Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Jason Danieley: Over & Over


'The most exquisite tenor on Broadway'
The New York Times

Above: Jason as Enoch along with Jessie Mueller as Carrie in Carousel (2013)

Having spent more than few years in musical theatre myself, I know the sweat, work and rehearsal time required to get a show ready for an audience. When done right, the results have audiences wanting to repeat the experience over and over. Although I was not really that familiar with the music or story from Carousel. given it came from Rodgers & Hammerstein, I decided to DVR the Lincoln Center production that aired on PBS last month.


Watching the show did not have me love it. I am quite confident I will, but I think it is a show, a score, that requires multiple viewings, and listening, to truly appreciate. What I did fall in love with instantly, was actor and singer Jason Danieley who portrays Enoch Snow in the production. Jason had my attention from the second he swaggered on stage with that body, that hair and a twinkle in his eye. I was hooked, once he started to sing, it was done. Although I have not watched the show again, I have watched, and listened to Jason singing, When the Children Are Asleep over and over and over. Listening to Jason's sweet tenor voice is like having a soothing musical massage, it drains my stress almost instantly and takes me to a safe and beautiful place. Although it doesn't always last, I can go back anytime to get my fix.


Jason has been a fixture on stages, off and on Broadway for over two decades. After studying classical voice training at the University of Missouri and Southern Illinois University, Danieley left without graduating and at the age of 25 and made his Broadway debut in the Harold Prince-directed revival of Candide. Roles on and off Broadway followed and after researching Danieley's career is is hard to find a musical of note he was not apart of on stage or in concert. Married to actress Marin Mazzie, husband and wife appeared as husband and wife together on Broadway in 2010 in one of my favorite shows. (and soundtracks) Next To Normal.

Below:
Jason honored with a caricature at Sardi's, November 5, 2010

I had thought after watching Carousel that I was being introduced to Jason for the first time. In doing my research however, one of the links actually took me to my own blog. One of Jason's early Broadway roles was in the original cast of The Full Monty and back in 2008, I did a small piece on Patrick Wilson which featured images of Patrick, and Jason from the show. Although since this is FH, I included some below, but you can also check out the 2008 post HERE: which also includes the video for the shows Tony Performance.

Jason Danieley and The Frontier Heroes is an eclectic Back-porch Americana band based in New York City.

New York City? Sure, and what’s more eclectic than seven musicians of various backgrounds playing a musical Jambalaya that encompasses Blues, Country, Folk, Jazz, Standards, Old Time and even some Broadway.

Curtains (Mar 22, 2007 - Jun 29, 2008)


110 In The Shade (Pasadena Playhouse Production, 2004)



Next To Normal (Apr 15, 2009 - Jan 16, 2011)

The Full Monty
(Original Cast: Oct 26, 2000 - Sep 01, 2002)




1 comment:

Bobby F said...

If I had it to do all over again, I think I would have been involved in musical theater. There is something about the creativity and the hard work that I truly appreciate...and feel like I would have been an amazing musical theater person whether writing, designing, or acting.