Sam Harris | |
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 Harris in 2009 | |
| Born | Samuel Kent Harris June 4, 1961 Sand Springs, Oklahoma, United States |
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| Spouse | Danny Jacobsen (m. 2008) |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | Official website |
Samuel Kent Harris (born June 4, 1961) is an American pop and musical theatre musician as well as a television, theatre and film actor.
Harris got his start as the grand champion singer of Star Search in its premiere season in 1983. He gained acclaim and became best known for his winning rendition of the song "Over the Rainbow" on the show. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] "Over the Rainbow" has since become his signature song. [6] His appearance on Star Search led to him landing a contract with Motown Records. His first single, "Sugar Don't Bite", was a Top 40 hit, reaching No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in November 1984. [7] "Over the Rainbow" was released in Australia and peaked at number 65 in 1985. [8]
He is a multi-million selling recording artist with nine studio albums to his credit. He can also be heard on numerous concert, guest artist, and cast recordings. He has toured extensively in concert and has played to sold-out audiences at major venues including New York's Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheatre, and London's West End. He has appeared with the Boston Pops Orchestra, at the White House, and has sung on a variety of television specials and live productions. On February 12, 2008, he released a new single entitled "War on War" that became an Internet phenomenon with music videos made by the general public. The song became a part of his album, Free, which was released that summer. The single "Change Is On The Way" was written to support the Obama campaign and was heard on numerous television shows and behind Internet videos around the time of the election. In 2010, Sam wrote and released "My Reclamation", which has become an anthem for marriage equality. [9]
On Broadway, he received a Drama Desk nomination for his role in the Jeff Calhoun-directed revival of Grease , and a Drama League Award as well as Tony, Outer Critic's Circle and Drama Desk Award nominations for his work in Cy Coleman's Tony-nominated musical The Life . He's also appeared on Broadway in Mel Brooks' Tony Award-winning musical The Producers , in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat , and in the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar , Cabaret , Hair , Pippin and "The First Wives Club." He also starred in the self-penned shows Hardcopy, Different Hats, Revival, and the critically acclaimed SAM. Harris's most recent show was Ham: A Musical Memoir which played in New York and Los Angeles. The Los Angeles run received Ovation Awards for Best Musical, Best Actor (Harris), and Best Musical Director (for Todd Schroeder.)
Harris has appeared in three feature films to date: In the Weeds (2000, as Jonathan), the documentary Little Man (2005, as himself) and Elena Undone (2010, as Tyler).
Harris co-created the television series Down to Earth (1984, which ran for four years and 104 episodes). He appeared on Motown Returns to The Apollo in 1985. In addition to his now iconic performances on "Star Search" he was a series regular on The Class (2006-2007 - Perry Pearl). In 1986-87, Harris was one of several "Star Search" alumni who performed the contestants' songs on the songwriting competition series You Write the Songs with Harris singing the winning song "Everybody Needs A Dream" by songwriter Tom Grose (also a "Star Search" alumnus with his band The Varsity.) Harris is also credited on Rules of Engagement (Jackie, recurring), The Wayne Brady Show , CSI (Alan Widcom), Major Crimes (Jason) among others. He was music supervisor on Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration (2001), and has also appeared on numerous talk shows including The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1997 and 2000 - three episodes), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1994), Brunch (co-host (2006), The Oprah Winfrey Show (1997 and 2001 - two episodes), Dr. Phil's 500th episode (2005), The View (2007 - one episode), The Tyra Banks Show (2010), The Dr. Drew Show (2011) and "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon". [10]
In 2014, Harris penned a collection of autobiographical essays and stories entitled Ham - Slices of a Life which was published by Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books, and received unanimous critical praise. [11] Harris subsequently adapted the book into an Off-off-Broadway solo performance, HAM: A Musical Memoir. [12]
In 2020, Harris released his second book, a novel entitled The Substance of All Things.
Sam Harris left his home in Oklahoma at the age of 15 to pursue a theater career, finished high school through correspondence courses, and briefly attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received the Frank Sinatra Pop Singing Award. [13]
Harris and Danny Jacobsen, who is a director and presentation coach for numerous blue-chip companies and also a film producer, [14] have been together since 1994. In 2008, they adopted a son, Cooper Atticus Harris-Jacobsen, and then the couple married. [15] [16]
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber, is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly; their first collaboration, The Likes of Us, written in 1965, was not performed until 2005. Its family-friendly retelling of Joseph, familiar themes, and catchy music have resulted in numerous stagings. According to the owner of the copyright, the Really Useful Group, by 2008 more than 20,000 schools and amateur theatre groups had staged productions.
