John Hill | |
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Born | John Arthur Hill October 23, 1978 |
Occupation | musical theater actor |
Years active | 1990–present |
John Arthur Hill (born October 23, 1977) is an American musical theater actor and television producer who is most well known for his role of Jason McConnell in the Off-Broadway run of Bare: A Pop Opera and as a producer of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen . He also developed a following on his former website "John Hill Online" with his videos entitled "Johnny and Kooks", comedic videos he made with his friend Katharine Leonard. [1] The pair released a single on iTunes entitled "About You". He grew up in San Antonio, Texas and currently resides in Los Angeles, California where he is producing television programs.
He has also appeared in the Broadway musicals Hairspray (original Broadway cast as Fender), [2] and The Boy from Oz (original Broadway cast as Mark Herron). [3] In The Boy from Oz he also understudied the roles of Greg and the lead role Peter Allen. He never went on as Peter Allen. In Hairspray he also understudied the roles of Link Larkin and Corny Collins. He did go on as Link Larkin. He starred opposite Michael Arden and Jenna Leigh Green in the original Off-Broadway cast of Bare: A Pop Opera in the leading role of Jason. [4] He was supposed to return to this role when the show was supposed to move to a new theatre after a few months of break, but the move never happened. A demo of 11 tracks from this production was recorded, but the remaining tracks were never recorded when the production never resumed. [5] He did appear in the "Bare's Back Concert" after the show closed, which most of the cast returned to perform in concert. He also appeared in But I'm A Cheerleader (a musical adaptation of the movie of the same name) at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2005. In June 2006, he wrote and performed the solo show Skinny Corpse at The Duplex in Manhattan, directed by Ben Rimalower. [6] He also took part in the mini-musical Prop 8: The Musical . [7]
In 2007, he produced an 8-part documentary MTV called Show Choir. This program followed the real life choir "IMAGES" of Morgantown High School in Morgantown, West Virginia. It followed the transformation of the choir and its members. [8] [9]
He has also served as producer for the Nickelodeon reality show Dance on Sunset , Tori and Dean, Kathy Griffin: The D-List , All About Aubrey, Project Runway , [10] Top Chef , and G4's Attack of the Show.
He was the co-executive producer and writer, as well as an on-camera panelist/pundit on the short-lived Bravo show The Approval Matrix based on the popular feature in New York Magazine. In 2011 Hill accepted the role of executive producer of The A-List: Dallas, a spinoff of the popular LOGO hit.
He is currently a producer on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and host of The Feels on Radio Andy, Andy Cohen's Sirius XM Channel. [11] He also writes for Love Connection on FOX where Cohen serves as host. [12]
Hill is gay. [9] He was previously in a relationship with his Radio Andy costar Andy Cohen. [12]
Harvey Forbes Fierstein is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He is best known for his theater work in Torch Song Trilogy and Hairspray and film roles in Mrs. Doubtfire, Independence Day, and as the voice of Yao in Mulan and Mulan II. Fierstein won two Tony Awards, Best Actor in a Play and Best Play, for Torch Song Trilogy. He received his third Tony Award, Best Book of a Musical, for the musical La Cage aux Folles and his fourth, the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, for playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, a role he revived in its live television event, Hairspray Live! Fierstein also wrote the books for the Tony Award-winning musicals Kinky Boots, Newsies, and Tony Award-nominated, Drama League Award-winner A Catered Affair. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2007.
Hairspray is an American musical with music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, with a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on John Waters's 1988 film of the same name. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the production follows teenage Tracy Turnblad's dream to dance on The Corny Collins Show, a local TV dance program based on the real-life Buddy Deane Show. When Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight, leading to social change as Tracy campaigns for the show's integration.
Marc Shaiman is an American composer and lyricist for films, television, and theatre, best known for his collaborations with lyricist and director Scott Wittman, actor Billy Crystal, and director Rob Reiner. Shaiman has received numerous accolades including two Grammy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. He has also received seven Academy Awards nominations.
The Boy from Oz is an Australian jukebox musical based on the life of singer and songwriter Peter Allen, featuring songs written by him. The book commissioned for the musical is by Nick Enright, based on Stephen MacLean's 1996 biography of Allen. Premiering in Australia in 1998 starring Todd McKenney, a revised version of the musical, written by Martin Sherman, opened on Broadway in 2003, with Hugh Jackman in the title role.
Jerry Mitchell is an American theatre director and choreographer.
