Brandon Uranowitz
{{short description|American stage and television actor (born 1986)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Brandon Uranowitz.jpg
| caption = Uranowitz at the 2023 Tony Awards
| birth_name = Brandon Jacob Uranowitz
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1986|7|9}}
| birth_place = Livingston, New Jersey, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = New York University (BFA)
| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|dancer|singer}}
| years_active = 2009–present
| partner = Zachary Prince (2011–present)
}}
Brandon Jacob Uranowitz (born July 9, 1986) is an American actor.{{cite news| title=Brandon Uranowitz| url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/1659533/Brandon-Uranowitz| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130135646/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/1659533/Brandon-Uranowitz| url-status=dead| archive-date=January 30, 2013| department=Movies & TV Dept.| newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=September 2, 2012}} He is known for his roles as Adam Hochberg in the musical An American in Paris (2014–15) and Mendel Weisenbachfeld in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos, both of which earned him nominations for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play nomination for Burn This (2019) and won the award for Leopoldstadt (2022–23).{{cite news| title=Tony Awards 2015: Complete list of winners and nominees| url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-tony-award-nominations-list-20150427-story.html| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| access-date=May 28, 2023| url-access=subscription}}{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/theater/tony-awards-nominations-list.html| title=Tony Awards 2017: The Full List of Nominations| last=Piepenburg| first=Erik| date=May 2, 2017| newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=May 2, 2017| issn=0362-4331| url-access=subscription}} His other Broadway credits include Baby, It's You! (2011), Prince of Broadway (2017), and The Band's Visit (2018).
Early life
Uranowitz grew up in West Orange, New Jersey and attended the nearby Montclair Kimberley Academy.{{cite news| title=Growing Into His Jewish Roles| url=https://www.jta.org/2016/10/19/ny/growing-into-his-jewish-roles| first=Ted| last=Merwyn| access-date=May 28, 2023| newspaper=The Jewish Week| publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency| date=October 19, 2016| language=en-US}} He is from a Jewish family and had a Bar Mitzvah.{{cite web| title=LiveatFive with Brandon Uranowitz| website=Broadway.com| date=June 8, 2017| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAFMK6cyJ1Y| quote=at 11:20 and 12:55}}
He began performing at age six and studied at Performers Theatre Workshop.{{cite web|title=Hall of Fame|url=https://ptwonline.com/hall-of-fame/|access-date=July 27, 2021|website=Performers Theatre Workshop|language=en}} In the mid-1990s, he was a working child actor; professional roles included an ensemble member in Evita at the Paper Mill Playhouse (1996) and a swing in A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden. In 1997, he assumed the role of Little Boy in the world premiere of Ragtime in Toronto. He was also member of The Broadway Kids, a musical revue and recording project; he performed live off-Broadway and appears on the 1998 album The Broadway Kids Back on Broadway.{{cite news| last=McGrath| first=Sean| date=October 30, 1998| title=Broadway Kids Return to Off-Broadway's Fairbanks Theatre, Oct. 31| url=http://www.playbill.com/article/broadway-kids-return-to-off-broadways-fairbanks-theatre-oct-31-com-78136| url-status=live| access-date=July 27, 2021 |magazine=Playbill| language=en| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118075209/https://www.playbill.com/article/broadway-kids-return-to-off-broadways-fairbanks-theatre-oct-31-com-78136| archive-date=January 18, 2021| df=mdy-all}}{{cite web| title=Back on Broadway - The Broadway Kids| website=AllMusic| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/back-on-broadway-mw0000043124/credits| language=en| access-date=July 27, 2021}} Of Uranowitz's contribution as part of the ensemble cast, The New York Times wrote he "was a testament to youthful enthusiasm and lung power".{{cite news| last=Graeber| first=Laurel| date=January 9, 1998| title=Family Fare| newspaper=The New York Times| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/09/arts/family-fare.html| access-date=September 2, 2012| url-access=subscription}}
He attended New York University and graduated in 2008 with a degree in theater arts from their Tisch School of the Arts.{{cite web| title=Tisch Alumni on Playbill's Big 10 on Broadway| url=https://tisch.nyu.edu/alumni/alumni-news/tisch-playbill-broadway| access-date=July 27, 2021| website=NYU: Tisch School| language=en| df=mdy-all}}
Career
=2006–2013: Early career and Broadway debut=
Uranowitz resumed his acting career while training at NYU; early on, he held the roles of Richard in Richard III and the King of France in All's Well That Ends Well at Classical Studio, Cardinal Bellarmin in Galileo at The Skirball Center (2007), and Dante in Only Children at The Abe Burrows Theatre.
