Colin Donnell

Colin Donnell is an American actor and singer born on October 9, 1982, in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of three brothers. He has Irish and French ancestry. Donnell's introduction to performance came at Kirkwood High School, where he participated in choir and appeared in a production of Barnum, contributing juggling and circus tricks. He began taking singing lessons at age 17 and went on to graduate from Indiana University Bloomington in 2005.

Before reaching Broadway, Donnell accumulated experience on national tours, including productions of Mamma Mia! and Wicked. His Broadway debut came in Jersey Boys, where he played Hank Mejewski. Additional stage credits include Follies, Meet Me in St. Louis, and Johnny Baseball. His Broadway career spans from 2005 to 2025 and encompasses a range of productions across genres.

Donnell's most prominent Broadway musical credit to date came with the 2011 revival of Anything Goes, in which he played Billy Crocker. The role earned him three award nominations: a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, and an Astaire Award for Outstanding Male Dancer. In January 2014, he was cast as Monty in the Broadway production of Violet, a 1960s-era musical that also starred Sutton Foster and Joshua Henry, with previews beginning March 28 and the official opening on April 20. Donnell also appeared on Broadway in The Shark Is Broken.

His stage work extended beyond Broadway to concert and Encores! productions. In July and August 2013, he played Berowne in a Shakespeare in the Park musical adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost. In 2015, he performed in the New York City Center Encores! production of Lady, Be Good, alongside Tommy Tune, Erin Mackey, and Patti Murin. A staged concert of Songs for a New World was presented at New York City Center from June 27 through June 30, 2018, directed by Kate Whoriskey, with Donnell starring alongside Shoshana Bean, Mykal Kilgore, and Solea Pfeiffer. In November 2024, Donnell starred as the Father in the Encores! production of Ragtime at New York City Center, opposite Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, and Brandon Uranowitz, with the production set to transfer to Broadway in 2025.

On television, Donnell made his debut playing Mike Ruskin in the series Pan Am. In 2012, he was cast as Tommy Merlyn in Arrow, serving as a series regular in the first season and making recurring appearances through the show's final season. He subsequently joined the cast of the Showtime drama The Affair, playing Scotty Lockhart, and in 2015 began a four-season run as Dr. Connor Rhodes in the NBC series Chicago Med, departing the show on April 19, 2019. He later starred in the series Irreverent. In 2024, he appeared in a guest role as Brian Lange in the final two episodes of the third season of CBS's FBI: International. His film credits include Every Secret Thing, a crime thriller released on May 15, 2015, in which he appeared as Elizabeth Banks' husband.

In 2022, Donnell and Patti Murin released a joint album titled Something Stupid on Broadway Records, produced by Robbie Rozelle and co-produced by Yasuhiko Fukuoka, with Luke Williams serving as arranger and orchestrator. The album draws from pop, Broadway, and Disney material.

Donnell and Murin, who first met while co-starring in the 2013 Shakespeare in the Park production of Love's Labour's Lost, became engaged in December 2014 and married on June 19, 2015, in New York City. Their daughter Cecily was born on July 14, 2020, and their second daughter, Lorelai, was born on April 2, 2023. Donnell has two tattoos acquired during tour engagements — one from Memphis and one from Dayton — consisting of five bird silhouettes representing his family and a Fleur De Lis referencing his French ancestry on his mother's side.