Jason Danieley

Jason Danieley is an American actor, singer, concert performer, and recording artist born on July 13, 1971, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Larry and Carole Danieley. He pursued classical voice training at the University of Missouri and Southern Illinois University before leaving without a degree. At 25, he made his Broadway debut playing the title role in Harold Prince's revival of Candide, a production for which Prince told The New York Times, "It's unusual in the world of musical theater to find someone who can sing as well as he can act. Mark my words: Jason has an extraordinary future ahead of him." The role earned Danieley a Theatre World Award, a Drama League Award, and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, all in 1997.

Prior to his Broadway debut, Danieley appeared Off-Broadway in the musical Hit the Lights! in 1993 and in the New York City Center Encores! staged concert of Allegro in March 1994. He gained wider recognition in 1996 through Floyd Collins, an Off-Broadway musical based on the tragedy of caver Floyd Collins, written by Adam Guettel, the grandson of Richard Rodgers. The work blends Appalachian and classical music, and Ben Brantley of The New York Times noted that Danieley was "especially winning" in the production. That same year, Danieley met actress Marin Mazzie while performing alongside her in the Off-Broadway play Trojan Women: A Love Story. The two married on October 19, 1997.

Danieley starred in The Full Monty, which premiered at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in the summer of 2000 before opening on Broadway that October. In June 2005, he played Lt. Joseph Cable in an Emmy-nominated concert version of South Pacific performed at Carnegie Hall, which was filmed and broadcast on PBS's Great Performances. That same month, he appeared in the New York City Center Encores! production of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Also in 2005, he received a Backstage West Award Honorable Mention for 110 in the Shade and a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Resident Musical for The Highest Yellow at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia.

His 2007 Broadway appearance in the John Kander and Fred Ebb musical Curtains brought further recognition, including an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. Composer John Kander wrote the song "I Miss the Music" specifically for the character Danieley portrayed in that production. Brantley, reviewing Curtains in The New York Times, described Danieley as possessing "the most exquisite tenor on Broadway." In July 2010, Danieley joined the Broadway cast of Next to Normal, replacing Brian d'Arcy James in the role of Dan opposite Mazzie, who had replaced Alice Ripley as Diana — making them a real-life married couple playing a fictional married couple onstage.

Danieley portrayed Billy Flynn in the Broadway production of Chicago in 2015 and 2016, and appeared in Pretty Woman both in Chicago and on Broadway in 2018 and 2019. He also participated in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of The Visit in 2014, which transferred to Broadway in 2015, and appeared at Paper Mill Playhouse in Can-Can as Aristide in October 2014. In 2022, he starred as James Agee in the world premiere of Knoxville, a new musical written by Frank Galati with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Danieley has also performed in London's West End.

Alongside his stage work, Danieley built a career as a concert artist, performing with orchestras including the Boston, Philadelphia, and New York Pops, the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and the St. Louis, Utah, Minnesota, and Buffalo Symphonies. He and Mazzie also performed together at smaller venues, including the Café Carlyle in New York in 2011. Their collaborative recording Opposite You, released on PS Classics in 2005, was their first album together, followed by Broadway and Beyond, recorded at 54 Below in 2017 and released in 2019 following Mazzie's death on September 13, 2018. Danieley's solo recordings include Jason Danieley & The Frontier Heroes, released on PS Classics in 2008, which combines Americana music with Broadway and Great American Songbook repertoire. His cast album credits include Floyd Collins, Candide, The Full Monty, Curtains, Dream True, and Secondhand Lions, as well as compilation recordings featuring the work of Jule Styne and Stephen Schwartz, and two Boston Pops albums, A Splash of Pops and My Favorite Things.