Norbert Leo Butz | |
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 Butz in 2012 | |
| Born | January 30, 1967 |
| Education | |
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| Years active | 1996–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
Norbert Leo Butz (born January 30, 1967) 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.
Butz was born on January 30, 1967, in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elaine (née Bourisaw) and Norbert Butz. [1] He was raised in a middle-class family; his parents are devout Catholics. [2] [3] He is the seventh of 11 children and is named after his father. [4] Some of his first theatre roles included playing the male leads at local all-girl high schools, such as Cor Jesu Academy and Nerinx Hall. He graduated from Bishop DuBourg High School. Butz earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University and a Master of Fine Arts from The University of Alabama/Alabama Shakespeare Festival's Professional Actor Training Program. [5] He would later receive an honorary degree from Webster University in 2013. [6]
Butz made his Broadway debut as a replacement swing – a type of understudy – in Rent in 1996. Butz ultimately replaced Adam Pascal as Roger in 1997. Additional Broadway credits include Thou Shalt Not (Camille Raquin, 2001–2002), for which he received a Tony Award nomination; Wicked (the original Fiyero, 2003); and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Freddy) for which he received the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, a Drama League Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award. His Off-Broadway credits include The Last Five Years (Jamie), Saved (Fred), and Juno and the Paycock (Jerry Devine), and he has toured as the Emcee in Cabaret and as Freddy in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Butz's film roles have included Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five (Pawnbroker), Noon Blue Apples (Howard Philips), and West of Here (Josiah Blackwell).
Butz's projects include the film Dan in Real Life (with Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, and Dane Cook), released in October 2007, the world premiere of Is He Dead? , a hitherto unproduced Mark Twain play that opened at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre on December 9, 2007, and Fifty Words Off-Broadway with Elizebeth Marvel at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (2008). [7] In January 2008, he appeared as Captain Richard King in the miniseries adaptation of the Lonesome Dove prequel, Comanche Moon .
Starting December 23, 2008, Butz stepped in to replace Jeremy Piven in David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow ; Piven suddenly and unexpectedly dropped out of the play after he experienced health problems. Butz took over the part until January 13, 2009, when William H. Macy assumed the role for the remainder of the play's run. [8]
Butz taught at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, for the spring semester in 2008 in the drama department. [9] [10]
He starred as Rowdy Kaiser in the ABC show The Deep End .
From April to May 9, 2010, he returned to the Broadway stage in ENRON as Jeffrey Skilling. [11] Despite Tony nominations, the play struggled with ticket sales.
Butz starred in the 2011 drama indie film Higher Ground with Vera Farmiga, who also directed it. [12]
Butz originated the role of Carl Hanratty in the musical Catch Me If You Can which played pre-Broadway tryouts at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, Washington, from July 28 through August 14, 2009. [13] Butz played the role of Carl Hanratty in the Broadway production of Catch Me if You Can, which opened on April 10, 2011, [14] and closed in September 2011. For this role he won his second Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical [15] and his second Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. [16]
In April 2012, Butz appeared as himself in one episode of the NBC musical drama Smash. Butz played Hal Wilner in Greetings from Tim Buckley , a film on Tim and Jeff Buckley, which premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. [17] [18]
From November 29, 2012 to January 6, 2013, Butz appeared on Broadway in Theresa Rebeck's Dead Accounts , opposite Katie Holmes, Jayne Houdyshell, Josh Hamilton, and Judy Greer.
In 2013 he starred in the new Andrew Lippa musical Big Fish , which premiered in Chicago in the spring and opened on Broadway in the Neil Simon Theatre in October, directed by Susan Stroman. [19]
In 2012, he played Uncle Peck in a limited engagement revival of Paula Vogel's play How I Learned to Drive . He also starred in the 2013 film Better Living Through Chemistry . He played Kevin Rayburn in the 2015 Netflix television show Bloodline .
He also starred in the 2018 Broadway revival of My Fair Lady as Alfred Doolittle, the father of the leading role, Eliza Doolittle. He earned a nomination for Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for the production.
