Gilles Chiasson

Gilles Chiasson, born November 1, 1966, in Muskegon, Michigan, is an American actor, director, composer, writer, and producer whose career has spanned Broadway performance, film and television development, theater administration, and education. He is the youngest of five children born to Dr. Tony Chiasson, a retired anesthesiologist, and Claire Chiasson, founder and former headmistress of Michigan Dunes Montessori; both parents are French Canadian. Chiasson attended Mona Shores Public Schools before earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts with High Distinction from the School of Music at the University of Michigan. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California, with his wife, Sherri Parker Lee, and their two sons.

Following the completion of his BFA, Chiasson was cast as Marius in the national tour of Les Misérables, and subsequently portrayed Jinx in the national tour of Forever Plaid. His Broadway career spans 1988 to 2002 and encompasses five productions: Rent, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War, La Bohème, and Les Misérables. He is perhaps most widely recognized for his involvement with Jonathan Larson's Rent, which began with his participation in the original workshop in 1994. Along with Anthony Rapp and Daphne Rubin-Vega, Chiasson is one of only three Broadway cast members to have taken part in that initial workshop. He went on to play multiple roles, including Squeegie Man and Steve, in the Off-Broadway premiere at New York Theatre Workshop in 1995. Larson died suddenly the night before that premiere, yet the production continued and became a landmark theatrical event. Chiasson received an Obie Award as a member of the Off-Broadway cast. When Rent transferred to Broadway in the spring of 1996, he reprised his multiple roles and, during his nearly two years with the production, also assumed the lead roles of Mark and Roger. As an original cast member, Chiasson appeared on behalf of the show on numerous television programs, including the 50th and 51st Tony Awards, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Good Morning America, and 20/20, as well as at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. He also appeared in Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway in 2008 and RENT: Live on Fox in 2019.

Chiasson originated the role of Armand St. Just in The Scarlet Pimpernel on Broadway, a production nominated for the Tony Award for Best Musical, and made additional television appearances as a cast member of that show, including at the 52nd Tony Awards and on The Rosie O'Donnell Show. He also originated the role of Corporal William McEwen in The Civil War, another Tony-nominated Best Musical, for which he received an Outer Critics Circle nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical. His final Broadway appearance came in the original cast of Baz Luhrmann's production of La Bohème, and he subsequently reprised his role when the production moved to Los Angeles.

Beyond Broadway, Chiasson accumulated extensive Off-Broadway and regional theater credits, including world premieres of Mike Reid's A House Divided at Tennessee Repertory Theatre, Joanne Lessener and Joshua Rosenbaum's Fermat's Last Tango at the York Theatre, and Elizabeth Swados' Groundhog at Manhattan Theatre Club. He has also worked as a freelance director in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, with productions including Way of the Wiseguy at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts and I'm Sorry at both the Lounge Theatre in Los Angeles and the New York International Fringe Festival.

As a composer and writer, Chiasson wrote the music, lyrics, and book for the original musical Chrysalis, which was developed in workshops at the Alley Theatre in Houston, New York Theatre Workshop, and Manhattan Theatre Club before premiering at the Adirondack Theatre Festival. His other musicals include Fishwrap, co-conceived with Bill Castellino at the Adirondack Theater Festival, Maps, and the movie musical Move Ahead, created with David Hilder for RAW Impressions NYC, as well as Now Boarding, presented at the Performing Arts Education Centers. Chiasson co-wrote the song "Hands Holding Hands" with Nashville songwriter Chris Roberts, which premiered at The Town Hall in New York City as part of Brave New World, American Theatre Responds to 9/11, and received radio play across the United States. He also conceived and co-produced a solo debut CD titled Slow Down and has appeared as a guest soloist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia of the Nations, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, and the West Michigan Symphony Orchestra, the last of which allowed him to perform at The Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts in his hometown.

Following his La Bohème run, Chiasson transitioned into film and television development, serving as Director of Development for Moresco Productions from 2005 to 2010. In that capacity he worked closely with Bobby Moresco, winner of the 2005 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Crash, on projects including the NBC television series The Black Donnellys and the adaptation of Crash for Starz. He is also a co-producer of The Kings of Appletown, starring the Sprouse twins. Chiasson subsequently served as Producing Director of Reprise Theatre Company in Los Angeles alongside artistic director Jason Alexander during the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. During his inaugural season, the company received 17 Ovation Award nominations, the most of any theater company in Southern California that year, ultimately winning the Ovation for Best Production of a Musical for a revival of Kiss Me, Kate. The company also received a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for its production of Cabaret during the 2011–12 season. During his tenure at Reprise, Chiasson presented artists including Barry Manilow, Barbara Cook, Patti LuPone, Betty Buckley, Ray Romano, Martin Short, Seth Rudetsky, and Sutton Foster in concert at venues including the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills and UCLA's Royce Hall.

Chiasson subsequently headed the LVUSD Beacon for the Arts Fund and served as Director of Theater Operations of the Performing Arts Education Centers in Calabasas and Agoura Hills, California, two state-of-the-art complexes each containing a 650-plus-seat mainstage, a 100-seat black box, and professionally equipped scene and costume shops. From 2020 to 2024, he served as Theatre Director, Theatre Department Chair, and Educator at Valley International Preparatory High School in Northridge, California, where he taught acting, stage technology, and dramatic writing while producing and directing three productions annually. Having left the classroom at the end of 2024, Chiasson now works as Facility Use Manager for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, overseeing 13 sites in Santa Monica and Malibu, including four proscenium theaters and the historic Barnum Hall on the campus of Santa Monica High School. He is a founder and ex officio board member of the Adirondack Theatre Festival, a nonprofit theater in Glens Falls, New York, established in 1995.