Episode 89 - Rory O'Malley

Rory is currently reigning as King George III in the touring production of the smash hit "Hamilton." It's a role he first played on Broadway for a year where he was the first actor to replace an original cast member in the production. He is best known for starring in the original company of "The Book Of Mormon" on Broadway. He received both Tony and Drama Desk nominations for playing openly closeted Mormon Elder McKinley and performing the show stopper "Turn It Off". Most recently he was seen on stage in back to back Off-Broadway productions at Second Stage's "Nobody Loves You" (Drama Desk nomination) and "Little Miss Sunshine." His broadway debut was in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and regionally, he created the role of Richie Cunningham in Garry Marshall’s "Happy Days The Musical" for Goodspeed Opera House and Paper Mill Playhouse. Rory expanded his repertoire of pasty white dudes by butchering the song “Cadillac Car” as lead singer of ‘Dave and the Sweethearts’ in the Paramount Pictures film "Dreamgirls." Most recently, Rory was seen on the CW's "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend." He can also be seen on the small screen in episodes of "Partners" with Kelsey Grammer and Martin Lawrence, "Nurse Jackie," "The Good Wife," "Law and Order: SVU," and "1600 Penn." This year Rory premiered his autobiographical show "Pub Crawl" to a sold out crowd at Joe's Pub in New York City. Pub Crawl is his tale of being raised in an Irish pub in Cleveland by his single mom and all the bar's eclectic patrons. Rory tells his hilarious coming of age story using classic Irish pub songs from The Wolftones, U2, Van Morrison and more with music direction from Tony and Grammy Award winner, Stephen Oremus. Rory is a Co-Founder of Broadway Impact, an organization that mobilizes the theater community to take action on fighting for marriage equality. Along with Jenny Kanelos and Gavin Creel, Rory was there from it's inception and has organized large rallies, phone banks, and theater events; all for the sake of marriage equality. Currently Broadway Impact is producing the play 8, conceived by Rory and edited by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black. 8 uses the original transcript of the trial that overturned Prop 8 in California and puts it on a stage for theaters all across the country to perform and hold talkbacks. Rory has had the pleasure of performing around the country in the piece with many great actors and activists including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Larry Kramer, Cleve Jones and many more. Currently 8 has been produced in over 400 theaters, including in all 50 states and in 7 countries. Rory lives in Los Angeles with his husband Gerold Schroeder. He is very happy:) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices