John O'May

O'May was born at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, one of four children. He grew up with a love of reading and literature. At university he dabbled in theatre, learning acting, stagecraft and building sets. He became a teacher at Patapsco High School, where he himself had attended high school. He taught English literature for two and a half years. He eventually travelled overseas, and after visiting his sister in Australia and ended up staying.{{Cite web|url=http://www.reviewproperty.com.au/Local-News/407017/PROFILE--John-O'May-%7C-Confessions-of-a-working-actor/?mode=buy|title=Profile: John O'May {{!}} Confessions of a working actor|last=Harris|first=Sarah|date=|website=Weekly Review|access-date=2017-09-22}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.stagewhispers.com.au/news/maintaining-passion|title=Maintaining The Passion|last=Drouyn|first=Coral|date=n.d.|website=stagewhispers.com.au (2014)|access-date=30 March 2019}}https://issuu.com/anglesea_community_house/docs/newsangle_issue_146_final/s/12600621

In 1972, O'May auditioned for the role of Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind. He took singing lessons and found an agent. In 1973, he was offered an audition and role in Godspell, replacing John Waters as Judas. He created and performed in the revues Gershwin (with John Diedrich) in 1975 and The 20s and All That Jazz (with Diedrich and Caroline Gilmer) in 1977.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110871037|title=Do-it-yourself musical has had packed houses|date=11 October 1977|newspaper=The Canberra Times|accessdate=23 September 2017|issue=14,903|volume=52|page=13|via=National Library of Australia}}

O'May played Che Guevara in the original Australian cast of Evita which opened in Adelaide in April 1980.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137017190 |title='Wonder boy' Jim Sharman for 1982 Adelaide Festival |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=55|issue=16,220|date=22 February 1980 |accessdate=23 September 2017 |page=17 |via=National Library of Australia}} In the 1980s he was a regular performer with the Melbourne Theatre Company, and played Bobby in Company for the Sydney Theatre Company in 1986 and Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore for the Victoria State Opera in 1987.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/948|title=John O'May|last=|first=|date=|website=ausstage.edu.au|access-date=2017-09-22}}

He directed and starred in the musical Seven Little Australians in 1988.{{cite news|last=Radic|first=Leonard|date=24 June 1988|title=The winning ways of little Australians|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AzopAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9JYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2301%2C1978397|newspaper=The Age|location=Melbourne|access-date=1 March 2016}}

O'May played Monsieur André in the original Australian cast of The Phantom of the Opera which opened at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne in December 1990. He later performed each of the two manager characters in various productions over the subsequent decades.

Other notable roles include Marvin in Falsettos in 1994 for the Sydney Theatre Company, Nick Arnstein in Funny Girl in 1999, John Wilkes Booth in Assassins in 1995, and Fredrik Egerman in A Little Night Music in 1997, both for the Melbourne Theatre Company. For the latter, he received a Green Room Award for male artist in a leading role. In 2014 he appeared as Doctor Tambourri in Sondheim's Passion. In 2022, he portrayed the Mysterious Man and Cinderella’s Father in Into the Woods in North Melbourne, Australia.[https://simonparrismaninchair.com/2022/01/21/watch-this-into-the-woods-review/ Watch This: Into The Woods review]

Film credits include supporting roles in the films Starstruck and Rebel and the television opera The Divorce (2015).[https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/the-divorce-is-a-comedic-opera-and-unlike-anything-else-on-australian-tv-20151125-gl7ujj.html "The Divorce is a comedic opera, and unlike anything else on Australian TV"] by Paul Kalina, The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 November 2015 In 2000, O’May guest-starred in season 2, episode 11, "Sponsorship and Media Discontent", of the ABC mockumentary, The Games.

https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/948

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|nm0641832|John O'May}}
• [https://markgogoll.com/artists/john-omay/ Profile], markgogoll.com

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Category:20th-century Australian male actors

Category:21st-century Australian male actors

Category:Australian male stage actors

Category:Australian male film actors

Category:Australian male television actors

Category:Australian male musical theatre actors

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Male actors from Baltimore