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Jason Graae

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Jason Graae
Born (1958-05-15) May 15, 1958 (age 66)
Chicago, IL
Occupation(s)Stage, film, television actor
Websitehttp://www.jasongraae.com

Jason Graae (pronounced "grah")[1] (born 15 May 1958) is a Chicago, Illinois-born American musical theatre actor, best known for his musical theater performances but with a varied career spanning Broadway, opera, television and film.[2] He has won four Bistro Awards,[3] two Ovation Awards,[4][5] two New York Nightlife Awards[4][6] and the Joel Hirschhorn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre.[7]

Early Life

Though he was born in Chicago, Graae was educated in Tulsa, Oklahoma at Edison High School where he played the oboe, acted in plays, and sang in the chorus. With a passion for music, Graae went to Southern Methodist University in Dallas to become a concert oboist, but did not like the approach of his instructor. He transferred to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music only to have his previous instructor also move to Cincinnati. Taking this as "a sign from the musical gods", Graae pursued a career in musical theatre.[1] Graae's first agent urged him to change his surname to Grey but he refused, wanting to honour his Danish father who fled the Nazis in World War II.[1]

Career

Graae made his off-Broadway debut in Godspell with Liz Callaway in 1980, forming a friendship which has them performing together in cabarets nearly 30 years later.[8][9] He created the role of Sparky in the musical Forever Plaid and was an original cast member alongside Stan Chandler, David Engel, and Guy Stroman when it opened off-Broadway in 1989.[10] It ran at Steve McGraw's for over four years and more than 1800 performances[11] and increased awareness of Graae. The original four cast members shared a Bistro Award for Forever Plaid. Around the same time, Graae was nominated for the 1993 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh.[12]

Graae's reputation has built with roles in the Rodgers and Hammerstein revue A Grand Night for Singing, Falsettos, Stardust, Snoopy!!!, and Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?.[2][13] Graae's voice work includes a role in Disney film Home on the Range and as the voice of the Lucky Charms Leprechaun[5] and Western Union Moneygrams.[13] His television roles include recurring appearances as Chad on the Showtime series Rude Awakening and Dennis on HBO's Six Feet Under. He has had guest star roles on shows including Friends, Frasier, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Caroline in the City, Living Single, and Providence.[13] In 1997, Graae starred in the US premiere of Ragtime in the role of Houdini.

In 2000, Graae was cast in an updated version of the Forbidden Broadway franchise, titled Forbidden Broadway Y2K LA!.[14] The production won Graae an Ovation Award, having been earlier nominated for Forbidden Hollywood.[4][5] He is included on the Forbidden Broadway: 20th Anniversary Edition cast album, the sixth in the series. He received an Ovation Award nomination for Anything Goes in 2003[9] and around the same time was developing his one-man show, Coup de Graae!. Graae has performed this show in numerous cities including New York, San Francisco, and Hollywood.[13] It was amongst Time Out New York’s top 10 cabaret acts of 2006.[15] Coup de Graae! includes songs, stories from Graae's life (featuring Rodgers and Hart, Jerry Herman, and the Bergmans), and recognition of his voice-over work; Graae is described as "the complete entertainer, giddy, irreverent, mischievous and moving, often at the same time."[13] The Los Angeles Times described the show as "an eclectic banquet of standards, show tunes, pop songs, incisive wit, easygoing charm and a humorous dessert featuring his tale as the voice of 'Lucky the Leprechaun'."[16] The show won a New York Nightlife Award for Graae.[4]

Graae made his operatic debut with the Metropolitan Opera in Twyla Tharp's Everlast in conjunction with the American Ballet Theatre.[17] He has also sung with the Washington National Opera and the Boston Pops.[13] His Los Angeles Opera debut was in 2001 in the role of Njegus in The Merry Widow.[18] Performing with the Michigan Opera Theatre in the same role earned him a nomination for an Oscar Wilde Award in the category of Best Performance – Opera.[19][20] He has played the roles of Offenbach in The Grand Duchess, and Frosch in Die Fledermaus with several different opera companies.[21]

