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Raúl Esparza

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Raúl Esparza
Esparza at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born
Raúl Eduardo Esparza

(1970-10-24) October 24, 1970 (age 54)
Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
EducationBelen Jesuit Preparatory School
Alma materTisch School of the Arts (New York University)
Occupation(s)Actor, singer, voice artist
Years active1993–present
Spouse
Michelle Esparza
​
(m. 1994)​
Websitewww.raulesparza.com

Raúl Eduardo Esparza (born October 24, 1970) is an American stage and television actor, singer, and voice artist, best known for his role as Rafael Barba in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He has received Tony nominations for his role as Philip Salon in the Boy George musical Taboo in 2004; Robert, an empty man devoid of connection in the musical comedy Company in 2006; a lazy and snarky man in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming; and an aggressive volatile movie producer in David Mamet's Speed the Plow. He played the role of Riff Raff on Broadway in the revival of The Rocky Horror Show and the role of Caractacus Potts in the Broadway musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Esparza has been nominated in all Tony categories for which an actor is eligible. He is widely regarded for his versatility on stage, having performed musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Boy George, and the Sherman Brothers and plays by Mamet, Pinter, William Shakespeare, Tom Stoppard, and more. His film work includes Sidney Lumet's Find Me Guilty and Wes Craven's My Soul to Take and his television credits include roles on Medium, Hannibal, Pushing Daisies, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He narrated the audiobook for Stephen King's Under the Dome, as well as several others, and sings in concerts all over the country.

Early life

Born in Wilmington, Delaware, to Cuban American parents, and raised in Miami, Florida, Esparza graduated from Belen Jesuit in 1988[1] and later received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. [citation needed]

Theatre

Broadway theatre

Esparza first drew attention with his performance in the 2000 Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, which won him the Theatre World Award. Additional Broadway credits include Cabaret (2001), Taboo (2003), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2005) and Sondheim's Company (2006). He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award for his performance in the musical Taboo. His performance in Company earned him a second Tony nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Musical, as well as his second Drama Desk award. Beginning in November 2007, he appeared in Harold Pinter's play The Homecoming and was Tony-nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In 2008, he played Charlie Fox in the revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow co-starring Jeremy Piven and Elisabeth Moss on Broadway.[2] His performance in Speed-the-Plow earned him a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Play, making him the second performer (after Boyd Gaines) to be nominated in all four acting categories a performer is eligible for at the Tonys, although he has yet to win one.

Esparza appeared on Broadway in a limited-engagement revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, which began previews at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on February 25, 2011 and opened on March 17, 2011.[3]

Esparza appeared in the musical Leap of Faith in the role of the "Reverend" Jonas Nightingale. He was involved in the workshop in 2008, the out-of-town tryout at the Ahmanson Theatre (Los Angeles) in 2010, and the Broadway production in 2012,[4] for which he received a 2012 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.[5]

Other theatre

In 1999, Esparza portrayed Che in the national tour of Evita, opposite Natalie Toro. The tour was intended to open on Broadway, but failed to do so. In 2001, he appeared Off-Broadway in tick, tick... BOOM! by Jonathan Larson, garnering a Drama Desk Award nomination as Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He appeared in two Stephen Sondheim musicals, Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along at the 2002 Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration.[6] He also appeared as The Arbiter in the The Actors Fund of America concert of Sir Tim Rice's Chess in September 2003.[7]

In 2009, Esparza starred in a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Delacorte Theater (New York) with Anne Hathaway, from June 25 through July 12.[8] He starred as Hapgood in the City Center Encores! staged concert production of Anyone Can Whistle from April 8 to 11, 2010, opposite Sutton Foster as Fay and Donna Murphy as the Mayoress.[9]

Other work

In 2007, Esparza had a recurring role on the TV show Pushing Daisies as traveling salesman Alfredo Aldarisio, a role originally given to Paul Reubens. In 2009, he recorded the audiobook Under the Dome by Stephen King. He has done previous narration for The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer,[10] and The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark.[11]

In January 2010, Esparza performed opposite Lucie Arnaz, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Valarie Pettiford at the 92Y's Lyrics and Lyricist event honoring Desi Arnaz and his Orchestra, "Babalu: The American Songbook Goes Latin".[12]

In 2010, Esparza appeared as Abel Plenkov in Wes Craven's My Soul to Take.[13]

From 2013 to 2015, Esparza appeared in the recurring role of Dr. Frederick Chilton in Hannibal.[14]

He appeared in the 2016 film Custody, written and directed by James Lapine, as an Administration for Children's Services agent.[15]

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

In 2012, Esparza became a recurring character on the long-running NBC drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba, starting in the third episode of the show's 14th season, "Twenty-Five Acts".[16] He appeared in 11 episodes of the show's 14th season. On July 17, 2013, he was upgraded to series regular for the show's 15th season.[17] His character became the first series regular ADA since Stephanie March in the 11th season and the first regular male ADA in series history. His role on SVU was not his first Law & Order role, however, as he had previously portrayed an ADA in a 2009 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and a suspect in a 2010 episode of the original Law & Order.[18][19]