From July 9–28, 2019, he appeared in an original musical collaboration titled TWOHANDER at Feinstein's/54 Below alongside Sherie Rene Scott, with musical director Todd Almond. [20] [21] Butz previously shared the stage with Scott in the original productions of the musicals Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Last Five Years .
In 2021, Butz played the role of Craig Maddox in the NBC drama series Debris which is written by J. H. Wyman. [22]
In 2024, Butz played Kosta in the play, Vladimir, by Erika Sheffer at the New York City Center Stage I which covers the story of a journalist and an accountant who bravely investigate and publicize issues in Russia.
Butz married his former Wicked co-star Michelle Federer in 2007. Their daughter was born on January 2, 2011. [23] He has two older daughters from a previous marriage. [24]
The murder of his sister, Teresa Butz, made national news when an assailant stabbed both her and her girlfriend in her Seattle-area home on July 19, 2009. [25] [26]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five | Pawnbroker | ||
| 2000 | Looking for an Echo | Vocals for Anthony Pirelli | ||
| 2002 | Noon Blue Apples | Howard Phillips | ||
| West of Here | Josiah Blackwell | |||
| 2007 | Dan in Real Life | Clay Burns | ||
| 2010 | Fair Game | Steve | ||
| 2011 | Higher Ground | Pastor Bill | ||
| 2012 | Greetings from Tim Buckley | Hal Willner | ||
| Disconnect | Peter | |||
| 2013 | The English Teacher | Vice Principal Phil Pelaski | ||
| 2014 | Better Living Through Chemistry | Agent Andrew Carp | ||
| 2019 | Luce | Dan Towson | ||
| Wonder Park | Peanut (voice) | |||
| Good Posture | Neil | |||
| 2020 | Give or Take | Ted | ||
| 2021 | Flag Day | Doc | ||
| 2022 | Better Nate Than Ever | Rex Foster | ||
| 2023 | The Exorcist: Believer | Tony | ||
| 2024 | A Complete Unknown | Alan Lomax |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | John Fenwick | Episode: "Misleader" | |
| 2007 | Playing Chicken | Jake | Unsold pilot | |
| 2008 | Comanche Moon | Richard King | Episode: "#1.2" | |
| 2009 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Archie Beuliss | Episode: "In Treatment" | |
| 2010 | The Deep End | Rowdy Kaise | 7 episodes | |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Larry Lamotte | Episode: "Bump and Grind" | ||
| 2011 | The Good Wife | Mr. Medina | Episode: "Two Courts" | |
| Late Show with David Letterman | Carl Hanratty | Episode: "Dr. Phil/Chris Hemsworth/Catch Me If You Can" | ||
| Blue Bloods | Detective Kramer | Episode: "Moonlighting" | ||
| The Miraculous Year | Terry Segal | Television film | ||
| 2012 | County | Billy Krakowski | Unsold pilot | |
| 2015–2017 | Bloodline | Kevin Rayburn | Main cast; 33 episodes | |
| 2016–2017 | Mercy Street | Dr. Byron Hale | Main cast; 12 episodes | |
| 2018 | Trust | Gordon Getty | 3 episodes | |
| The First | Matthew Dawes | 2 episodes | ||
| 2019 | Fosse/Verdon | Paddy Chayefsky | Miniseries | |
| Madam Secretary | Lochlainn Heeney, Jr. | 2 episodes | ||
| 2021 | Debris | Craig Maddox | Main cast | |
| 2022 | The Girl from Plainville | Conrad "Co" Roy II | 8 episodes | |
| 2023 | Justified: City Primeval | Norbert Bryl | Main cast | |
| 2024 | American Sports Story | Bill Belichick |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Rent | u/s Roger & Mark | Nederlander Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1997 | Roger Davis | |||
| 1999–2000 | Cabaret | The Emcee | US Tour | |
| 2000 | Rent | Roger Davis | Nederlander Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2000 | Juno and the Paycock | Jerry Levine | Gramercy Theatre, Off-Broadway | |
| 2001–2002 | Thou Shalt Not | Camille Raquin | Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2002 | The Last Five Years | Jamie Wellerstein | Minetta Lane Theatre, Off-Broadway | |
| Carousel | Jigger Craigin | Carnegie Hall | ||
| 2003 | Buicks | Bill Abeline | Underwood Theatre, Off-Broadway | |
| 2003–2004 | Wicked | Fiyero | Curran Theatre, San Francisco (pre-Broadway) Gershwin Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2005–2006 | Dirty Rotten Scoundrels | Freddy Benson | Imperial Theatre, Broadway US Tour | |
| 2007–2008 | Is He Dead? | Jean-François Millet | Lyceum Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2008–2009 | Speed-the-Plow | Bobby Gould | Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2008 | Fifty Words | Adam | Lucille Lortel Theatre, Off-Broadway | |
| 2010 | Enron | Jeffrey Skilling | Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2011 | Catch Me If You Can | Agent Carl Hanratty | 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle (pre-Broadway) Neil Simon Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2012 | How I Learned to Drive | Uncle Peck | Second Stage Theatre, Off-Broadway | |
