 | This article may contain an excessive number of citations .(January 2025) |
Erik Liberman | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Actor, author, director |
| Website | www |
Erik Liberman is an American actor, author, and director.
| This article may contain an excessive number of citations .(January 2025) |
Erik Liberman | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Actor, author, director |
| Website | www |
Erik Liberman is an American actor, author, and director.
Liberman was born in Miami, the son of social worker Marsha and Havana-born vision scientist and author Jacob. He attended New World School of the Arts, where he became a YoungArts winner and was later named Alumnus of the Year. After high school, he trained at London's Complicité and Royal National Theatre, The Groundlings, Ann Reinking's Broadway Theatre Project, and École Philippe Gaulier in France. He cites Maureen Stapleton and Judi Dench as influences. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Liberman has originated roles in Broadway productions including War Paint , as Revlon founder Charles Revson opposite Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole, directed by Michael Greif, and in Alfred Uhry's LoveMusik with Donna Murphy and Michael Cerveris, directed by Harold Prince. LoveMusik was nominated for four Tony Awards and twelve Drama Desk Awards, including Best Musical, and both shows issued original cast recordings. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
He originated the role of Telephone Guy in The Band's Visit in a performance called "the burning emotional core of the whole night." The New York Times added, "When the ensemble, led by Mr. Liberman, delivers the show’s final number, 'Answer Me,' the music takes on a transcendent harmonic shimmer that stops the heart." According to interviews, "Answer Me" was written for the actor. The show received 2017 New York Drama Critics' Circle, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, and Obie Awards for Best Musical. [15] [7] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]
Liberman "perfectly portrayed" Clopin Trouillefou in the world premiere of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, respectively. The original cast recording reached #1 on Billboard charts, toppling Hamilton . He also originated roles in stage adaptations of the films Reefer Madness! and Somewhere in Time . [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]
His performance as Motel the Tailor in the North American tour of Fiddler on the Roof opposite Topol, Harvey Fierstein, and Theodore Bikel was reviewed as "a showcase of sheer star power" and "one of the best Motels I've ever seen anywhere." He later co-conceived and co-directed Raising the Roof, a 50th anniversary celebration of Fiddler at New York City's Town Hall featuring Joshua Bell and Chita Rivera, among others, and performed in Symphony Space's Fiddler at 50 gala, co-chaired by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Harold Prince, and Stephen Sondheim. [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37]
Liberman held roles in revivals including Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along , for which he received a Helen Hayes Award, a 25th anniversary production of Into the Woods , opposite original Red Riding Hood Danielle Ferland, who was "well matched with Erik Liberman, who possesses a perfect Sondheim tenor," and in Kooman and Diamond's Dani Girl. He played Groucho Marx twice Off-Broadway and at the Obama White House. Drama Desk president William Wolf noted, "Unless we can dig up Groucho himself, Erik Liberman will do." [4] [3] [10] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43]
Liberman made his "superb" Off-Broadway debut in The Calamity of Kat Kat and Willie followed by For Elise. He appeared in concert stagings of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat, The Who's Tommy , and Carol Burnett's Hollywood Arms with Tyne Daly, and provided choreography for Mabou Mines Dollhouse, which played Off-Broadway twice, toured the world, and was filmed for television. [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51]
Liberman began working on television as a child, including an early appearance opposite Joe DiMaggio. Developmental concerts at Joe's Pub led to his role as the musical doppelgänger of Jay Duplass in the series finale of Amazon's Transparent . He also appeared in episodes of Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger's Vinyl , Modern Family , Unforgettable and Angel, among others. He played one-half of the first gay couple to appear in a Procter & Gamble commercial, for Tide. [2] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58]
Liberman contributed to books including Luminous Life: How the Science of Light Unlocks the Art of Living and Wisdom from an Empty Mind, both with his father, and Performance of the Century, celebrating the Actors Equity centennial. He has written for publications including The Hollywood Reporter , Variety , and Huffington Post and is preparing a book and documentary about American actress Jayne Mansfield. He is also a Moth storyteller. [59] [60] [56] [61] [62] [3] [63] [64] [65]
In 2020, Liberman launched Bridge to Broadway, an online educational platform connecting master teachers with theatre students, benefiting The Entertainment Community Fund and other charities. Guest artists included Chita Rivera, Joel Grey, Alan Menken, Judith Light, Ali Stroker, Ben Vereen, Lea Salonga, and André de Shields. He received an Encore Award for his efforts. [66] [67] [68] [69]
Liberman received a YoungArts award in high school and subsequent grants from the National YoungArts Foundation to act at Sundance Theatre Lab. He also won the Lotte Lenya Competition in 2005. Harold Prince was a judge and remarked, "Erik is the real deal... Once you've seen him, you can't forget him." Liberman paid tribute to Prince, whom he credited with launching his career, in a concert at 54 Below and at the Lenya Competition's 25th anniversary celebration at Eastman School of Music. He also appeared in Singing the Story, a documentary about the competition, and in a concert of the winners at Lincoln Center. Liberman is a recipient of Encore, Helen Hayes, Ovation, Garland, Connecticut Critics Circle and New York Musical Theatre Festival Awards. [70] [71] [1] [72] [73] [5] [74] [23] [42] [75] [76] [77] [69] [78] [79]
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on "Tevye the Dairyman" and other short stories by Sholem Aleichem. The story centers on Tevye, a milkman in the village of Anatevka, who attempts to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural traditions as outside influences encroach upon his family's lives. He must cope with the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters who wish to marry for love; their choices of husbands are successively less palatable for Tevye. An edict of the tsar eventually evicts the Jews from their village.