Diana Nicole DeGarmo is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to fame in 2004 as the runner-up of the third season of American Idol, releasing her debut studio album, Blue Skies, later that year. The following year, DeGarmo ventured into a career in musical theatre. She has starred in two Broadway, one off-Broadway and three national tours. She made her television acting debut in a six-month arc as Angelina Veneziano on The Young and the Restless. DeGarmo has since released two extended plays, Unplugged in Nashville (2009) and Live to Love (2012). She is married to fifth season American Idol finalist Ace Young.
Jeff Hyslop is a Canadian actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, and director. Many of his roles have been in musical theatre. His most famous roles were as Jeff the mannequin in the children's show Today's Special and as the title role in the Canadian production of The Phantom of the Opera in 1990.
Michael Damian Weir is an American actor, recording artist, and producer, best known for his role as Danny Romalotti on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, which he played from 1981 to 1998, 2002 to 2004, 2008, 2012 to 2013, and again from 2022 to 2024.
Pippin is a 1972 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production, also contributed to the libretto. The musical uses the premise of a mysterious performance troupe, led by the Leading Player, to tell the story of Pippin, a young prince on his search for meaning and significance. The 'fourth wall' is broken numerous times during most traditional productions.
Frances Ruffelle is an English musical theatre actress and singer. She won a Tony Award in 1987, and represented the United Kingdom in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Lonely Symphony ", finishing 10th. The song became a UK Top 30 hit.
Michael Jay Feinstein is an American singer, pianist, and music revivalist. He is an archivist and interpreter for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988, he won a Drama Desk Special Award for celebrating American musical theatre songs. Feinstein is also a multi-platinum-selling, five-time Grammy-nominated recording artist. He is the artistic director for The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana.
Laurie Hope Beechman was an American actress and singer, known for her work in Broadway musicals. She also had a career as a cabaret performer and recording artist. After her death, the West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theater Bar in New York was renamed the Laurie Beechman Theatre.
Eden Erica Espinosa is an American actress and singer who is best known for her performances as Elphaba for the Broadway, Los Angeles, and San Francisco productions of the musical Wicked. In 2022, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role as the Queen of Hearts in Alice's Wonderland Bakery. In 2024, Espinosa received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Lempicka.
"Any Dream Will Do" is a popular song written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice for the 1968 musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It is generally the beginning and the concluding song of the musical, sung by the title character of Joseph.
The Hollywood Pantages Theatre, formerly known as RKO Pantages Theatre, is located at Hollywood and Vine in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, it was the last theater built by the vaudeville impresario Alexander Pantages. The palatial Art Deco theater opened on June 4, 1930, as part of the Pantages Theatre Circuit.
Patrick William Cassidy is an American actor and singer best known for his roles in musical theatre and television.
Lee Stephen Mead is an English musical theatre, television actor and occasional singer, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through the BBC TV casting show Any Dream Will Do. As well as subsequent West End roles in Wicked, Legally Blonde: The Musical and The West End Men, Mead has pursued a music career, releasing four solo albums and undertaking concert tours in the UK and Japan.
The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois is a respected Chicago area regional theatre. Attached to the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort, the theatre produces an average of five musicals each year, presented in the round, as well as productions aimed at younger audiences. A small, live orchestra provides accompaniment.
Eric Kunze is an American stage actor and singer. He showed an early aptitude for singing and was involved in choir and theater at Rancho Buena Vista High School. He is best known for his roles on Broadway.
Robert John Guest was a New Zealand-Australian actor, television personality and host and singer, who started his career in pop music in New Zealand, before becoming best known for his work in Australian musical theatre, particularly in various productions of The Phantom of the Opera. He played the lead for a record-breaking 2,289 performances over seven years, more than any other performer.
Anna-Jane Casey is an English singer, dancer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre.
Danielle Hope is an English actress and singer. She was the winner of the BBC talent contest Over The Rainbow and as a result played the part of Dorothy in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of The Wizard of Oz, which began performances at the London Palladium in the West End in February 2011. Following this role, she went on to play the role of Éponine in Les Misérables in the West End, starting in June 2012.
James Leo Ryan, also known as Jimmy or Jim, is an American stage, film, and television actor born in 1975 He is one of three children and an alumnus of Loy Norrix High School and Denison University.
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