Brandon Uranowitz

Brandon Uranowitz
Occupation

Brandon Uranowitz is an American stage and television actor,[1] best known for his roles as Adam Hochberg in An American in Paris and Mendel in the 2016 revival of Falsettos.

He was a 2015 Tony Nominee for his featured performance in An American in Paris, and received his second Tony Award nomination in 2017 for his featured performance in Falsettos.[2][3]

Background

Uranowitz grew up in New Jersey in a Jewish family and had a lit af Bar Mitzvah[4] in which everyone received a towel saying 'I had a splash at Brandon's Bar Mitzvah'. He graduated from New York University with a degree in theater arts from their Tisch School of the Arts. In his youth, he studied at Performers Theatre Workshop.

Career

Theater

Uranowitz trained at NYU and had roles in off-Broadway productions prior to being cast in Rent. He was part of the ensemble cast of Evita at the Papermill Playhouse, held the roles of Richard in Richard III and the King of France in All's Well That Ends Well at Classical Studio, the role of Cardinal Bellarmin in Galileo at The Skirball Center, the role of Dante in Only Children at The Abe Burrows Theatre, the role of Feste in Twelfth Night at the Kirk Theatre,[5] and the role of Eugene in Brighton Beach Memoirs / Broadway Bound at the Old Globe.[6][7]

His first major role after NYU was an ensemble member and later Mark in the national tour of Rent.[8]

In the jukebox musical Baby It's You!, Uranowitz played the role of Stanley,[9] the blind composer and son of Florence Greenberg as played by the Tony Award Winner Beth Leavel.[10][11][12] In their review of the musical, Variety made note that the "show is continually perked up by... ...Brandon Uranowitz (as a long-suffering press guy and Goldberg's blind son)."[11]

In 2014, he joined the original cast of the stage adaption of An American in Paris as composer Adam Hochberg. The show premiered in Paris at Théâtre du Châtelet in December 2014 and transferred to Broadway, opening in April 2015. He departed the show on August 7, 2016.

He also portrayed Mrs. White in the 30th Anniversary tribute performance of the classic film CLUE during this time.

Uranowitz joined the first revival of 1992 musical Falsettos, which opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre on October 27, 2016, as a limited engagement. He portrayed Mendel, a psychiatrist, opposite Christian Borle as Marvin, Andrew Rannells as Whizzer, and Stephanie J. Block as Trina. For his performance, he received a 2017 Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and a Tony Award Nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.[3]

Uranowitz was cast in Prince of Broadway, set to open on Broadway in August 2017.[13]

Television and Film

Uranowitz has had minor appearances in the television series Law & Order: CI, Inside Amy Schumer, and horror-musical film Stage Fright.

Recognition

Of Uranowitz's appearance as Feste in Twelfth Night, MusicOMH wrote "Uranowitz rocks it... ...playing the fool character with restrained glee.",[14] PlayShakespeare.com wrote, "Brandon Uranowitz’ effortless command of the language and, again, his willingness to explore his characters’ depth makes him absolutely spellbinding."[15] For his performance, Uranowitz received a PlayShakespeare.com Falstaff Award nomination for 'Best Supporting Performance, Male'.[16]

He was nominated for a Featured Actor Tony Award in 2015 for his role as Adam in An American in Paris.

His turn as Mendel in Falsettos received rave reviews. He was called "warmly funny and convincingly neurotic" as Mendel by the New York Times,[17] "wholly endearing" by Entertainment Weekly,[18] and The Hollywood Reporter said "Uranowitz is a worthy successor to the wonderful Chip Zien in the original production. He flirts with the stereotypical view of a Jewish therapist only marginally less messed-up than his patients, while also finding the truth in a compassionate man who has to convince himself of his right to be happy".[19] Vulture said that Uranowitz offered "an unusually sexy Mendel".[20]

Of Uranowitz's contribution as part of the ensemble cast in the Julius Shulman's 1998 production The Broadway Kids Sing Broadway, The New York Times wrote he "was a testament to youthful enthusiasm and lung power".[21]

Personal life

Brandon is openly gay.[22] As of July 2016, Uranowitz is in a relationship with actor Zachary Prince; they met at the audition for Baby It's You! and Prince was subsequently cast as Uranowitz's understudy.[23]

Theatre credits

Year(s) Production Location Role Notes
2009-2010 Rent National Tour Mark Cohen Replacement
2011 Baby, It's You! Broadway Stanley Greenberg, Murray Schwartz, Johnny Cymbal, Kingsman Originated role
2015-2016 An American in Paris Broadway Adam Hochberg Originated role
2016-2017 Falsettos Broadway Mendel Broadway revival
2017 Prince of Broadway Broadway TBA Originated role

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
2014 Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical An American in Paris Nominated
2015 Grammy Award Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album Nominated
2017 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Falsettos Nominated
Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical Nominated

References

  1. ↑ "Brandon Uranowitz". The New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2015 Tony Nominees
  3. 1 2 Piepenburg, Erik (2017-05-02). "Tony Awards 2017: The Full List of Nominations". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0csC-R8ERY
  5. ↑ Wilson, Gregory (January 2009). "Review, Twelfth Night". Curtain Up. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  6. ↑ Lowerison, Jean (October 7, 2010). "Old Globe double-dips with Neil Simon’s "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "Broadway Bound"". San Diego Gay & Lesbian News. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  7. ↑ Hebert, James (September 26, 2010). "Globe's 'Broadway' a brooding return to Brooklyn". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  8. ↑ Lapointe, André (January 10, 2010). "Rent : The Broadway Tour". Regard en Coulisse (in French). Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  9. ↑ Brown, Scott (Apr 27, 2011). "Black Music Gets Whitewashed Again in Baby It’s You!". New York Magazine. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  10. ↑ Winer, Linda (September 2, 2012). "review: "Baby It's You!". Newsday. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
  11. 1 2 Suskin, Steven (April 27, 2011). "review: Baby It's You!". Variety. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  12. ↑ Isherwood, Charles (April 27, 2011). "review: "Baby It's You!". New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Brandon Uranowitz, Emily Skinner, Tony Yazbeck & More to Star in Prince of Broadway". Broadway.com. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  14. ↑ Patterson, Richard (September 2, 2012). "review: Twelfth Night". musicOMH. Retrieved January 2009. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  15. ↑ Barbot, Matthew (January 15, 2009). "If Music Be the Food of Love, Rock On". PlayShakespeare.com. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Falstaff Awards for 2009". PlayShakespeare.com. Archived from the original on August 18, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  17. ↑ Isherwood, Charles (2016-10-27). "Review: ‘Falsettos,’ a Perfect Musical, an Imperfect Family". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  18. ↑ "'Falsettos': EW Stage Review". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  19. ↑ "'Falsettos': Theater Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  20. ↑ "Theater Review: Fizzing in Every Direction, Falsettos Marches Back to Broadway". Vulture. 2016-10-28. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  21. ↑ Graeber, Laurel (January 9, 1998). "Family Fare". The New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  22. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/brandon-uranowitz-tony-award-nominee_us_591f65c8e4b03b485cb19f26
  23. ↑ http://www.playbill.com/article/what-happens-when-you-have-a-crush-on-your-standby
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