In 2004, Graae took on the one-man play Fully Committed, requiring him to perform in 30 different roles in 80 minutes.[22] Praised for a hilarious performance in which he plays "low-key charm as well as pile-driving obnoxiousness with equal skill," Graae earned an Artistic Director's Achievement Award for his performance.[22][5] In 2005, he won the third of his four Bistro Awards,[3] this one for Best Major Engagement for Coup de Graae![4]

The Joel Hirschhorn Award for is given annually by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle for "outstanding achievement in musical theatre"; Graae was honoured with this award in 2007.[7] In 2008, Graae starred in the Los Angeles revival of Arthur Allan Seidelman's production of Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, opposite Constance Towers;[23] the play premiered at the Geffen Playhouse in 2001 with Uta Hagen and David Hyde Pierce in the two roles.[24] Hyde Pierce and Graae have worked together as long-lost identical twin brothers in a 1999 production of The Boys from Syracuse.[25]

In 2012, he worked with long-term friend Faith Prince on The Prince and the Showboy presented at the 54 Below night club.[15] The show includes tributes to Jerry Herman, composer of the musicals La Cage aux Folles and Hello Dolly!; Graae described Herman as "a survivor of the highest degree [who] lives his life as an eternal optimist."[15] Prince and Graae won the New York Nightlife Award for outstanding musical comedy performer in January 2013.[6]

Graae performed in Little Me in its original form with 42nd Street Moon in San Francisco in 2013, under the direction of Eric Inman.[26] He received critical acclaim, being described as "stepping into the roles previously inhabited by two of the most versatile entertainers in Broadway and Hollywood history" and as having "boundless energy and a staggering level of comedic talent" as well as a "quick wit (he's a master at ad libbing onstage) [which] came in handy when a fake moustache started to take on a life of its own" on opening night[26] While collaborating with 42nd Street Moon, Graae performed in Once In Love With Loesser, developed by the company's artistic director Greg MacKellan as one of his musical tributes dedicated to exploring and celebrating the work of some of Broadway's greatest songwriters. The performance was built around the three stages of Frank Loesser's career: as a Tin Pan Alley lyricist, then working in Hollywood, and finally as a Broadway songwriter. Graae performed Once In Love With Amy (from Where's Charley?) and The King's New Clothes (from the 1952 Danny Kaye film Hans Christian Anderson) and was described as having "scored strongly".[27]

In 2015-16, Graae took on the iconic role of Ebeneezer Scrooge in the premiere of a new musical, Scrooge in Love! written by Duane Poole (music by Larry Grossman and lyrics by Kellan Blair), at San Francisco's Eureka Theatre.[28] In a twist on the Dickens classic, rather than being miserly, this Scrooge sees money as a cure-all and takes generosity overboard. Graae's performance was praised as providing an "often puckish Scrooge who alternates between knowing how to sell a punch line and humanizing the old man's neuroses."[28] The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nominated Graae for one of their Excellence in Theatre Awards in the category of best principal actor in a musical for his performance as Scrooge; the award went to Norman A. Hall.[29]

Graae gave a series of well-received performances in a concert version of the musical The Pajama Game at the Musical Theatre Guild in Los Angeles in 2016.[30] In October 2016, he will perform in a concert version of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along, winner of the Drama Desk Award and Olivier Award for Best Musical.[21]

Awards and nominations

Year Nonminated Work Award Result Notes
1989 Forever Plaid Bistro Award Won Cast award[3]
1993 Helllo Muddah, Hello Fadduh Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical Nominated [5][12]
1995 Forbidden Hollywood Ovation Award Nominated [5]
2000 Forbidden Broadway Y2K LA! Ovation Award Won [4][5][14]
2001 Bistro Award Won [3]
2003 Anything Goes Ovation Award Nominated [9]
2004 Fully Committed Artistic Director's Achievement Award Won [5][22]
2006 Coup de Graae! Bistro Award for Best Major Engagement Won [3][4]
New York Nightlife Award Won [4]
2007 Joel Hirschhorn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre Won [7]
2008 Bistro Award Won [3]
2012 The Prince and the Showboy New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Musical Comedy Performer Won Joint with Faith Prince[6]
2015 The Merry Widow Oscar Wilde Award Nominated [19][20]
Scrooge in Love! San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award – Best Principal Actor in a Musical Nominated [29]