| 2012–2013 | Dead Accounts | Jack | Music Box Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2013 | Big Fish | Edward Bloom | Nederlander Theatre, Chicago (pre-Broadway) Neil Simon Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2017 | The Whirligig | Michael | Pershing Square Signature Center, Off-Broadway | |
| 2018–2019 | My Fair Lady | Alfred P. Doolittle | Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2023 | Cornelia Street | Jacob | Atlantic Theater Company, Off-Broadway | |
| 2024 | Edge of the World | Henry | Classic Stage Company, Off-Broadway [27] | |
| Vladimir | Kostya | Manhattan Theatre Club, Off-Broadway |
Joel Grey is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer, and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical Cabaret on Broadway and in Bob Fosse's 1972 film adaptation. He has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award. He earned the Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2023.
Jason Robert Brown is an American musical theatre composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards for his work on Parade and The Bridges of Madison County.
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Speed-the-Plow is a 1988 play by David Mamet that is a satirical dissection of the American movie business. As stated in The Producer's Perspective, "this is a theme Mamet would revisit in his later films Wag the Dog (1997) and State and Main (2000)". As quoted in The Producer's Perspective, Jack Kroll of Newsweek described Speed-the-Plow as "another tone poem by our nation's foremost master of the language of moral epilepsy."
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Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a 2004 musical comedy, with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Jeffrey Lane; it is based on the 1988 film of the same name. The musical premiered on Broadway in 2005 and ran for 626 performances despite mixed reviews. It has since received tours and international productions. The Australian production opened in 2013 to rave reviews and was called the "best musical to hit Sydney this century" by The Sydney Morning Herald. A West End production opened in 2014 to generally warm reviews.
Michelle LinFederer is an American actress.
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival. The awards are named after Antoinette Perry, an American actress who died in 1946.
David Norman Yazbek is an American writer, musician, composer, and lyricist. He wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals The Full Monty (2000), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010), The Band's Visit (2017), Tootsie (2019), and Dead Outlaw (2025). He also consulted on the musical Buena Vista Social Club.
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Raúl Eduardo Esparza is an American actor. Considered one of Broadway's most prominent leading men since the 2000s, he is best known for his Tony Award-nominated performance as Bobby in the 2006 Broadway revival of Company and for his television role as New York Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Rafael Barba in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where he had a recurring role in Season 14 and was promoted to a series regular in Seasons 15 to 19.
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The 59th Annual Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 5, 2005 at Radio City Music Hall and broadcast by CBS television. Hugh Jackman hosted for the third time in a row.
Michael John Rupert is an American actor, singer, director and composer. In 1968, he made his Broadway debut in The Happy Time as Bibi Bonnard for which he received a Tony Award nomination and the Theater World Award. Later, he starred as the title role in Pippin for three years on Broadway starting in 1974. He originated the role of Marvin in the William Finn musicals March of the Falsettos, Falsettoland and Falsettos. In 2007, he originated the role of Professor Callahan in the Broadway cast of Legally Blonde. Rupert has been the nominee and recipient of several Tony and Drama Desk awards. He won a Tony for his performance in Sweet Charity in 1986.
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The 66th Annual Tony Awards was held on June 10, 2012, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2011–2012 season. The ceremony was held at the Beacon Theatre, and was broadcast live on CBS television.
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