Jason Raize

Born Jason Raize Rothenberg in Oneonta, New York,{{cite magazine |last1=Jones |first1=Kenneth |title=Jason Raize, Broadway's Original Simba in The Lion King, Dead at 28 |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/jason-raize-broadways-original-simba-in-the-lion-king-dead-at-28-com-117851 |magazine=Playbill |access-date=November 9, 2021 |date=February 9, 2004}} he grew up in the Catskills in upstate New York and started acting as a teenager, when his stepmother enrolled him in a summer Shakespeare workshop.{{cite magazine |first=Patrick |last=Pacheco |title=Raize of Light |magazine=InTheater |date=January 23, 1998 |pages=16–19}} After moving with his father to Oneonta in high school, Raize performed in high school plays and with Oneonta's Orpheus Theatre. He moved to New York City and briefly attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.

In 1994, he dropped his given surname, "Rothenberg", and began using his middle name, "Raize," as his professional surname.

He performed at the Bucks County Playhouse in Oklahoma! (as Jess/Dream Curly),{{cite web |title=1994 |website=Bucks County Playhouse website |url=http://buckscountyplayhouse.com/bucks-playhouse/1994.php |access-date=October 2, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030151254/http://buckscountyplayhouse.com/bucks-playhouse/1994.php |archive-date=2010-10-30}} The King and I (as Lun Tha),{{cite news |first=John |last=Flautz |title='King And I' Rules Beautifully At Bucks County Playhouse |work=The Morning Call |date=July 30, 1994 |url=https://www.mcall.com/1994/07/30/king-and-i-rules-beautifully-at-bucks-county-playhouse/ |access-date=September 17, 2011}} Phantom (in the title role), and The Rocky Horror Show (as Rocky).TalkCity.com chat with Jason Raize, June 1, 1998.{{full citation needed|date=April 2024}} His other regional credits include Gypsy: A Musical Fable, The Sound of Music and West Side Story.{{cite web |title=Workshops |website=Orpheus Theatre |url=http://www.orpheustheatre.org/workshops.html |access-date=September 17, 2011}}

At the age of 19, Raize succeeded Dennis DeYoung of Styx in the national tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, starring Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson.Stagebill for The Lion King, 1997, and program for Jesus Christ Superstar, 1995-1996. Next, he toured with Miss Saigon, and had been cast as a swing in a national tour of The King and I starring Hayley Mills when he decided to audition for Julie Taymor's upcoming Broadway production of The Lion King (1997).

Winning the role of "Simba" in The Lion King{{`}}s original Broadway cast, Raize became part of one of the biggest Broadway hits of the 1990s. During his three years with The Lion King, Raize performed "Endless Night" and "He Lives in You" on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" on Good Morning America.{{cite web |title=raizeresource |url=https://www.youtube.com/user/raizeresource |access-date=September 17, 2011 |website=YouTube}} He was also featured twice on the cover of InTheater magazine.{{cite magazine |first=Kathy |last=Henderson |title=Long Live the Kings |magazine=InTheater |date=February 8, 1999 |pages=18–21}}

In September 1998, Raize appeared on The Paul Simon Album: Broadway Sings the Best of Paul Simon singing Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence". The album also featured Christiane Noll, Jose Llana, Lauren Kennedy, Jane Krakowski, and Sal Viviano.{{cite magazine |last1=Lefkowitz |first1=David |title=Broadway Sings a Song of (Paul) Simon, Via Varese, Sept. 8 |url=https://www.playbill.com/article/broadway-sings-a-song-of-paul-simon-via-varese-sept-8-com-76479 |magazine=Playbill |access-date=November 9, 2021 |date=July 15, 1998}}

In May 1999, Raize co-produced a benefit for refugees from Kosovo at the Kit Kat Klub.{{cite news |first=Jeannie |last=Williams |title=Stars Stand Up to be Counted for Kosovo |newspaper=USA Today |date=May 5, 1999}} In October 1999, the United Nations Environment Programme appointed Raize a Goodwill Ambassador "for his commitment and dedication to furthering the cause of the environment through the use of his creative talents to inspire respect for our natural heritage and to promote the conservation and sustainable use of the earth's resources."{{cite press release |title=Companies to be Honored with Inaugural WILD Awards for Responsible Use of Wildlife in Advertising / UNEP to Name Lion King's Simba, Actor/Recording Artist Jason Raize, as Goodwill Ambassador |publisher=United Nations Environment Programme |date=October 22, 1999}} In November 1999, he narrated the National Geographic nature documentary series Wild Africa: The Land of the Lion.