References

  1. ^ a b c Boehm, Mike (26 October 2001). "Graae: the World's Leading Comedy Oboist". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Jason Graae Theatre Credits". broadwayworld.com. 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Bistro Awards: 2015–1985 Recipients". Bistro Awards. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Theater Mania – Jason Graae". theatermania.com. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "A Holiday Concert for the Troops with Marvin Hamlisch – The Performers: Jason Graae". WETA-TV. 2003. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  6. ^ a b c Holden, Stephen (16 January 2013). "Where Knowing Your Way Around a Song Trumps Youth". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  7. ^ a b c "Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle – 2007 Awards". Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  8. ^ Otten, Liam (29 January 2015). "Valentine's Day with Callaway and Graae". Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  9. ^ a b c Otten, Liam (9 December 2004). "Callaway, Graae to bring evening of cabaret Jan. 15". Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved 30 September 2016. {{cite web}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 49 (help)
  10. ^ Holden, Stephen (23 November 1989). "'Forever Plaid,' a Spoof". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Forever Plaid". Lortel Archives. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Drama Desk Awards 1993 – Outstanding Actor in a Musical". Drama Desk Awards. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Hamstra, Stuart V. (2004). "Jason Graae Returns to NY with Coup de Graae!". Cabaret Hotline Online. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  14. ^ a b Martinez, Julio (7 March 2000). "Review: 'Forbidden Broadway Y2K L.A.!". Variety. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  15. ^ a b c Wong, Curtis M. (21 August 2012). "Faith Prince, Jason Graae Dish On Their 54 Below Cabaret Gig, Broadway And Jerry Herman". Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  16. ^ Broadway World News Desk (13 December 2004). "JASON GRAAE begins final week of "COUP DE GRAAE!" at Helen's". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  17. ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (22 May 1989). "Twyla Tharp's Champion Wears Boxing Trunks". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  18. ^ Hitchcock, Laura (2 December 2001). "A CurtainUp LA Review – The Merry Widow". CurtainUp. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  19. ^ a b Encore Staff (23 June 2015). "2015 Wilde Award Nominees: It was a Wilde Year". encoremichigan.com. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  20. ^ a b Goltz-Taylor, Jennifer (11 April 2015). "The Merry Widow – Detroit (Michigan Opera Theater)". 79 (11). Retrieved 30 September 2016. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. ^ a b Broadway World News Desk (23 September 2016). "Andrew Samonksy, Jason Graae, Beverly Ward and More to Star in MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG Concert at Rubicon". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  22. ^ a b c Henerson, Evan (2004). "'Fully Committed' to the role Jason Graae prepares a hearty buffet of characters". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  23. ^ Stoudt, Charlotte (5 November 2008). "'Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  24. ^ Oxman, Steven (10 June 2001). "Review: 'Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks'". Variety. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  25. ^ Phillips, Michael (24 September 1999). "Theater Review: A Rare View of 'Syracuse': Reprise! production of the Shakespeare-drawn musical has strong tunes that help cover for a weak libretto". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  26. ^ a b Heymont, George (3 July 2013). "The Right Girl in the Right Place at the Right Time". Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  27. ^ Heymont, George (26 June 2013). "Some Like It Shot". Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  28. ^ a b Heymont, George (29 January 2016). "Rule Britannia!". Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  29. ^ a b "San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Excellence in Theatre Awards for Theatre Year 2015". San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. 28 March 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  30. ^ Nichols, David C. (16 May 2016). "This 'Pajama Game' plays out with old-school charm". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
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