Following graduation, he played the role of Feste in Twelfth Night at the Kirk Theatre off-Broadway (2009){{cite news| last=Wilson| first=Gregory| title=Review, Twelfth Night| url=http://www.curtainup.com/12nightrockband.html| access-date=September 2, 2012| newspaper=Curtain Up| date=January 2009}} and the role of Eugene in Brighton Beach Memoirs / Broadway Bound in 2010 at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.{{cite news| last=Lowerison| first=Jean| title=Old Globe double-dips with Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "Broadway Bound"| url=http://sdgln.com/entertainment/2010/10/07/theater-reviews-old-globe-double-dips-neil-simon-s-brighton-beach-memoirs-a| access-date=September 2, 2012| newspaper=San Diego Gay & Lesbian News| date=October 7, 2010}}{{cite news| last=Hebert| first=James| title=Globe's 'Broadway' a brooding return to Brooklyn| url=http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2010/sep/26/play-review-globes-broadway-a-brooding-return/| access-date=September 2, 2012| newspaper=The San Diego Union-Tribune| date=September 26, 2010}} Of Uranowitz's appearance as Feste in Twelfth Night, MusicOMH wrote "Uranowitz rocks it... ...playing the fool character with restrained glee,"{{cite web| last=Patterson| first=Richard| date=September 2, 2012| title=review: Twelfth Night|url=http://www.musicomh.com/theatre/nyc_twelfth_0109.htm| access-date=January 1, 2009| newspaper=musicOMH}} PlayShakespeare.com wrote, "Brandon Uranowitz' effortless command of the language and, again, his willingness to explore his characters' depth makes him absolutely spellbinding."{{cite web| last=Barbot| first=Matthew| date=January 15, 2009| title=If Music Be the Food of Love, Rock On| url=http://www.playshakespeare.com/twelfth-night/409-theatre-reviews/3726-If-music-be-the-food-of-love-rock-on| access-date=September 2, 2012| website=PlayShakespeare.com}} For his performance, Uranowitz received a PlayShakespeare.com Falstaff Award nomination for Best Supporting Performance, Male.{{cite web|title=Falstaff Awards for 2009|url=http://www.playshakespeare.com/reviews/past-falstaff-award-winners/4786-falstaff-awards-2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818083220/http://www.playshakespeare.com/reviews/past-falstaff-award-winners/4786-falstaff-awards-2009| archive-date=August 18, 2011| access-date=September 2, 2012| website=PlayShakespeare.com}}
His first role in a major production was as an ensemble member and understudy of Mark in the national tour of Rent.{{cite news| url=http://www.regardencoulisse.com/rent-the-broadway-tour/| title=Rent: The Broadway Tour| last=Lapointe| first=André| date=January 10, 2010| newspaper=Regard en Coulisse| language=French| access-date=September 2, 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430085001/http://www.regardencoulisse.com/rent-the-broadway-tour/| archive-date=April 30, 2019| url-status=dead}} Uranowitz made his Broadway debut in the 2011 jukebox musical Baby It's You!. He played the role of Stanley,{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Scott |title=Black Music Gets Whitewashed Again in Baby It's You! |url=https://www.vulture.com/2011/04/theater_review_black_music_get.html |access-date=September 2, 2012 |magazine=New York |date=April 27, 2011}} the blind composer and son of Florence Greenberg as played by Beth Leavel.{{cite news |last=Winer |first=Linda |title=review: "Baby It's You! |url=http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/theater/baby-it-s-just-another-jukebox-musical-1.2840373 |access-date=April 27, 2011 |newspaper=Newsday |location=Melville, NY |date=September 2, 2012}}{{cite news |last=Isherwood |first=Charles |title=review: "Baby It's You! |url=http://theater.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/theater/reviews/baby-its-you-story-of-the-shirelles-review.html?_r=0&pagewanted=2 |access-date=September 2, 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 27, 2011| url-access=subscription}} In their review of the musical, Variety noted that the "show is continually perked up by... ...Brandon Uranowitz (as a long-suffering press guy and Goldberg's blind son)."{{cite news |last=Suskin |first=Steven |title=review: Baby It's You! |url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117945106 |access-date=September 2, 2012 |magazine=Variety |date=April 27, 2011}}
