Michael James Scott (born May 24, 1981) 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.
Scott was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Michael and Karen Scott. He attended Rock Springs Elementary school in Apopka, Florida, then Robinswood and Gotha Middle School. In high school, he attended the Dr. Phillips High School Visual and Performing Arts Program.
Michael worked as a child actor doing commercials, TV shows, and musicals; he also sang in concerts around the Central Florida area.
He trained with Ann Reinking's Broadway Theatre Project for four years, two as an assistant.
As a young adult Michael got a string of TV work, theatre shows and singing engagements, before getting his BFA degree at The Conservatory of Theatre Arts program at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. While in college, he was the standby for Ben Vereen on the international tour of Fosse from 2003 to 2004. He joined the first National U.S. tour of Mamma Mia! from 2004 to 2005. In 2005, he made his Broadway debut in 2005 in the musical All Shook Up . He appeared off-Broadway opposite Donna McKechnie in Here's to the Public. In 2006, after a short stint in Disney's Tarzan on Broadway, he reprised his Mamma Mia! role of Eddie in the Broadway production. In 2007, he was in the original Broadway company for Boublil and Schönberg's new musical The Pirate Queen. In 2008, he was a part of the concert cast of Jerry Springer: The Opera at Carnegie Hall and shortly afterwards went on to originate Barry Belson (actor)in the Las Vegas production of Jersey Boys . He returned to Broadway in 2009 in a revival of Hair , continuing on to the West End production the following year, for which he was also associate choreographer. At the end of that year, he returned to Broadway in the original cast of Elf , until it closed in 2011. He then played Dr. Gostwana in the original Broadway company of The Book of Mormon. During his time in Book of Mormon, he took a short break to play Donkey in Shrek The Musical at the MUNY of St. Louis before finally leaving Mormon in 2013. He joined the original Broadway company of Disney's Aladdin musical as the Genie standby. In 2015, he left to originate the Minstrel in Something Rotten! on Broadway.
He originated the role of Genie in the Australian production of Disney's musical Aladdin, which opened in Sydney in August 2016, before leaving the company in December 2017 to join the U.S. national tour of Aladdin. He received a Helpmann Award in 2017 for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for his work in the Australian Production.
Scott is a member of the group The Broadway Boys and Grammy-nominated Broadway Inspirational Voices. He continues to sing at concerts, special events and benefits around the country.
Scott is gay; [4] he married filmmaker Jeremy Merrifield after dating for ten years and knowing each other for about twenty. [5] They have a French Bulldog named Chloé Phylicia. [6]
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.
Disney Theatrical Productions Limited (DTP), also known as Disney on Broadway, is the stageplay and musical production company of the Disney Theatrical Group, a subsidiary of Disney Entertainment, a major division and business unit of The Walt Disney Company.
John Nicholas Tartaglia is an American puppeteer, actor, and singer.
Leon Dominic Cooke is an English actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer.
Ann Harada is an American actress and singer who was first known for the musical Avenue Q, in which she originated the role of Christmas Eve, the heavily accented Japanese therapist.
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).
Lauren Kennedy is an American actress and singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She is now the producing artistic director of Theatre Raleigh in her home state of North Carolina.
Lisa Brescia is an American musical theatre actress who has performed as lead and understudy in several Broadway shows. Raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she went on to pursue acting and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She taught Acting I and IV at Missouri State University and is now set to be the head of the Musical Theatre department at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri.
Karen Mason is an American musical theatre actress and singer. She has appeared on stage in Broadway theatre, notably as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, and is a multiple award-winning cabaret performer.
The Theatre Conservatory of Chicago College of Performing Arts is a theatre arts conservatory based in Chicago, Illinois at Roosevelt University. The school offers Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in acting, Musical Theatre, and Musical Theatre Dance Emphasis as well as a Masters of Fine Arts in Directing offered during the summer. The conservatory currently holds classes and productions out of two theatres, the O'Malley Theatre and the Miller Studio Theatre. Both of which can be found on the Roosevelt University campus.
Aladdin is a stage musical based on the Walt Disney Animation Studios' 1992 film of the same name with a book by Chad Beguelin, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Beguelin. It resurrects three songs written by Menken and Ashman for the film but not used, and adds four songs written by Menken and Beguelin.
Aladdin is a Disney media franchise comprising a film series and additional media. It began with the 1992 American animated feature of the same name, which was based on the tale of the same name, and was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. The success of the film led to two direct-to-video sequels, a television series, a Broadway musical, a live-action remake, various rides and themed areas in Disney's theme parks, several video games, and merchandise, among other related works.
Carla Stickler is an American semi-retired musical theatre actress, who is best known for her work on the musical Wicked. She is mainly a software engineer who came back in 2022 to Broadway to fill in for Elphaba due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York.
Jennifer "Jenny" DiNoia is an American singer and stage actress. She is best known for her work in musical theatre, especially Wicked, playing the lead role of Elphaba in various productions around the world.
Courtney Rhodes Reed is an American actress, best known for originating the role of Princess Jasmine in Disney's Aladdin on Broadway.
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.
Ainsley Melham is an Australian actor and theatre performer. He began his career as a member of Australian children's musical group Hi-5 from 2013 to 2016, starring in the television series and performing in international tours. He later found success as a prominent theatre performer in Australia and the United States.
Kyle Andrew Selig is an American actor, dancer, and singer. He is known for originating the role of Aaron Samuels in the 2018 Tony Award-nominated musical, Mean Girls and for playing the role of Mr. Komos in Monster High: The Movie. In 2024, Selig took over the starring role of Jacob Jankowski in Water for Elephants on Broadway.