Isaac Cole Powell | |
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| Born | December 30, 1994 |
| Education | University of North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2015–present |
Isaac Cole Powell (born December 30, 1994) is an American actor and singer. He played the role of Daniel in the Broadway revival of the musical Once on This Island [1] and was cast as Tony in the 2020 Broadway revival of West Side Story . [2]
Powell was raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, the youngest of three children born to Terry and Will Powell, a three-time world CrossFit champion. [3] His father is Mixed Native American and African-American; his mother is Caucasian. [3] His sister, Jessica Powell, is a Certified Personal Trainer at their father's fitness studio and is featured on TLC's My Big Fat Fabulous Life as Whitney's fitness trainer. [4] [5] Powell began to act in middle school with the Community Theatre of Greensboro. [3] He attended Philip J. Weaver Academy, a performing arts high school, before transferring to a boarding program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) during his senior year of high school. He graduated from UNCSA with an acting degree in May 2017. [3] [6]
While in college, Powell began to accumulate professional acting credits, playing Nikos in the musical Legally Blonde at the Barn Dinner Theatres. [7] After graduation, in the summer of 2017, he appeared in Newsies and Mamma Mia! with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera [8] [9] and originated the title role in Nikola Tesla Drops the Beat at the Adirondack Theatre Festival in Glens Falls, New York. [3] [10]
Powell played the role of Daniel in the 2017 Broadway revival of Once on This Island , which began previews in November 2017 and opened officially in December. Jesse Green, writing in The New York Times called Powell's solo, "Some Girls," a "quietly sensitive rendering." [11] Robert Hofler, in TheWrap , wrote that Powell makes the song "the most poignant moment in this revival." [12] TheaterMania's review deemed Powell, "charismatic and silvery-voiced." [13] He recorded his role on the revival's cast album. [14]
Powell competed in May 2018 on the live Broadway game show, I Only Have Lies for You. [15] In the spring of 2018, he signed on with the New Pandemics modeling agency and modeled for Palomo Spain's and NIHL's fall 2019 lines at New York Fashion Week. [16] [17] [18] In W Magazine , Powell notes that "[M]odeling is a new thing ... I've been basically shooting all the gay publications, which is really, really great." [19] He models in addition to acting, and was featured in the final issue of Hello Mr. [20] [21]
Powell played Tony, the protagonist, in the 2020 Broadway revival of West Side Story . [2]
In November 2020, Powell was cast in Universal Pictures and director Stephen Chbosky's film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen as new character Rhys, a high school jock. [22]
On August 29, 2021, Powell was featured in the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network's aired concert for the musical Wicked which was hosted by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. Other featured artists were Rita Moreno, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana DeBose, Ali Stroker, Amber Riley, Mario Cantone, Jennifer Nettles, Stephanie Hsu, Alex Newell, Gavin Creel and Gabrielle Ruiz performing many of the musical's numbers. [23]
Powell is gay and came out at the age of 16. [16] In 2016, Powell met Broadway actor, Wesley Taylor, when Taylor was visiting University of North Carolina School of the Arts where Powell was a junior in the school's theatre program. [24] The two then began a relationship in 2017 and were engaged in May 2019. They ended their relationship in 2021.[ citation needed ]
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre | Director(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Nikola Tesla Drops The Beat | Nikola Tesla | Adirondack Theatre Festival | Marshall Pailet | |
| Newsies | Ensemble | Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (at the Benedum Center) | Richard J. Hinds | ||
| Mamma Mia! | Barry Ivan | ||||
| 2017–19 | Once on This Island | Daniel | Circle in the Square Theatre | Michael Arden | |
| 2019–20 | West Side Story | Tony | Broadway Theatre | Ivo van Hove | |
| 2024 | Gatsby: An American Myth | Jay Gatsby | American Repertory Theatre | Rachel Chavkin | [28] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Just a Body | Pastor Dave | Short film |
| 2019 | XaveMePlease | Xavier | Short film |
| 2021 | Dear Evan Hansen | Rhys | |
| 2023 | Cat Person | Clay | |
| 2023 | Past Lives | Guy | |
| 2023 | Our Son | Solo |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Broadway.com #LiveatFive | Himself | 1 episode |
| 2018 | Murphy Brown | Jack | Episode: "A Lifetime of Achievement" |
| 2018–2019 | Indoor Boys | Logan | 6 episodes |
| 2021 | Modern Love | Vince | Episode: "A Life Plan for Two, Followed by One" |
| 2021 | American Horror Story: Double Feature | Troy Lord | 4 episodes |
| 2022 | American Horror Story: NYC | Theo Graves | 7 episodes |
| TBA | The Franchise | Bryson | Main role, upcoming series |
| Year | Awards | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Grammy Awards | Best Musical Theater Album | Once on This Island | Nominated | |
| 2020 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance | West Side Story | Nominated |
Hello, Dolly! is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1954. The musical follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder.
Mamma Mia! is a jukebox musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson based on songs recorded by Swedish group ABBA and composed by members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The musical's title is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia". Ulvaeus and Andersson were involved in the development of the show from the beginning, while singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad was involved financially in the production and also appeared at many of the premieres around the world.
Gavin James Creel is an American actor, singer, and songwriter best known for his work in musical theater. Creel made his Broadway debut in 2002 in the leading role of Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie before starring as Claude in the 2009 Broadway revival of Hair, both Tony Award-nominated performances. From 2012 to 2015, he starred as Elder Price in The Book of Mormon; he received a Laurence Olivier Award for originating the role in the West End version of the musical and has played the role in the US National Tour and on Broadway. In 2017, he received a Tony Award for his performance as Cornelius Hackl in Broadway's Hello, Dolly!.
Carolee Carmello is an American actress best known for her performances in Broadway musicals and for playing the role of Maple LaMarsh on the television series Remember WENN (1996–1998). She is a three-time Tony Award nominee and a five-time Drama Desk nominee, winning the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her role in Parade.
Once on This Island is a coming-of-age one-act stage musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. It is based on the 1985 novel My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl by Rosa Guy, a Caribbean-set retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Little Mermaid. It concerns a peasant girl in the French Antilles who falls in love with a rich boy and makes a deal with the gods to save his life.
Stephanie Janette Block is an American actress and singer, best known for her work on the Broadway stage.
Aaron Lohr is an American actor.
Julia Kathleen Murney is an American actress and singer, also known for television commercial voice-overs. Until 2005, she was commonly known as the Broadway actress who had technically never appeared on Broadway. This was because her fame came mostly from her performances on the Broadway charity circuit, and not traditional Broadway productions. She played the role of Elphaba in the musical Wicked, both on the US national tour (2006) and on Broadway (2007). She is also a two-time Drama Desk Award nominee, for The Wild Party (2000) and Falling (2013).
John Dossett is an American actor and singer.
Beth Leavel is an American stage and screen actress and singer.
Christine "Christy" Altomare is an American actress and singer-songwriter.
Wesley Taylor is an American stage actor and writer, best known for his work in musical theatre and television.
Jeremy Michael Jordan is an American actor and singer. He has performed on Broadway, in television and film, in concert, as well as in other theatrical productions.
Phillip Boykin is an American actor and bass-baritone singer. He currently portrays Hades in the Broadway production of Hadestown.
Benjamin Tyler Cook is an American stage actor. He has appeared on Broadway in Ragtime, Billy Elliot the Musical, Tuck Everlasting, Mean Girls, and West Side Story. He has also performed in two Broadway national tours, Billy Elliot the Musical and Newsies the Musical, and appeared on television in episodes of 30 Rock, House of Cards, Veep, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and in the HBO film Paterno. He most recently appeared as a Jet in the 2021 film version of West Side Story and as Henry in the HBO Max horror series Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (2022–present).
If/Then is a musical with a libretto by Brian Yorkey and a theatrical score by Tom Kitt, directed by Michael Greif. It tells the story of a 38-year-old woman named Elizabeth who moves back to New York City for a fresh start.
Michael James Scott is an American actor and singer, known for his work on the Broadway stage. He is best known for playing the Genie in Disney's Aladdin musical in the Original Australian Cast, as well as in the West End, U.S. National Tour, and Broadway productions.
Adam Jacobs is an American actor and singer. He is best known for originating the title role of Aladdin in Disney's Aladdin on Broadway. He also starred as Marius in the Les Misérables 2006 Broadway revival, and Simba in Disney's The Lion King on Broadway.
Erika Leigh Henningsen is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her work on Broadway and for originating the role of Cady Heron in the 2018 Tony-nominated musical Mean Girls, for which she received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination.
Alison Nicole Luff is an American singer and stage actress. She is best known for her extensive work in musical theatre, notably for her roles as Elphaba in the First National Tour of Wicked and Jenna in the Broadway production of Waitress. From 2021 to 2023, she has appeared in a lead role in the Starz drama series Heels.
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