Brian Stokes Mitchell (born October , ) is an American actor and
singer. A powerful baritone, he has been one of the central leading
men of the Broadway theatre since the s. He won the Tony Award for
Best Actor in a Musical in for his performance in Kiss Me,
Kate.Mitchell was born in Seattle, Washington, the youngest of four
children of George Mitchell, an electronics engineer, and his wife
Lillian, a school administrator. Mitchell grew up at various U.S.
military bases overseas, where his father was a civilian engineer for
the U.S. Navy. As a young boy, he lived in San Diego, California,
where he began acting in school musicals. He did not attend college,
having begun performing professionally in high school, although he did
have private teachers in both acting and voice in his teen years. He
has said that he studied film scoring, orchestration, and conducting
through UCLA. Prior to Ragtime, he was known professionally as Brian
Mitchell.Mitchell first performed on Broadway in the musical Mail in ,
with music by Michael Rupert and lyrics by Jerry Cocker, winning the
Theatre World award. His Broadway credits include an all-black revival
of George and Ira Gershwin's Oh, Kay! (), Jelly's Last Jam () based on
the works of jazz artist Jelly Roll Morton, and Kander and Ebb's Kiss
of the Spider Woman ().He originated the role of Coalhouse Walker Jr,
in the musical Ragtime, which opened on Broadway in January . He
received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He
appeared in the revival of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate as Fred Graham
/ Petruchio, winning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He
appeared on Broadway in King Hedley II in (Tony Award nomination) and
Man of La Mancha in (Tony Award nomination).
singer. A powerful baritone, he has been one of the central leading
men of the Broadway theatre since the s. He won the Tony Award for
Best Actor in a Musical in for his performance in Kiss Me,
Kate.Mitchell was born in Seattle, Washington, the youngest of four
children of George Mitchell, an electronics engineer, and his wife
Lillian, a school administrator. Mitchell grew up at various U.S.
military bases overseas, where his father was a civilian engineer for
the U.S. Navy. As a young boy, he lived in San Diego, California,
where he began acting in school musicals. He did not attend college,
having begun performing professionally in high school, although he did
have private teachers in both acting and voice in his teen years. He
has said that he studied film scoring, orchestration, and conducting
through UCLA. Prior to Ragtime, he was known professionally as Brian
Mitchell.Mitchell first performed on Broadway in the musical Mail in ,
with music by Michael Rupert and lyrics by Jerry Cocker, winning the
Theatre World award. His Broadway credits include an all-black revival
of George and Ira Gershwin's Oh, Kay! (), Jelly's Last Jam () based on
the works of jazz artist Jelly Roll Morton, and Kander and Ebb's Kiss
of the Spider Woman ().He originated the role of Coalhouse Walker Jr,
in the musical Ragtime, which opened on Broadway in January . He
received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He
appeared in the revival of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate as Fred Graham
/ Petruchio, winning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He
appeared on Broadway in King Hedley II in (Tony Award nomination) and
Man of La Mancha in (Tony Award nomination).
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