In 2013, he was cast in Michael Kahn's Washington, D.C. production of Torch Song Trilogy. He starred as Arnold in the four-hour unabridged version of the play and was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Resident Play.{{cite web |last=Markowitz |first=Joel |date=April 21, 2014 |title=Here are the 2014 Helen Hayes Awards Recipients |url=https://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2014/04/21/2014-helen-hayes-awards-recipients/ |access-date=July 27, 2021 |website=DC Metro Theater Arts |language=en-US}}
During this time, Uranowitz has had minor appearances in the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, As the World Turns, and Inside Amy Schumer.
= 2014–present: Breakthrough and acclaim =
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. The show was Uranowitz's breakthrough performance and netted him his first Tony Award nomination. He also portrayed Mrs. White in the 30th Anniversary one time tribute performance of the classic film Clue in December 2015.Clement, Olivia (December 7, 2015). [http://www.playbill.com/article/michael-urie-and-brandon-uranowitz-headline-celebrity-performance-of-clue-com-374451# "Michael Urie and Brandon Uranowitz Headline Celebrity Performance of Clue"]. Playbill.
Uranowitz joined the first revival of 1992 musical Falsettos, which opened on Broadway 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. His turn as Mendel in Falsettos received rave reviews. He was called "warmly funny and convincingly neurotic" as Mendel by The New York Times,{{cite news |last=Isherwood |first=Charles |date=October 27, 2016 |title=Review: 'Falsettos,' a Perfect Musical, an Imperfect Family |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/28/theater/falsettos-review.html |access-date=December 20, 2016 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription}} "wholly endearing" by Entertainment Weekly,{{cite news |last=Bernardo |first=Melissa Rose |title='Falsettos': EW Stage Review |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |url=https://www.ew.com/article/2016/10/27/falsettos-ew-stage-review |access-date=December 20, 2016}} 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".{{cite news |last=Rooney |first=David |title='Falsettos': Theater Review |newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/falsettos-review-941715 |access-date=December 20, 2016}} Vulture said that Uranowitz offered "an unusually sexy Mendel".{{cite news |last=Green |first=Jesse |date=October 28, 2016 |title=Theater Review: Fizzing in Every Direction, Falsettos Marches Back to Broadway |website=Vulture |url=https://www.vulture.com/2016/10/theater-review-falsettos.html |access-date=December 20, 2016}}
Uranowitz appeared in the revue Prince of Broadway, which opened on Broadway in August 2017 and closed in October 2017. The revue featured the work of the director and producer Harold Prince.{{cite news |last=Lefkowitz |first=Andy |url=http://www.broadway.com/buzz/188173/brandon-uranowitz-emily-skinner-tony-yazbeck-more-to-star-in-prince-of-broadway/ |title=Brandon Uranowitz, Emily Skinner, Tony Yazbeck & More to Star in Prince of Broadway |date=April 6, 2017 |work=Broadway.com |access-date=May 2, 2017 |language=en}}
{{Cite news|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/prince-of-broadway-extends-limited-engagement# |title=Prince of Broadway Extends Limited Engagement |last=McPhee |first=Ryan |date=September 19, 2017 |work=Playbill |access-date=December 8, 2017}} Beginning in October 2018, he performed for four months in The Band's Visit on Broadway, replacing John Cariani. He subsequently played Larry in a limited run of Burn This on Broadway, opposite Adam Driver and Keri Russell. For his role, Uranowitz received nominations for the Drama Desk Award and Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.
