Cory English

Last updated
Cory English
Born1968 (age 55–56)
Rochester, New York, U.S.
Alma mater Drama Studio London
Occupation Stage actor
Spouse Eva Alexander

Cory English (born 1968) is an American actor, best known for his work on stage, most recently as Doctor Emmett Brown in the London production of Back to the Future: The Musical .

Contents

Early life

Born into a blue collar family in Rochester, New York, English was the youngest of four boys. English attended Wayne Central High School in Ontario, New York. He lived for several years in New York City.

Career

His West End credits include Chicago , and Guys and Dolls (as Benny Southstreet). In 2014 and 2015, English starred in a UK national tour of the Mel Brooks musical The Producers as Max Bialystock reprising a role he played on the UK tour in 2007 and in the West End production. [1]

English worked on Young Frankenstein , another Mel Brooks musical, playing the part of Igor in the Broadway production of Young Frankenstein in 2008, replacing Christopher Fitzgerald. [2] He reprised that appearance for a United States national tour, which also featured former Broadway co-stars Roger Bart and Shuler Hensley. [3] Other Broadway credits include Chicago , Hello Dolly , Guys and Dolls and A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum .

In 2013, English appeared at Portland Center Stage in Somewhere in Time. [4]

English had a brief, uncredited appearance in the mockumentary talent show Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice aired on Channel 4 in October 2008. English played a helium balloon inhaling singer auditionee, giving his rendition of Mika's hit "Grace Kelly". English and Kay had worked together previously (Kay playing flamboyant, gay director Roger De Bris) in The Producers at the Palace Theatre, Manchester in 2007.

In 2017, English returned to the role of Igor in Young Frankenstein at the West End's Garrick Theatre. [5]

English starred as Maître D' in the 2019 film Cats . [6] English also currently plays The Great Raven in the new animated series Hilda .

In 2023, English succeeded Roger Bart as Emmett Brown in the West End production of Back to the Future: The Musical , after having previously covered the role briefly during Bart's absence. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mel Brooks</span> American actor, comedian and filmmaker (born 1926)

Melvin James Brooks is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, songwriter, and playwright. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. A recipient of numerous accolades, he is one of 18 entertainers to win the EGOT, which includes an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. He received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2009, a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2010, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2013, a British Film Institute Fellowship in 2015, a National Medal of Arts in 2016, a BAFTA Fellowship in 2017, and the Honorary Academy Award in 2024.

<i>The Producers</i> (1967 film) Film by Mel Brooks

The Producers is a 1967 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Mel Brooks and starring Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, and Kenneth Mars. The film is about a theater producer and his accountant who scheme to get rich by fraudulently overselling interests in a stage musical purposely designed to fail. They find a script celebrating Adolf Hitler and the Nazis and bring it to the stage. Because of this theme, The Producers was controversial from the start and received mixed reviews. It became a cult film and found a more positive critical reception later.

<i>Guys and Dolls</i> 1950 musical by Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling, and Abe Burrows

Guys and Dolls is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories, such as "Pick the Winner". The show premiered on Broadway in 1950, where it ran for 1,200 performances and won the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical has had several Broadway and London revivals, as well as a 1955 film adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, and Vivian Blaine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Wilder</span> American actor (1933–2016)

Jerome Silberman, known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He was known mainly for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). He collaborated with Mel Brooks on the films The Producers (1967), Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (1974), and with Richard Pryor in the films Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) and Another You (1991).

