James Monroe Iglehart

James Monroe Iglehart is an American actor, singer, and comic book writer born on September 4, 1974, in Hayward, California, where he was raised alongside his brother. His mother worked as a high school choir teacher, and his father, James Iglehart, had careers as both a minor league baseball player and an actor. Iglehart met his future wife, Dawn Phelps, through the Mt. Eden High School show choir, and the two married in 2002. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre from Cal State Hayward before beginning his professional career in the Bay Area, where his early credits included Bat Boy at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto and the role of Teen Angel in Grease at the American Musical Theatre in San Jose. In 2005, he directed Bat Boy: The Musical at Ray of Light Theatre.

Iglehart's Broadway career spans from 1996 to 2024 and encompasses a wide range of roles. He joined the cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as a replacement, playing Mitch Mahoney beginning in April 2007, and originated the role of Bobby in Memphis when that production opened in October 2009. His most celebrated Broadway credit came with the original production of Aladdin, in which he created the role of the Genie. That performance earned him both the 2014 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical and the 2014 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. He remained with the Aladdin company until February 2017, when he departed to begin rehearsals for Hamilton.

In April 2017, Iglehart joined the Broadway cast of Hamilton, assuming the dual roles of the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. His additional Broadway appearances include Freestyle Love Supreme and the play Julie. In January 2022, he took over the role of Billy Flynn in Chicago. He starred as King Arthur in the 2023 revival of Spamalot, first at the Kennedy Center in May of that year before the production transferred to Broadway later that November, with Iglehart reprising the role. He also appeared in & Juliet on Broadway, playing the character Lance.

Iglehart created the title role of Louis Armstrong in A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical, first performing the part during pre-Broadway engagements in New Orleans and Chicago in October 2023. The production transferred to Broadway in 2024, with Iglehart both leading the cast and serving as a co-director. His portrayal of Armstrong earned him a Tony Award nomination.

Beyond the stage, Iglehart has worked extensively in voice acting, lending his voice to characters including Asmodeus and Vortex in the animated web series Helluva Boss, Zestial in Hazbin Hotel, Lance Strongbow in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, Bronzino in Elena of Avalor, Oscar in Vampirina, Taurus Bulba in DuckTales, and Mr. Puppypaws in the television series SuperKitties. He also voiced Captain James Hook in the audio adaptation of Andy Weir's Cheshire Crossing. On the podcast front, he can be heard as super producer Steve Jones in As The Curtain Rises, described as Broadway's first original podcast soap opera. Iglehart has additionally written professionally for Marvel Comics, with work that includes one-shots featuring Spider-Man. On television, he guest starred in four episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as Coriolanus Burt.