In fall 2019, it was announced that he would star in a limited-run off-Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins at the Classic Stage Company in spring 2020.{{cite web |last=Musbach |first=Julie |title=Steven Pasquale, Will Swenson, Brandon Uranowitz, Judy Kuhn & Wesley Taylor Will Star in CSC's ASSASSINS |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Steven-Pasquale-Will-Swenson-Brandon-Uranowitz-and-More-Join-CSCs-ASSASSINS-20190924 |access-date=July 27, 2021 |date=September 24, 2019 |website=BroadwayWorld.com |language=en}} The production was postponed to late 2021 due to the global pandemic. In 2020, he took part in the amfAR COVID-19 relief benefit The Great Work Begins, a live streamed event featuring scenes from Angels in America. He performed in the role of Louis Ironson.{{cite web |title=The Great Work Begins |url=https://www.thegreatworkbegins.org/ |access-date=July 27, 2021 |website=The Great Work Begins |language=en-US}} In 2022, he appeared in the Broadway run of the Tom Stoppard play Leopoldstadt, for which he won a Tony Award.
From January to February 2024, Uranowitz starred as Jon in Tick, Tick... Boom! at the Kennedy Center directed by Neil Patrick Harris.{{cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Margaret |title=Brandon Uranowitz, Denée Benton, Grey Henson to Star in Kennedy Center Tick, Tick...BOOM! |url=https://playbill.com/article/brandon-uranowitz-denee-benton-grey-henson-to-star-in-kennedy-center-tick-tick-boom |website=Playbill |access-date=18 February 2025}} In November of that same year, he starred as Tateh in New York City Center's Encores! production of Ragtime opposite Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy and Colin Donnell.Green, Jesse [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/31/theater/ragtime-review-city-center.html Review: A Vocally Splendid 'Ragtime' Raises the Roof] New York Times, October 31, 2024
Some of his screen acting credits during this time include a three episode arc in 2018 on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as Buzz Goldberg, a Catskills activities director, and the 2021 Billy Crystal feature film Here Today.
Personal life
Uranowitz is gay.Wong, Curtis (June 5, 2017). [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/brandon-uranowitz-tony-award-nominee_us_591f65c8e4b03b485cb19f26 "This Tony Nominee Doesn't Want Praise For Playing A Straight Guy"]. HuffPost. As of 2011, he 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.Spaner, Whitney (July 10, 2016). [http://www.playbill.com/article/what-happens-when-you-have-a-crush-on-your-standby "What Happens When You Have a Crush on Your Standby?"]. Playbill.
Acting credits
= Theatre =
Selected credits
| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%"
!Year(s) !Title !Role !Theatre ! Director(s) ! {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}} |
| 1997
| Ragtime | Little Boy {{small|(replacement)}} | Ford Centre for the Performing Arts | {{small|Frank Galati}} | |
| 2009
| Feste | Wild Project | {{small|Stephen Stout}} |
| 2009–2010
| Rent | Mark Cohen {{small|(u/s)}} | U.S National Tour | {{small|Michael Greif}} | {{center|}} |
| 2010
|Eugene Jerome |Scott Schwartz | |
| 2011
| Stanley Greenberg, Murray Schwartz, Johnny Cymbal, Kingsman | {{small|Sheldon Epps}} |
| 2013
| Arnold | |
| 2014–2015
| rowspan="2" | An American in Paris | rowspan="2" | Adam Hochberg | rowspan="2" | {{small|Christopher Wheeldon}} |
| 2015–2016 |
| 2016–2017
| Dr. Mendel | {{small|James Lapine}} |
| rowspan=2|2017
| Various roles | {{small| Harold Prince and Susan Stroman}} | {{center|}} |
| Man of La Mancha
| Sancho Panza / Cervantes' Manservant | {{small|Jack Cummings III}} |
| rowspan=2|2018
| Otto Kringelein | {{small|Joshua Rhodes}} |
| The Band's Visit
| Itzik {{small|(replacement)}} | {{small|David Cromer}} |
| rowspan=2|2019
| Larry | {{small|Michael Mayer}} |
| Road Show
| {{small|Will Davis}} |
| 2021–2022
| {{small|John Doyle}} |
| 2022–2023
