Pascal was born in The Bronx, New York, and grew up in Woodbury, Nassau County, New York, with his mother, Wendy (née Frishman), and stepfather, Mel Seamon.[2][3] He was raised Jewish.[4] He graduated from Syosset High School.[5] He then graduated from New York Institute of Technology.[6] Before his interest in music, he was a personal trainer. Although he began as a rock musician playing in a number of bands (such as Mute) formed with his schoolmates, Pascal became drawn to musical theater.
Career
Stage work
A friend of his from high school (Idina Menzel's boyfriend at the time) mentioned Rent to him. On a whim, he auditioned and was cast as the HIV-positive rock guitarist Roger Davis. His powerful tenor voice and his performance in Rent earned him a Tony nomination, a Theater World award, and an Obie Award. He left the show on November 2, 1997, but went on to reprise Roger when Rent opened in London.
The role helped Pascal gain fame on Broadway, and he was cast in the Elton John and Tim Rice musical Aida as the Egyptian general Radames with the original and final casts[7] (former Rent castmate Idina Menzel would co-star as Amneris in 2001), and Kander and Ebb's Cabaret, appearing in the show as the Emcee (closing cast).[8] He also participated in several charity performances, including Chess in 2003 (playing the American, Freddie Trumper),[9]Hair in 2004 (singing "I Got Life"),[10] and the 24 Hour Plays in 2005.[11] He returned to Aida in 2004 to close the run of the show as Radames.[12][13]
Along with original Broadway Rent cast member Anthony Rapp (Mark Cohen), Pascal returned to Broadway to star as Roger in Rent from July 30 to October 7, 2007.[14] In January 2009, he and Rapp reprised their originating (and film) roles as Roger and Mark in Rent: The Broadway Tour, which played in many cities in North America, as well as stops in Japan and South Korea. At the tour's Detroit, Michigan stop in February, Pascal suffered two herniated discs in his neck and was on medical leave for a week. His role was filled in by Cary Shields, who had played "Roger" in the Broadway, Canadian, "Benny" National Tour productions. Pascal made a full recovery and finished up the tour in early 2010.[8] This tour closed on February 7, 2010.[15]
Pascal reprised the role of Frederick Trumper, aka "Freddie, The American" in the London concert version of Chess at the Royal Albert Hall on May 12–13, 2008. His Rent and Aida co-star Idina Menzel played Florence.[16] This performance was recorded; it has been televised, first on American and British television on June 17, 2009, and repeatedly in America on PBS stations as part of that network's "Great Performances" series; and has been released on DVD.[17]
Pascal joined the Broadway cast of Memphis on October 25, 2011, as Huey Calhoun. He replaced original cast member Chad Kimball in the role. He remained in the Memphis cast until the show's closure on August 5, 2012.[18]
Beginning April 8, 2013, Pascal starred as Billy Flynn in the long-running Broadway revival of Chicago. His last performance as Billy was June 16, 2013.[19]
On November 7, 2016, Pascal joined the Broadway company of Something Rotten! as William Shakespeare in the show's closing cast.[20] He also played the same role for the entirety of the show's first national tour alongside Rob McClure, Josh Grisetti, and Leah Hofmann, who were also in the closing cast of the show.[21]
In late 2021, Pascal began performances as Edward Lewis in the U.S national tour of Pretty Woman: The Musical, a role which he had played on Broadway from January 15 to 20, 2019.
Pascal was cast as Ryuk in the English premiere of Death Note: the Musical for its concert run at the London Palladium[22] in August 2023. Pascal directed a production of Rent for Long island's From Stage to Screen, performances ran from July 28 to July 30, 2023.[23] Pascal was set to direct Something Rotten! at Stage to Screen on Long Island but it was ultimately cancelled.[24]
On November 4, 2024, it was announced that Pascal will be joining the off-Broadway musical, Drag: The Musical as the token straight man, Tom Hutchinson.[25]
Music
Pascal believed he was looked upon solely as a Broadway singer, and thus returned to his rock and roll roots with a solo recording contract on Sh-K-Boom Records, which was founded by his Aida costar, Sherie Rene Scott and her husband Kurt Deutsch.[26] He has released two solo rock albums, Model Prisoner (2000)[27] and Civilian (2004),[28] as well as a collaborative rock album Blinding Light (2008) with pianist Larry Edoff.[29] He also contributed a cover of Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" to the CD Broadway Cares: Home for the Holidays (2001);[30] the end credits song, "Winter Light", from the movie Noel (2004);[31] and the song "Perfect Place" on the album Listen which showcases songs written by adolescents who stutter (2009).[32] In School of Rock, he played Theo, lead singer of the band No Vacancy, and sang on two songs on the soundtrack.
On July 4, 2006, Pascal took part in the Macy's Fourth of July Celebration. He sang during the traditional fireworks display. He also performed in both the fifth- and tenth-anniversary celebrations of Rent on Broadway, in 2000 and 2005, respectively.
Pascal formed the band "Me and Larry (Edoff)" in 2006. The two musicians began composing and performing original material and reworked Broadway songs in small venues throughout the US. Pascal won the 2007–2008 Golden Icon Award for Best Small Venue Concert. The band's first CD, Blinding Light, was released in May 2008 on Pascal's own label. The CD is available at concerts and through Amazon[33] and the band's website[34] (where a direct digital download is available).
As of 2009and later,[update] Pascal is developing a theatrical stage version of the classic 1988 concept album, Operation: Mindcrime by the progressive metal band, Queensrÿche. The band is one of Pascal's musical influences, and has fully endorsed his efforts.[35]
Film work
Pascal made his film debut in SLC Punk! (1999) and also appeared in School of Rock (2003) and Temptation (2004). The audio for Temptation, a musical, was recorded live on set during filming.
