Brandon Victor Dixon

Brandon Victor Dixon, born September 23, 1981, in Gaithersburg, Maryland, is an American actor, singer, and theatrical producer whose Broadway career has spanned from 1996 to 2024. He attended St. Albans School before enrolling at Columbia University, where he graduated in 2003. During the summer of 1999, he studied at the British American Drama Academy at Balliol College, Oxford. Dixon has cited Ragtime as the first Broadway show he ever saw.

Immediately following his graduation from Columbia, Dixon joined the national touring company of The Lion King, playing adult Simba. That same year, 2003, he appeared as Royal in the Encores! production of House of Flowers. His Broadway breakthrough came in 2005 when he originated the role of Harpo in The Color Purple, earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He subsequently joined the touring production of the show, with The Boston Globe noting in a 2009 review that his performance was "lithe and amusing" and played to "superb comedic effect."

Dixon originated the role of Haywood Patterson in the Off-Broadway premiere of The Scottsboro Boys in 2010, receiving a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for the performance. In 2014, he reprised the role in London's West End production, which brought him a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. That same year, through his production company WalkRunFly Productions, Dixon co-produced two Broadway revivals: Of Mice and Men, nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which won both the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical. Dixon had co-founded WalkRunFly Productions in 2013 with Motown the Musical choreographer Warren Adams, with the aim of supporting productions for young artists.

Dixon created the leading role of Berry Gordy Jr. in the original Broadway production of Motown: The Musical, which opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on April 14, 2013. The production, written by Gordy himself, marked Dixon's first leading role on Broadway and earned him a Drama League Award nomination for Distinguished Performance. The cast recording received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album. In 2011, between these two projects, Dixon had portrayed Tom Collins in an Off-Broadway revival of Rent.

In 2016, Dixon appeared as Eubie Blake in Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed at the Music Box Theatre, a role he originated and for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Also in 2016, he appeared as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in a production of Ragtime at Ellis Island. When Shuffle Along closed earlier than anticipated, Dixon was recruited to assume the role of Aaron Burr in the Broadway company of Hamilton, with the role's originator, Leslie Odom Jr., involved in the recruitment process. Dixon took over the role on August 23, 2016, and played it through August 13, 2017. In November 2016, following the U.S. presidential election, Vice President-elect Mike Pence attended a performance of Hamilton, after which Dixon addressed him from the stage on behalf of the cast. The statement, jointly written by the cast, show creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, and producer Jeffrey Seller, expressed the cast's hopes that the new administration would uphold American values and protect all citizens. President-elect Donald Trump subsequently demanded an apology, characterizing the address as harassment, while Pence stated he was not offended.

Dixon originated the role of Davis in the world premiere Off-Broadway run of Hell's Kitchen at The Public Theater, then reprised the role when the production transferred to Broadway's Shubert Theatre, beginning performances in March 2024. The performance earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. His first stint in the production concluded on March 9, 2025, with a scheduled return to the cast set for January 27, 2026, for the show's final month of performances. Between these projects, Dixon played Billy Flynn in the Broadway production of Chicago from September to November 2022, and appeared as Dan in Next to Normal at the Kennedy Center in January and February 2020.

Beyond the stage, Dixon portrayed Judas Iscariot in NBC's 2018 live concert production of Jesus Christ Superstar, based on the rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. His producing work through WalkRunFly Productions has also included projects in development such as a Broadway transfer of Whorl Inside a Loop, a play by Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott, and Trial of the Century, a musical centered on the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. Dixon's Broadway credits have earned him, as a performer and producer, a Tony Award for Best Musical in 2020 and a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical in 2014, along with the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical in 2014.