Raize signed a deal with Universal Records{{cite news |first=Rafer |last=Guzman |title=New Record Label Aims to Put Miami On the Pop Charts |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=October 14, 1998}} and released two singles ("Taste the Tears" and "You Win Again"{{cite magazine |first=Chuck |last=Taylor |title=New & Noteworthy: Jason Raize: You Win Again |magazine=Billboard |date=August 5, 2000}}), both produced by Desmond Child who had recently produced Ricky Martin's hit "Livin' la Vida Loca."{{cite magazine |first=Carla |last=Hay |title=Desmond Pacts with Universal |magazine=Billboard |date=October 24, 1998}} In mid-2000, Raize and Jessica Simpson starred in a Disney Channel special called Jessica Simpson and Jason Raize in Concert.{{cite magazine |title=Close-up: Music: Jessica Simpson and Jason Raize in Concert |magazine=TV Guide |date=June 24, 2000}} The concert was filmed in Disneyland and featured Raize's songs "I Can Make it Without You," "You Win Again," "Lovin' You Lovin' Me," "Run Away Girl," and "NYC." His debut CD on Universal was titled NYC,ZoogDisney chat with Jason Raize, July 10, 2000.{{full citation needed|date=April 2024}} but it was not officially released.

Raize returned to the New York theater scene in January 2001 for a concert performance of Carmen Jones.{{cite magazine |title=Bizet and Hammerstein's Carmen Jones Seduces at NYC's York Jan. 26-28 |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/bizet-and-hammersteins-carmen-jones-seduces-at-nycs-york-jan-26-28-com-94560 |magazine=Playbill |access-date=November 9, 2021 |date=January 26, 2001}} He starred in the made-for-TV-movie The Kitchen which premiered on PBS in June 2001.{{cite web |title=The Kitchen |website=Independent Television Service |url=http://www.itvs.org/thekitchen/ |access-date=September 8, 2011}}{{cite magazine |first=John |last=Leonard |title=Urban Legends |magazine=New York |date=June 18, 2001 |url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/tv/reviews/4807/ |access-date=September 8, 2011}} Later, he starred in Keeping it Wild with Jason Raize, premiered as a nationally syndicated program in which he visited exotic locations, such as Africa, Costa Rica and Australia to learn about animals in their natural habitats.{{cite web |title='Keeping It Wild With Jason Raize' episode guide |website=AOL Television }} The show was produced by Sue Ann Taylor of Blue Heron Films.{{cite news |first=Donna |last=Harris |title=Making Movie Magic: Local Filmmakers Produce Package as Part of PAX TV Programming Block |work=Cherokee Tribune |date=March 26, 2004}}

He also voiced Denahi in the 2003 Disney animated feature Brother Bear before his death.{{cite news |first=Sheila |last=Norman-Culp |title=Disney Scores with the Entire Family in latest animation, 'Brother Bear' |agency=Associated Press |work=Southern Illinoisan |date=October 30, 2003}}

In 2003, Raize moved to Australia without his family's knowledge to rethink his career path. Sarah MacArthur, his mother, said "[Jason] needed to step back and catch his breath. I don't think he had figured it out yet [what to do next]". He worked as a general hand at a stud farm in Yass, New South Wales called Hardwicke Stud, owned by Olympic gold medalist Lawrence Morgan. This was also a place where he had friends whom he met while filming there in 2001.{{cite news |last1=Sutton |first1=Candace |last2=Sutton Sams |first2=Chris |date=February 15, 2004 |url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/14/1076548275532.html?from=storyrhs |title=Mystery over stage star's death in bush |work=The Sun-Herald}}

Raize was last seen alive at 10:30 am on February 2, 2004. A missing person's report was filed the following day, as his absence had made his friends increasingly concerned. Raize's body was found at 11:15 am on February 7. He had hanged himself in a shed on the property.

A public memorial service for Raize was held on April 8, 2004, at Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre, where Raize had performed as Simba for almost three years. The service included speeches by Raize's sister, Lisa, and Disney Theatrical's Thomas Schumacher, a performance by Raize's former The Lion King co-star Heather Headley, a slide show and home movies from his younger days, clips of Raize performing in The Lion King, and a montage from his Keeping it Wild television series. The service ended with a traditional South African celebration of passing into the next world led by cast members of The Lion King."In Tribute: Jason Raize," memorial program, April 8, 2004. The Orpheus Theatre in Oneonta issued two annual Jason Rothenberg Raize Scholarships which underwrite tuition to the theater's summer music theater workshops for youths with financial need.

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• [http://www.jasonraize.net The Raize Resource]: web resource about the life and career of Jason Raize
• {{IMDb name|0707262}}
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Category:1975 births

Category:2004 deaths

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male musical theatre actors

Category:American male stage actors

Category:People from Oneonta, New York

Category:American expatriates in Australia

Category:Suicides by hanging in New South Wales

Category:20th-century American singers

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:20th-century American male singers

Category:2004 suicides

Category:American Musical and Dramatic Academy alumni