In late 2005, he, along with five others of the principal cast, reprised their roles in the film version of Rent, directed by Chris Columbus. Pop idol Justin Timberlake was considered for the role of Roger,[36] but Columbus decided to stick with the original cast members. The film released on November 23, 2005.
In the independent movie Falling Star (formerly titled Goyband), Pascal stars as a former boy-band icon who is booked to play a show at a Kosher hotel but ends up shocking the guests with his sexy show. Fans were invited to participate in the movie as extras for the concert scenes. His co-stars are Amy Davidson, Cris Judd, Tovah Feldshuh, Dean Edwards, Tibor Feldman, and Natasha Lyonne. Goyband originally premiered at the Jerusalem Films Festival in December 2008. Its North American premiere was July 2009, on Long Island. The movie was bought by distributor MarVista Entertainment, which retitled it Falling Star.[37]
Pascal also filmed another independent movie, Wild About Harry, about a gay couple who try to hide their relationship from family and neighbors in 1973, a few years following the Stonewall Riots.[38]
Pascal reprised his role from SLC Punk! in the 2015 sequel, Punk's Dead.
Pascal had a guest role as Dennis Hofferman, a murder victim, on an episode of Cold Case, with Tracie Thoms, his co-star from the film version of Rent, and Laura Bell Bundy, another Broadway star who originated the role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. The episode, called "Willkommen", originally aired on April 2, 2006, and revolved around an amateur production of Cabaret.[39]
On December 19, 1998,[41] Pascal married Cybele Chivian, the daughter of Eric S. Chivian, M.D., Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, and the granddaughter of writer Joseph Jay Deiss. The couple has two sons.[42] Pascal and Chivian separated in 2021.
My Fair Lady is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on the 1938 film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion, concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, so that she may pass as a lady. Despite his cynical nature and difficulty understanding women, Higgins grows attached to her.
Rent is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson. Loosely based on the 1896 opera La bohème by Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, and Giuseppe Giacosa, it tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village, in the thriving days of the bohemian culture of Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.
Justin Guarini is an American singer, songwriter and actor who in 2002 was the runner-up on the first season of American Idol.
Anthony Deane Rapp is an American actor and singer who originated the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of Rent. Following his original performance of the role in 1996, he reprised it in the film version of the show and the show's United States tour in 2009. He also performed Charlie Brown in the 1999 Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and originated the role of Lucas in the musical If/Then in 2014. From 2017 to 2024, he played Commander Paul Stamets on the television series Star Trek: Discovery.
Roger Bart is an American actor and singer. He won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Snoopy in the 1999 revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
Norbert Leo Butz is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his work in Broadway theatre. He is a two-time winner of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and is one of only nine actors ever to have won the award twice.
Aida is a musical based on the opera of the same name written by Antonio Ghislanzoni with music by Giuseppe Verdi. It has music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang, and was originally produced by Hyperion Theatricals.
Sherie Rene Scott is an American actor, singer, writer and producer. She has been seen in multiple Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musicals, on numerous solo and original cast recordings, and in various film and television roles.
Frank William Chase is an American actor, director, and singer, best known for his work on Broadway and for his role as country superstar Luke Wheeler on ABC's Nashville.
Christian Dominique Borle is an American actor and singer. He is a two-time Tony Award winner for his roles as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher and as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten! Borle also originated the roles of Prince Herbert, et al. in Spamalot, Emmett in Legally Blonde, and Joe in Some Like It Hot on Broadway, each of which earned him a Tony nomination. He starred as Marvin in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos. He also starred as Tom Levitt on the NBC musical-drama television series Smash and Vox in the adult animated black comedy musical series Hazbin Hotel.
Brian d'Arcy James is an American actor and musician. He is known primarily for his Broadway roles, including Shrek in Shrek the Musical, Nick Bottom in Something Rotten!, King George III in Hamilton, and The Baker in Into the Woods. He has received five Tony Award nominations for his work. On-screen, he is known for his recurring role as Andy Baker on the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, Officer Krupke in West Side Story, and reporter Matt Carroll in Spotlight.
Sebastian Arcelus is an American actor, best known for his roles as Lucas Goodwin on the Netflix thriller series House of Cards (2013–2016) and Jay Whitman on the CBS political drama series Madam Secretary (2014–2019). Arcelus began his acting career in the early 2000s and spent the first decade of his career on Broadway, having played Roger in Rent, Fiyero in Wicked, Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys, and Buddy in Elf, among other roles. He returned to Broadway with the 2022 revival of Into the Woods and its subsequent national tour.
Memphis is a musical with music by David Bryan, lyrics by Bryan and Joe DiPietro, and a book by DiPietro.
Beth Leavel is an American stage and screen actress and singer.
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Andy Karl is an American actor and singer. He is best known for performing in musical theatre specifically musicals adapted from successful movies. He has received several accolades including a Laurence Olivier Award and a Drama Desk Award as well as nominations for three Tony Awards. He is also known for playing Sgt. Mike Dodds on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit from 2015 to 2016.
Josh Grisetti is an American actor, director and author who works in theatre, television and film.
Brooks Ashmanskas is an American actor. He has appeared both on Broadway and Off-Broadway as well as in regional theatres. Ashmanskas has done limited film and television work, most recently appearing in the Netflix series Uncoupled. He was nominated for a 2006 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for playing various characters in Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, and for a 2019 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his role as Barry Glickman in The Prom.
Rob McClure is an American actor and singer, best known for his work on the Broadway stage.
Something Rotten! is a musical comedy with a book by John O'Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick and music and lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick. Set in 1595, the story follows the Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel, who struggle to find success in the theatrical world as they compete with the wild popularity of their contemporary William Shakespeare.
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