<i>Young Frankenstein</i> 1974 film by Mel Brooks

Young Frankenstein is a 1974 American comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks. The screenplay was co-written by Brooks and Gene Wilder. Wilder also starred in the lead role as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Peter Boyle portrayed the monster. The film co-stars Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard Haydn, and Gene Hackman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Stroman</span> American theatre director

Susan P. Stroman is an American theatre director, choreographer, film director and performer. Her notable theater productions include Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Crazy for You, Contact, The Producers, The Frogs, The Scottsboro Boys, Bullets Over Broadway, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, and New York, New York.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shuler Hensley</span> American singer and actor (born 1967)

Shuler Paul Hensley is an American singer and actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmett Brown</span> Fictional character from the American sci-fi film trilogy Back to the Future

Emmett Lathrop Brown, Ph.D., commonly referred to as Doc Brown, is a fictional scientist character in the Back to the Future franchise. In the world of the franchise, he is the inventor of the world's first and second time machines, the first constructed using a 1981 DeLorean sports car, and the second constructed using a steam engine locomotive.

<i>The Producers</i> (2005 film) 2005 film by Susan Stroman

The Producers is a 2005 American musical comedy film directed by Susan Stroman and written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan based on the eponymous 2001 Broadway musical, which in turn was based on Brooks's 1967 film of the same name. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell, Gary Beach, Roger Bart, and Jon Lovitz. Creature effects were provided by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

<i>The Producers</i> (musical) 2001 musical written by Mel Brooks

The Producers is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Mel Brooks, and a book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan. It is adapted from Brooks's 1967 film of the same name. The story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich by fraudulently overselling interests in a Broadway musical designed to fail. Complications arise when the show is a surprise hit. The humor of The Producers draws on exaggerated accents, caricatures of Jews, gay people and Nazis, and many show business in-jokes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Meehan (writer)</span> American playwright

Thomas Edward Meehan was an American playwright. He wrote the books for the musicals Annie, The Producers, Hairspray, Young Frankenstein and Cry-Baby. He co-wrote the books for Elf: The Musical and Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin.

Jarrod Carland is an Australian creative director, establishing design agency Studio Jack in 2008. He has also been involved in the entertainment industry as a producer, working on a variety of events and productions, from festivals to musical theatre productions and large scale concert events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Fitzgerald (actor)</span> American actor and singer

Christopher Cantwell Fitzgerald is an American actor and singer. He is known for his role as Boq in the musical Wicked, Igor in the musical Young Frankenstein, and Ogie Anhorn in the musical Waitress. He earned Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, and Tony Award nominations for his performances in Waitress and Young Frankenstein and won the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance in Waitress.

<i>Young Frankenstein</i> (musical) Musical

Young Frankenstein is a musical with a book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, and music and lyrics by Brooks. It is based on the 1974 comedy film of the same name written by Gene Wilder and Brooks who also directed and has described it as his best film. It is a parody of the horror film genre, especially the 1931 Universal Pictures adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and its 1935 and 1939 sequels, Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein.

Frederick Applegate is an American actor, singer and dancer.

Douglas Besterman is an American orchestrator, musical arranger and music producer. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards out of six total nominations and two Drama Desk Awards out of six total nominations, and was a 2009 Grammy Award nominee.

<i>Back to the Future: The Musical</i> Musical stage adaptation of the 1985 film

Back to the Future: The Musical is a musical with music and lyrics by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard and a book by Bob Gale. It is adapted from the 1985 film Back to the Future by Robert Zemeckis and Gale. The show features original music, as well as songs featured in the film.

"Springtime for Hitler" is a song written and composed by Mel Brooks for his 1968 film The Producers.

References

  1. ↑ "Interview: Cory English set for spot in The Producers". Glasgow Times. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  2. ↑ "Cory English Tapped to Play Igor in Young Frankenstein". Broadway.com. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  3. ↑ "Young Frankenstein: Cory English assumes the role of 'Igor'". New York Theater Guide. 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  4. ↑ "Cory English News". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  5. ↑ "Cory English is now starring as Igor in Mel Brooks' cult classic Young Frankenstein". 27 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Wayne Central grad featured in 'Cats' movie | WHEC.com". www.whec.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-20.
  7. ↑ Wood, Alex (January 27, 2023). "Cory English to take over from Roger Bart in Back to the Future: the Musical in the West End".


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.