Cody Lassen | |
---|---|
Born | Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | |
Occupation(s) | Producer, Consultant |
Notable work | Revival of Spring Awakening |
Website | www |
Cody Lassen is an American Tony Award-winning and Grammy nominated theater producer and consultant. He is best known for producing the revival of Spring Awakening , which won him an Ovation Award [1] and a Tony nomination. [2]
Lassen was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He earned his MBA from the University of Notre Dame [3] and graduated from DePaul University. [4]
He held live entertainment management positions with Nielsen and NBCUniversal. While at NBCUniversal, Lassen was active in their corporate diversity initiatives and was part of the team that led the company to be named one of the best places to work for LGBT employees. [5] In addition to producing his own projects, Lassen consulted for major studios, producers, theatres and agencies. He oversaw marketing efforts for Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group [4] and was a production assistant for several films and TV series. [6]
His Broadway productions include Indecent and revival of Spring Awakening and co-productions include Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, "Significant Other", The Band's Visit , and Torch Song. [4] [7] [8]
When Lassen joined the production of the Deaf West Theatre revival of Spring Awakening in 2015, it premiered at Inner-City Arts' Rosenthal Theater in L.A. Under his production management, the show went on to win six Ovation Awards (with 15 nominations), including best musical in two categories, intimate theater and large theater. The latter was won by Lassen together with the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and Deaf West Theatre. [1]
Lassen teamed up with producers Ken Davenport and the Deaf West Theatre, [9] and transferred the show from the 99-seat Los Angeles production to Broadway in just 366 days, an unprecedented feat. [10] The production opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in September 2015. [9] For the show, performed in both American Sign Language and spoken English, [11] the producers were honored with the Champion of Change Award by the New York Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities for their "efforts to increase diversity and inclusivity on Broadway." [12] The show was a success on Broadway and was even performed at the White House. [13]
He partnered with Daryl Roth to transfer the critically acclaimed Paula Vogel play Indecent to Broadway in the 2016/17 season [14] where it was honored with two Tony Awards for Best Direction and Best Lighting, and nominated for Best Play.
Lassen's upcoming projects include How I Learned To Drive, a Pulitzer-winning play by Paula Vogel opening on Broadway in 2021, with much of the original cast and creative team from its off-Broadway debut 23 years prior, Alice By Heart, a new musical by Duncan Sheik, Steven Sater and Jessie Nelson, premiering at MCC Theater in February 2019; [15] and Some Lovers, a new musical by Burt Bacharach and Steven Sater opening at the Adirondacks Theatre Festival in June 2018. [16]
Cody serves on the board of New York's Vineyard Theatre and is a member of The Broadway League, The Recording Academy, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the National Association of Musical Theatre and the Off-Broadway League.
He serves as vice-chair of the board of GLAAD, an LGBT advocacy organization. [17]
Lassen lives in New York. [5]
Duncan Sheik is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Sheik is known for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing", which earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. He has composed music for motion pictures and Broadway musicals, winning the 2007 Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations for his work on the musical Spring Awakening.
Deaf West Theatre is a non-profit arts organization based in Los Angeles, California, US. It is most well known for its Tony Award-nominated productions of Big River and Spring Awakening.
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.
Michael Jerrod Moore, known professionally as Michael Arden, is an American actor, singer, musician, and theatre director. Arden won a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in 2023 for the revival of the musical Parade.
Ken Davenport is a two-time Tony Award-winning theatre producer, blogger, and writer. He is best known for his production work on Broadway.
Spring Awakening is a coming-of-age rock musical with music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. It is based on the 1891 German play Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind. Set in late 19th-century Germany, the musical tells the story of teenagers discovering the inner and outer tumult of adolescent sexuality. In the musical, alternative rock is employed as part of the folk-infused rock score.
Steven Sater is a Tony Award, Grammy Award, and Laurence Olivier Award-winning American poet, playwright, lyricist, television writer and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the book and lyrics for the Tony Award-winning 2006 Broadway musical Spring Awakening.
Jonathan Drew Groff is an American actor and singer. He began his career on Broadway, rising to prominence for his portrayal of Melchior Gabor in the original production of Spring Awakening (2006–08), for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He returned to Broadway to portray King George III in the original production of Hamilton (2015), for which he earned a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. In 2019, he starred in the Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors, originating the role of Seymour Krelborn. He currently stars as Franklin Shepard opposite Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez in the first Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, a performance for which he is nominated for the 2024 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.
John Howard Gallagher Jr. is an American actor and musician best known for originating the role of Moritz Stiefel in the 2006 rock musical Spring Awakening, which earned him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He also played Johnny in Green Day's Broadway musical, American Idiot, Lee in the 2011 Broadway production of Jerusalem, and Edmund in the 2016 Broadway revival of Long Day's Journey Into Night. He portrayed Jim Harper in Aaron Sorkin's drama series The Newsroom, starred in the HBO mini-series Olive Kitteridge, and played Emmett DeWitt in 10 Cloverfield Lane.
Taylor Hunt Trensch is an American stage and film actor.
Krysta Anne Rodriguez is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Ana Vargas in the NBC series Smash, Summer Henderson in the NBC series Trial & Error, Maxine Griffin in the ABC series Quantico and Ms. Crumble in the Netflix comedy series Daybreak.
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is a community arts center in Beverly Hills, California, named for philanthropist Wallis Annenberg in recognition for The Annenberg Foundation's major gift to fund the campus. It is colloquially known as The Wallis.
Andrew Michael Mientus is an American actor. He is best known for starring in the Broadway musicals Spring Awakening, Les Misérables, and Wicked, and on television in the NBC musical drama Smash and as Hartley Rathaway / Pied Piper in the CW series The Flash.
George Ernest Salazar is an American actor, singer, and musician known for his work on and off-Broadway. He made his Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of Stephen Schwartz's Godspell. Salazar originated in the role of Michael Mell in the 2015 musical Be More Chill and performed in the musical's 2018 Off-Broadway and Broadway in 2019 at the Lyceum Theater in New York City. He originated the role of Grover in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical and starred in Pasadena Playhouse's production of Little Shop of Horrors as Seymour Krelborn.
Alex Boniello is an American actor, musician, author, and producer best known for his portrayal of the voice of Moritz in the 2015 Broadway revival of Spring Awakening, as well as his performance as Connor Murphy in the Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen. In 2019, he won the Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for Hadestown.
Alex Wyse is an American stage and screen actor, writer, director, and producer. He is best known for playing Kyle in Marvel's Iron Fist, Saul Feinberg in The Bold and the Beautiful, Max Weinbaum in the Broadway production of Good Night, Oscar, Georg Zirschnitz in the 2015 Deaf West Broadway revival of Spring Awakening, and co-writing/directing the feature film Summoning Sylvia
Austin P. McKenzie is an American actor and singer, known for his role as Melchior Gabor in Deaf West Theatre's 2015 Broadway revival of Spring Awakening. His performance as Melchior garnered significant critical acclaim, and multiple theatrical award nominations, for both Los Angeles runs and its run on Broadway.
Indecent is a 2015 American play by Paula Vogel. It recounts the controversy surrounding the play God of Vengeance by Sholem Asch, which was produced on Broadway in 1923, and for which the producer and cast were arrested and convicted on the grounds of obscenity.
Katrina Lenk is an American actress, singer, dancer, musician, and songwriter.
Alice by Heart is a musical with music by Duncan Sheik, lyrics by Steven Sater, and a book by Sater with Jessie Nelson. The musical is inspired by Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and was originally presented by London's Royal National Theatre in 2012.