Walter Willison | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 24, 1947 |
| Years active | 1968–present |
| Awards | Tony Award nomination (1971) Theatre World Award (1971) A Special William Inge Award (1987) |
Walter Willison (born June 24, 1947) is an American stage actor.
He starred on Broadway in Norman, Is That You? , Two By Two, Pippin (as Pippin), Wild and Wonderful , Grand Hotel , A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden, and as The Celebrant in Leonard Bernstein's Mass at The Kennedy Center. Willison has starred in regional productions of Carousel Carnival! , Two By Two , Oklahoma! , South Pacific , Fiddler on the Roof , On a Clear Day You Can See Forever , Your Own Thing , and as El Gallo in the First International Tour of The Fantasticks in Japan.
Willison has also performed on television, on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives and he starred in the 1976 NBC Saturday morning family sitcom, McDuff, the Talking Dog . His films include Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women , Harry and Walter Go To New York , Fantasies , and with an All Star cast of theatrical legends in Rick McKay’s (film) "Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age" (2020). He starred in The Rattlestick Theater’s streaming musical Gen Speak: Love Songs, and he is a guest star on the streaming TV series Sami starring Cindy William’s on Amazon Prime.
Willison has directed productions around the United States, from San Diego's Old Globe Theater to Off-Broadway, and in cabarets and nightclubs. He conceived and directed Grand Hotel: The 25th Anniversary Reunion Concert starring Liliane Montevecchi and members of the original Broadwat cast, at 54 Below in 2015, conceived, wrote and directed Martin Charnin's The 1977 Annie Christmas TV Special: Live in Concert costarring with Shelly Burch and members of the original Broadway and TV cast at The Cutting Room, and Grand Hotel: The 30th Anniversary Celebration in Concert , benefitting The Actors Fund, directing and costarring with Broadway cast members John Schneider and Karen Akers, and Sachi Parker in 2019. He came full circle when he conceived, directed and starred as Noah opposite Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba in “Two By Two: The 50th Anniversary Virtual Concert” benefitting The Actors Fund, a streaming production of the musical which premiered on New Year’s Day of 2021.
He received a Tony Award nomination [1] and Theatre World Award [2] for his Broadway musical debut in Richard Rodgers' and Martin Charnin's Biblical musical Two by Two . [3]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
 | This article about an American theatre actor is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Pippin is a 1972 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production, also contributed to the libretto. The musical uses the premise of a mysterious performance troupe, led by the Leading Player, to tell the story of Pippin, a young prince on his search for meaning and significance. The 'fourth wall' is broken numerous times during most traditional productions.
Grand Hotel is a musical with a book by Luther Davis, music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, and additional music and lyrics by Maury Yeston.
Timothy Britten Parker, also known as Toby Parker, is an American actor.
Martin Charnin was an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director, and lyricist of the musical Annie.
Terrence Vaughan Mann is an American theatre, film and television actor and singer. He is best known for his appearances on the Broadway stage, which include Chester Lyman in Barnum, Rum Tum Tugger in Cats, Javert in Les Misérables, The Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Chauvelin in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Charles in Pippin, Mal Beineke in The Addams Family, and The Man in the Yellow Suit in Tuck Everlasting. He has received three Tony Award nominations, an Emmy Award nomination, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.
Frances Ruffelle is an English musical theatre actress and singer. She won a Tony Award in 1987, and represented the United Kingdom in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Lonely Symphony ", finishing 10th. The song became a UK Top 30 hit.
Walter Bobbie is an American theatre director, choreographer, and occasional actor and dancer. Bobbie has directed both musicals and plays on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and was the Artistic Director of the New York City Center Encores! concert series. He directed the long-running revival of the musical Chicago.
Anthony Crivello is an American actor, experienced in stage and screen performance. He appeared in the original cast of several Broadway shows, including Les Misérables, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Golden Boy, Marie Christine, and The News. In 1993, he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance as Valentin in Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Two By Two is a Broadway musical with a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and music by Richard Rodgers.
John Rubinstein is an American actor, composer and director.
Christian Dominique Borle is an American actor and singer. He is a two-time Tony Award winner for his roles as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher and as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten!. Borle also originated the roles of Prince Herbert, et. al. in Spamalot, and Emmett in Legally Blonde on Broadway. He starred as Tom Levitt on the NBC musical-drama television series Smash, and starred as Marvin in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos.
John Doyle is a Scottish stage director of musicals and plays, as well as operas. He served as artistic director at several regional theatres in the United Kingdom, where he staged more than 200 professional productions during his career spanning over 40 years.
George M! is a Broadway musical based on the life of George M. Cohan, the biggest Broadway star of his day who was known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway." The book for the musical was written by Michael Stewart, John Pascal, and Francine Pascal. Music and lyrics were by George M. Cohan himself, with revisions for the musical by Cohan's daughter, Mary Cohan.
Liliane Montevecchi was a French-Italian actress, dancer, and singer.
Gerard Alessandrini is an American playwright, parodist, actor and theatre director best known for creating the award-winning off-Broadway musical theatre parody revue Forbidden Broadway. He is the recipient of Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, an Obie Award, four Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and two Lucille Lortel Awards, as well as the Drama League Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.
Matthew James Elwyn Thomas, also occasionally credited as Matthew Thomas, is a British actor who has made appearances in television, film, and theater. He is known for his television roles including the BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning, The Lost Prince, and the ITV drama-musical show, Britannia High. In the U.S., Thomas is best known for having played the title role in the 2013 Broadway revival of Pippin, which received a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. He was also a late addition to the U.S. national tour of Pippin in 2014. He had his Broadway debut in 2010 playing Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark directed by Julie Taymor, with music by U2's Bono and Edge.
Gilles Chiasson is an American producer, director, composer, writer and actor. While he first came to prominence as an actor, particularly in the original cast of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning RENT, Chiasson went on to work in film and television development and now focuses on theater administration and operations. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife Sherri Parker Lee and their two sons.
Jonathan Stuart Cerullo is an American director and choreographer, executive producer, and former performer. Cerullo is known for his work on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally. He has also worked in circus, film, and television.
Kyle Andrew Selig is an American actor, dancer, and singer. He is known for originating the role of Aaron Samuels in the 2018 Tony-nominated musical, Mean Girls and for playing the role of Mr. Komos in Monster High: The Movie.
Holly O’Brien is an American actress and singer. She played the role of Goldie in Tony Award Winner Martin Charnin’s World Premiere of his new production of Two by Two and performed the role of Belle multiple times in Disney’s musical Beauty and the Beast. She played Loretta in the original Off-Broadway cast of the concert revival of Love from Judy with the Obie Award winning company Musicals Tonight! in New York City.