Harvey Forbes Fierstein is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He gained notice for his theater work in Torch Song Trilogy, winning both the Tony Award for Best Play and Best Actor in a Play. He went on to win the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for La Cage aux Folles, then Best Actor in a Musical for playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, a role he reprised for the Hairspray Live! television special.
The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Following the 1964 renaming as the Drama Desk Awards, Broadway productions were included beginning with the 1968–69 award season. The awards are considered a significant American theater distinction.
David Earl Garrison is an American actor and singer. He is best known for playing Steve Rhoades on the television series Married... with Children. He has also appeared in numerous theatrical roles, particularly that of The Wizard on both Broadway and in many tours of the musical Wicked.
Norbert Leo Butz is an American actor and singer known for his work in Broadway theatre. He is a two-time recipient of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and is one of only nine actors ever to have won the award twice.
Donna Murphy is an American actress, best known for her work in musical theater. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she has twice won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical: for her role as Fosca in Passion (1994–1995) and as Anna Leonowens in The King and I (1996–1997). She was also nominated for her roles as Ruth Sherwood in Wonderful Town (2003), Lotte Lenya in LoveMusik (2007), and Bubbie/Raisel in The People in the Picture (2011).
Rebecca Luker was an American actress, singer, and recording artist, noted for her "crystal clear operatic soprano" and for maintaining long runs in Broadway musicals over the course of her three-decade-long career. The New York Times compared her to actresses such as Barbara Cook and Julie Andrews.
LoveMusik is a musical written by Alfred Uhry, using a selection of music by Kurt Weill. The story explores the romance and lives of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, based on Speak Low : The Letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, edited and translated by Lys Symonette and Kim H. Kowalke. Harold Prince had read Speak Low and suggested the idea for a musical to Uhry. Uhry and Prince worked on LoveMusik for four years to develop it into a stage work. The story spans over 25 years, from the first meeting of Lenya and Weill as struggling young artists, to their popularity in Europe and America, to Weill's death from a heart attack at age 50.
Alex Timbers is an American writer and director best known for his work on stage and television. He has received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Drama Desk Award, as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Grammy Award. Timbers received the Drama League Founder's Award for Excellence in Directing and the Jerome Robbins Award for Directing.
Scott Sanders is an American television producer, film producer and theatre producer. His theatrical musical version of Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple, for which he was a lead producer alongside co-producers Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones, premiered on Broadway in 2005, garnering 11 Tony Award Nominations including Best Musical.
David Cromer is an American theatre director, and stage, film, and TV actor. He has received recognition for his work on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in his native Chicago. Cromer has won or been nominated for numerous awards, including winning the Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for his direction of Our Town. He was nominated for the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for his direction of The Adding Machine. In 2018, Cromer won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for The Band's Visit.
The Lark, formerly Lark Play Development Center, was a non-profit organization, headquartered in Manhattan, New York that sought to help discover and develop playwrights. It announced its closing in October, 2021.
Shalita Grant is an American actress best known for portraying NCIS Special Agent Sonja Percy on NCIS: New Orleans. She is also known from her roles on Mercy Street, You, Santa Clarita Diet, and Search Party.
Raquel Nobile is a New York City-based theater and film actor.
Justin Goldner is an American music producer, songwriter, arranger and session musician based in New York City, originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Charlie Rosen is an American musician, composer, arranger, orchestrator, musical director, and music producer. He is best known for his work on Broadway, where he has worked on Be More Chill, Prince of Broadway, American Psycho, and, along with Bryan Carter, won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for Some Like It Hot. He is also the leader of the 8-Bit Big Band, a jazz orchestra specializing in video game music.
Stars in the House is a daily live streamed web series created and hosted by Seth Rudetsky and his husband James Wesley to support The Actors Fund and its services. Created in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Stars in the House debuted in March 2020.
Almost Famous is a 2019 stage musical with music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Cameron Crowe and Kitt, and a book by Crowe. It is based on the 2000 film of the same name written and directed by Crowe.
Carolyn Mignini is a Drama Desk Award nominated actress who has appeared on Broadway, television, and film. Critic Rex Reed called her "a radiantly talented singer" who "electrified Broadway."
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
