Bruce Dow

Bruce Dow, born April 1, 1963, is an American actor, director, composer, lyricist, and theatre educator whose career spans Broadway, the Stratford Festival, Canadian theatre, television, and voice acting.

Dow made his Broadway debut in the drama Jane Eyre and went on to accumulate five Broadway credits between 2000 and 2021. His subsequent Broadway appearances include The Music Man, the 2012 Tony-nominated revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, Anything Goes, and Diana, The Musical. In Jesus Christ Superstar, he played King Herod in a production that originated at the Avon Theatre in Stratford, Ontario, transferred to the La Jolla Playhouse in the winter of 2011, and opened at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway in March 2012. In Diana, The Musical, he portrayed Paul Burrell.

Beyond Broadway, Dow spent 12 seasons in leading roles at the Stratford Festival, where his credits include the Emcee in Cabaret directed by Amanda Dehnert, the Baker in Into the Woods directed by Peter Hinton-Davis, and Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum directed by Des McAnuff. In 2011, he appeared as Trinculo in a Stratford Festival production of The Tempest starring Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer. That production was later filmed by Melbar Entertainment and screened in cinemas across the United States and Canada.

Dow has earned particular recognition for his work at Buddies in Bad Times, the world's largest and longest-running LGBTQ theatre. In 2013, he received both the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Actor, Musical, and the Toronto Theatre Critics Association Award for Best Actor, Musical, for his portrayal of Leigh Bowery in Of a Monstrous Child: A Gaga Musical. The following year, he won a second Dora Mavor Moore Award, for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role in a Play, for his portrayal of Larry/Harry/Garry/Barry in the world premiere of Tim Luscombe's PIG. Also in 2014, his performance as Pseudolus for the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., directed by Alan Paul, earned him a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Actor, Resident Musical. In 2018, he appeared as Timothy Sweetman in Dr Silver: A Celebration of Life, a new Canadian musical presented by Outside The March and The Musical Stage Company in Toronto.

As a recording artist, Dow released his debut CD, Lucky to Be Me, in 2005, followed by a second album, Keepin' Out Of Mischief, in 2008. His voice acting credits include Max on Total Drama Pahkitew Island, Sir Topham Hatt and Harold the Helicopter in the American version of Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go, and the Bad Bronco on Corn & Peg. He has also made television appearances on the Rick Mercer Report and Murdoch Mysteries.

As a theatre educator, Dow has taught at institutions across Canada and the United States, including the National Theatre School of Canada, the Stratford Festival Department of Professional Theatre Training, SUNY Plattsburgh, Sheridan College, and the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, with a specialization in Shakespeare and musical theatre. He serves as series director for the Intimate Experiences Cabaret Series at Buddies in Bad Times in Toronto. Dow is gay and speaks publicly on issues of sexuality, youth, and mental health.