Gregory Jbara (#228) - August, 2009

Gregory Jbara traces his stage career from his first grade appearance as the title role in Frosty the Snowman all the way to his Tony Award-winning turn in the current Broadway musical Billy Elliot. Along the way, he discusses a college career that began at the University of Michigan and wrapped up at the Juilliard School; his first significant role as The Monster in the campy Have I Got a Girl For You (The Frankenstein Musical); chronicles the sudden acclaim (off-Broadway) and quick demise (on Broadway) of Caryl Churchill's Serious Money; his various appearances in Forever Plaid around the country -- and how he made more doing it in Washington DC than the original cast made in the New York company; what it was like to work with show business icons like Jerry Lewis (in Damn Yankees) and Julie Andrews (in Victor/Victoria); how his role of André, and the songs, in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels were shaped as the show was being developed; and what's its like to play opposite a different actor as Billy every single night in Billy Elliot -- often not knowing who he'll be on with until moments before the curtain rises.