Shoshana E. Bean is a Tony-nominated American singer, songwriter, and stage actress. She has appeared in numerous musicals, performing in major Off-Broadway and Broadway theatres, including in the original production of Hairspray.
Marissa Jaret Winokur, sometimes credited as Marissa Winokur, is an American actress and singer known for her Tony-winning performance as Tracy Turnblad in the Broadway musical Hairspray, an adaptation of John Waters's film, as well as her work on the Pamela Anderson sitcom Stacked. Some of her other TV credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm,Moesha,The Steve Harvey Show,Just Shoot Me!,Felicity and Dharma & Greg.
Kerry Butler is an American actress and singer known primarily for her work in theater. She is best known for originating the roles of Barbara Maitland in Beetlejuice, Penny Pingleton in Hairspray, and Clio/Kira in Xanadu, the latter of which earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical.
Hairspray is a 2007 musical romantic comedy film based on the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on John Waters's 1988 comedy film of the same name. Produced by Ingenious Media and Zadan/Meron Productions, and adapted from both Waters's 1988 script and Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell's book for the stage musical by screenwriter Leslie Dixon, the film was directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman and has an ensemble cast including John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley, Allison Janney, and Nikki Blonsky in her feature film debut. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows the "pleasantly plump" teenager Tracy Turnblad (Blonsky) as she pursues stardom as a dancer on a local television dance show and rallies against racial segregation.
Jenna Leigh Green is an American actress and singer best known for her performances as Libby Chessler on the television show Sabrina the Teenage Witch, as well as for roles on tour in the musical Wicked and later in the Broadway production.
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.
Andrew Scott Rannells is an American actor. He is best known for originating the role of Elder Kevin Price in the 2011 Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical and won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. He received his second Tony nomination in 2017 for his performance as Whizzer in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos. Other Broadway credits include Hairspray (2005), Jersey Boys (2009), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2014), Hamilton (2015), The Boys in the Band (2018), and Gutenberg! The Musical! (2023). For his performance in the Off West End production of Tammy Faye, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award.
Laura Ann Osnes is an American actress and singer known for her work on the Broadway stage. She has played starring roles in Grease as Sandy, South Pacific as Nellie Forbush, Anything Goes as Hope Harcourt, and Bonnie and Clyde as Bonnie Parker, for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. She also starred in the title role of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway, for which she received a Drama Desk Award and her second Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.
The 58th Annual Tony Awards were held June 6, 2004 at Radio City Music Hall and broadcast on CBS television. Hugh Jackman was the host.
Elijah Kelley is an American actor, singer, and dancer. He appeared in films such as 28 Days (2000), Take the Lead (2006), Hairspray (2007), Red Tails (2012), Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013), NBC's live-musical event The Wiz Live! (2015), as Ricky Bell in The New Edition Story (2017), and Star (2017).
Caissie Levy is a Canadian-American actress and singer, mainly known for her work in musical theatre on Broadway and in the West End. Her early Broadway credits included Penny Pingleton in Hairspray and Sheila in Hair, a role she also played in the West End. She originated the role of Molly Jensen in the West End and Broadway productions of Ghost: the Musical, and played Fantine in the 2014 Broadway revival of Les Misérables. Levy also originated the role of Elsa in Frozen on Broadway. For her performance on the cast recording of Caroline, or Change, she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2023. Levy originated the role of Diana Goodman in the London production of Next to Normal and received a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
Richard H. Blake is an American actor and singer best known for his work in musical theatre.
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.
James Monroe Iglehart is an American actor and comic book writer. He is perhaps best known for his Tony Award-winning performance as the Genie in the original Broadway production of Aladdin. Iglehart assumed the roles of the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the Broadway cast of Hamilton in April 2017. He recreated the role of King Arthur in the 2023 Broadway revival of Spamalot and played Louis Armstrong in the Broadway company of A Wonderful World. He can be heard as super producer Steve Jones in As The Curtain Rises, Broadway's first original podcast soap opera. More recently, Iglehart joined the cast of the animated webseries Helluva Boss, as both the Demon Lord of Lust Asmodeus/Ozzie and hellhound bodyguard Vortex, and Hazbin Hotel, as Zestial, as well having written for Marvel Comics, primarily one-shots featuring Spider-Man.
Hairspray Live! is an American television special that aired live on the American television network NBC on December 7, 2016. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and hosted by Darren Criss, it is a performance of a new adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical Hairspray.