OF AGES
Broadway credits include: Bonnie & Clyde, Rock of Ages. TV: "Delocated." Regional credits include Pippin, Jesus Christ Superstar and High School Musical. BFA in Musical Theatre, University of Central Florida.
Role: Scar
Show: THE LION KING
Saxe has previously appeared on Broadway in The Homecoming and Heartbreak House. Off Broadway credits include Nikolai and the Others at Lincoln Center, Harper Regan with the Atlantic Theater Company, The Duchess of Malfi (Red Bull) and The Public Theater's Richard III and The Winters Tale. Saxe's favorite regional theatre credits include Hamlet and Dangerous Liasons at the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, Sexual Perversity in Chicago at ACT and iWitness at Mark Taper Forum. Film and TV credits include Michael Mann's "Public Enemies," "SVU," and "Law & Order."
Dominic Scaglione Jr.- @Dominic1110
Role: Franki Valli
Show: JERSEY BOYS
A native of Belleville NJ, Scaglione previously played this role in the Chicago & Vegas Companies of Jersey Boys.
Role: Annie (starting 7/30)
Show: ANNIE
From Brenham, Texas, she is currently a standby in ANNIE. Regional credits include: Annie (Annie), White Christmas (Susan Waverly). Other favorites: Miracle Worker (Helen Keller),Parenthesis (Casey), The Secret Garden (Mary Lennox).
Karina Smirnoff- @Karina_Smirnoff
Show: FOREVER TANGO
Smirnoff, a mirror ball champion and star of "Dancing with the Stars" was born in the Ukraine and grew up in New York. During her professional career, Karina won five U.S. National Championships, earned titles at the U.S. Open, Asian Open and U.K. open and was ranked #2 in the world. She has starred and contributed choreography for Broadway's Burn the Floor, music videos, awards shows and films. Karina recently starred alongside Marsha Mason in the film Across Grace Alley.
Cody Jamison Strand- @CodyCobbler
Role: Elder Cunnigham
Show: THE BOOK OF MORMON
Making his Broadway debut, Strand is fresh from the National Tour of The Book of Mormon. He holds a BFA in Acting from the University of South Dakota.
Matthew James Thomas-@Matthewjethomas
Role: Pippin
Show: PIPPIN
Broadway credits include: Peter Parker, Spider-Man. Various West End, film and television credits in the UK. Matthew's debut EP of original music No Sound At All is available oniTunes, Amazon, CD Baby and wherever music is sold digitally online.
Role: Carrie Watts
Show: THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL
2013 Tony Winner
tyson is best known for her ground breaking double Emmy-winning performance as Jane in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman." Miss Tyson was also nominated for an Academy Award for Sounder. She then received her third Emmy Award for "The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All" and was nominated for her performances in "Roots," "King," "Sweet Justice," "The Marva Collins Story," and "A Lesson Before Dying."
Role: Sophie Sheridan
Show: MAMMA MIA!
Veldheer's credits include: Newsies (Hannah/Smalls; u/s Katherine), OBC, Hairspray (Brenda). Regional: Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie (Paper Mill Playhouse and Maltz Jupiter Theatre), Hannah/Smalls in Newsies and Brenda in Hairspray(Paper Mill), Natalie in Next to Normal (Milwaukee Rep), Goodspeed, and MTW. Originally from Grand Rapids, MI. BFA in Musical Theater from Penn State University.
Wendy Williams- @WendyWilliams
Role: Matron 'Mama' Morton
Show: CHICAGO
Williams is the host of the nationally syndicated "The Wendy Williams Show" (renewed through 2017) is making her Broadway debut. Inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame after a 23-year career and named one of The Hollywood Reporter's 35 Most Powerful People in Media. Television: "Dancing with the Stars," "One Life to Live," "Law & Order: SVU" and "Drop Dead Diva." Film: Think Like a Man. New York Times best-selling author. Thanks to Kevin, Little Kev, family and fans!
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