| Ludwig Jakobovicz, Nathan Fischbein | {{small|Patrick Marber}} |
| rowspan=3 | 2024
| Jon | {{small|Neil Patrick Harris}} |
| Titanic
|rowspan=2|New York City Center | {{small|Anne Kauffman}} |
| Ragtime
| Tateh | {{small|Lear deBessonet}} |
| rowspan=2|2025
| Becoming Eve | Jonah | Tyne Rafaeli | |
| Ragtime
| Tateh | {{small|Lear deBessonet}} |
== Readings ==
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Theatre ! Notes ! {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}} |
|---|
| 2015
| Clue | Mrs. White | The Players | 30th Anniversary tribute | |
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}} |
|---|
| 2014
| Artie Getz | {{center|{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3492747/ |title=Brandon Uranowitz |publisher=IMDb}}}} |
| 2018
| Goodbye, Brooklyn | Nicolas | {{center|}} |
| 2019
| Shmuli Chudakoff | {{center|}} |
| 2021
| Justin | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes ! {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}} |
|---|
| 2009
| Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Dovid | Episode: "Rock Star" | {{center|}} |
| TBD
| Day Player | Uncredited |
| 2013
| Generations Instructor | Episode: "Real Sext" | {{center|}} |
| TBD
| U 5 | Uncredited | {{center|}} |
| rowspan=2| 2017
|Falsettos: Live from Lincoln Center | Mendel | Filmed stage production | {{center|}} |
| Blue Bloods
| Michael Goldman | Episode: "Pick Your Poison" | {{center|}} |
| 2018
| Pablo | Episode: "F... This" | {{center|}} |
| 2018–2022
| Buzz Goldberg | 4 episodes | {{center|}} |
| 2019
| Episode: "All I Care About Is Love" |
Discography
= Cast recordings =
- 2011: Baby It's You! (Original Cast Recording); featured on 2 tracks
- 2015: An American in Paris (Original Broadway Cast Recording); featured on 6 tracks
- 2016: Falsettos (2016 Broadway Cast Recording); featured on 14 tracks
- 2018: Prince of Broadway (Original Broadway Cast Recording); featured on 3 tracks
- 2022: Assassins (Studio Cast Recording); featured on 5 tracks
- 2022: The Violet Hour (The 2022 Off-Broadway Cast Recording); featured on 8 tracks
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination |
| scope="col" | Award
! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Category ! scope="col" | Nominated work ! scope="col" | Result |
|---|
| scope="row" rowspan="3" | Drama Desk Award
|2017 | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | {{nom}} |
| 2019
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | {{nom}} |
| 2023
|Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play | {{won}} |
| scope="row" | Falstaff Award
|2009 | Best Supporting Performance, Male{{cite web |title=Falstaff Awards 2009 |url=https://www.playshakespeare.com/falstaff-awards/falstaff-awards-2009 |access-date=July 27, 2021 |website=Playshakespeare.com |language=en-gb}} | {{nominated}} |
| scope="row" | Grammy Awards
|2016 | {{nominated}} |
| scope="row" | Helen Hayes Award
| 2014 | Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play | {{nominated}} |
| scope="row" |Outer Critics Circle Award
|2023 |Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play | {{won}} |
| scope="row" rowspan="4" | Tony Awards
|2015 | rowspan="2" | Best Featured Actor in a Musical | {{nominated}} |
| 2017
| {{nom}} |
| 2019
| rowspan="2" | Best Featured Actor in a Play | {{nom}} |
| 2023
| {{won}} |
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|3492747}}
- {{IBDB name|489617}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Brandon Uranowitz
|list =
{{DramaDesk PlayFeaturedPerformance}}
{{TonyAward PlayFeaturedActor}}
}}
{{authority control}}
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Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:Actors from West Orange, New Jersey
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male musical theatre actors
Category:American male stage actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:Jewish American male actors
Category:Male actors from Livingston, New Jersey
Category:Montclair Kimberley Academy alumni