Personal life

Esparza married Michele Marie Perez, his high school girlfriend, in 1994.[20]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Find Me Guilty Tony Compagna
2010 My Soul to Take Abel Plenkov
2011 Trouble in the Heights Nevada
2016 Custody
2017 Ferdinand Moreno (voice) Post-production
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1997 Spin City Reporter Episode: "In the Heat of the Day"
2007 Pushing Daisies Alfredo Aldarisio 2 episodes
2009 Law & Order: Criminal Intent ADA Kevin Mulrooney Episode: "Lady's Man"
2010 Law & Order Dennis Di Palma Episode: "Blackmail"
Medium David Ostrowski Episode: "Blood on the Tracks"
2011 A Gifted Man Phillip Romero 2 episodes
2012–present Law & Order: Special Victims Unit ADA Rafael Barba Recurring (season 14),
Main cast (season 15 – present)
81 episodes
2012 666 Park Avenue Phillip Perez Episode: "Hypnos"
2013–2015 Hannibal Dr. Frederick Chilton 12 episodes
2014 Dora and Friends: Into the City! Big Bad Wolf (voice) Episode: "Puppet Theater"
2016 BoJack Horseman Ralph Stilton (voice) 3 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year Project Award Category Result
2000 The Rocky Horror Show Theatre World Awards Outstanding New York Debut Won
2001 tick, tick...BOOM! Obie Awards Outstanding Actor in a Musical Won
2001 tick, tick...BOOM! Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Actor in a Musical Nominated
2002 Sunday in the Park with George Helen Hayes Awards Outstanding Actor in a Musical Nominated
2003 Green Violin Barrymore Awards Outstanding Actor in a Musical Won
2004 Taboo Tony Awards Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Nominated
2004 Taboo Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Won
2005 N/A HOLA José Ferrer Tespis Awards N/A Won
2005 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical Nominated
2006 Company at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park Enquirer Acclaim Awards Outstanding Musical Lead Performance Won
2006 Company at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park Cincinnati Entertainment Awards Outstanding Acting Performance by a Visiting Actor Won
2007 Company on Broadway Tony Awards Best Actor in a Musical Nominated
2007 Company on Broadway Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Actor in a Musical Won
2007 Company on Broadway Outer Circle Critics Awards Outstanding Actor in a Musical Won
2008 The Homecoming Tony Awards Best Featured Actor in a Play Nominated
2008 The Homecoming Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Ensemblr Performance Won
2009 Speed-the-Plow Tony Awards Best Actor in a Play Nominated
2009 Speed-the-Plow Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Actor in a Play Nominated
2011 Leap of Faith at the Ahmanson Theatre Ovation Awards Lead Actor in a Musical Won
2012 Leap of Faith on Broadway Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Actor in a Musical Nominated

References

  1. ^ The International Jesuit Alumni Directory Belen (Forum Press Inc., 1994)
  2. ^ Friedman, Roger (December 22, 2008). "'Entourage' Star Bashed For Being Diva". Fox News Channel. Retrieved January 1, 2009.
  3. ^ BroadwayWorld.com "Arcadia" broadwayworld.com, December 12, 2012
  4. ^ Jones, Kenneth. "Leap of Faith, With Raúl Esparza at the Musical Pulpit, Opens on Broadway" playbill.com, April 26, 2012
  5. ^ [1] theatermania.com, April 27, 2012
  6. ^ "Guide to Sondheim Shows" sondheimguide.com, accessed July 10, 2009
  7. ^ Gans, Andrew."Julia and Josh Dazzle in All-Star 'Chess' " playbill.com, September 23, 2003
  8. ^ Hetrick, Adam. "Hathaway, McDonald, White and Esparza Open 'Twelfth Night' in Central Park June 25", playbill.com, June 25, 2009
  9. ^ Healy, Patrick. "Raúl Esparza Joins Anyone Can Whistle", The New York Times, March 17, 2010; accessed May 16, 2014.
  10. ^ "The House of the Scorpion". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
  11. ^ "The Book Of Unholy Mischief". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
  12. ^ "Lyrics & Lyricists—Babalu: The American Songbook Goes Latin". "92Y.org". Retrieved January 25, 2010.
  13. ^ "Wes Craven's 25/8 Becomes My Soul To Take". Collider.com. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
  14. ^ "Raul Esparza Makes Debut on Hannibal tonight". broadwayworld.com. May 2, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  15. ^ DeFore, John. " 'Custody': Tribeca Review" Hollywood Reporter, April 18, 2016
  16. ^ "Raul Esparza Set to Appear on Law & Order: SVU". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  17. ^ "Raul Esparza Upped To Regular On Law & Order: SVU". Deadline. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  18. ^ "Lady's Man". Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Season 8. Episode 11. June 28, 2009. NBC. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Blackmail". Law & Order. Season 20. Episode 12. January 15, 2010. NBC. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ Interview with New York Times, November 26, 2006; accessed May 16, 2014.
Preceded by Actor to portray Caractacus Potts
2005 		Succeeded by
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