Jay Armstrong Johnson

Jay Armstrong Johnson is an American actor, singer, and dancer born on September 1, 1987, in Fort Worth, Texas. His Broadway career spans from 2009 to 2023, encompassing starring roles, original cast appearances, and notable off-Broadway and concert work.

Johnson made his professional debut at age thirteen in the touring production of Cathy Rigby's Peter Pan. He later enrolled at New York University's Steinhardt School of Music, where a 2008 production of Adam Guettel and Tina Landau's Floyd Collins gave him the opportunity to work directly with composer Guettel. Before completing his senior year at NYU, Johnson left to join the national tour of the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, playing the role of Mark.

His Broadway debut came in 2009 with the revival of Hair, directed by Diane Paulus, in which he performed as a Member of the Tribe and served as principal understudy to Gavin Creel in the leading role of Claude. That production won the 2009 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. In 2010, he played Jack Kelly in one of the first readings of the musical Newsies. The following year, Johnson appeared in the original Broadway cast of Catch Me If You Can as standby for Aaron Tveit in the leading role of Frank Abagnale.

Johnson returned to Broadway in 2013 as Greg Wilhote in the original cast of Hands on a Hardbody. That same year, he won a Drama Desk Award as part of the ensemble of Prospect Theatre Company's production of Working. In 2014, he starred in the Lincoln Center and New York Philharmonic production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, directed by Lonny Price, earning praise from New York Times critic Charles Isherwood.

From 2014 to 2015, Johnson starred as Chip in the Broadway revival of On the Town, the musical by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green, directed by John Rando at the Lyric Theatre. His performance earned him nominations for both the Astaire Award and the Clive Barnes Award. In 2017, he took on the title role in the New York City Opera production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide, directed by Harold Prince.

In February 2018, Johnson appeared in the world premiere of Fire and Air, the final play by Tony Award-winner Terrence McNally, at Classic Stage Company, playing Léonide Massine in a production directed by Tony Award-winner John Doyle. Later that year, on April 30, 2018, Johnson joined the Broadway company of The Phantom of the Opera as Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, again under the direction of Harold Prince, remaining in the role until September 3, 2019. During that run, he also appeared in New York City Center's 75th Anniversary gala presentation of A Chorus Line, this time in the role of Bobby, in a production directed by Bob Avian and choreographed by Baayork Lee that ran for seven performances in November 2018.

Following his departure from Phantom, Johnson reunited with director Lonny Price for the world premiere of Adam Gwon and Michael Mitnick's Scotland, PA at Roundabout Theatre Company, playing Banko. The role earned him nominations for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, as well as an honor from the Outer Critics Circle Awards in the same category.

In early 2020, Johnson appeared at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall in a one-night-only 50th anniversary presentation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, playing Reuben, directed by Michael Arden and produced by Manhattan Concert Productions. Also in 2020, he appeared in the New York premiere of Darling Grenadine, written by Daniel Zaitchik and directed by Michael Berresse, for Roundabout Theatre Company, with New York Times critic Laura Collins-Hughes praising his performance. In 2022, Johnson appeared as Curtis in the world premiere Second Stage Theatre production of To My Girls, written by JC Lee and directed by Stephen Brackett.

Later in 2022, Johnson played Britt Craig in the New York City Center Gala production of Parade, the musical by Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry, directed by Michael Arden. The New York Times described his performance as "superb." He was set to reprise the role when the production transferred to Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, opening on March 16, 2023.

Beyond the stage, Johnson performed a series of concerts at New York's 54 Below in 2016, which Broadway Records subsequently released as a live album titled Jay Armstrong Johnson – Live at Feinstein's / 54 Below. New York Times critic Stephen Holden praised his vocal performance. That same year, Johnson appeared on Todrick Hall's visual album Straight Outta Oz, performing the duet "Color" with Hall. In March 2017, Johnson made his Carnegie Hall debut with Michael Feinstein's Standard Time with Michael Feinstein, and returned to Carnegie Hall the following month in a MasterVoices production of Babes in Toyland. Since 2016, he has produced and starred in an annual Halloween-themed fundraiser, a musical parody of the Disney film Hocus Pocus featuring Broadway performers; the 2019 edition, titled I Put a Spell on You: The Return of the Sanderson Sisters, was held at New York's (Le) Poisson Rouge.

In 2016, Johnson was cast in the recurring role of FBI recruit Dr. Will Olsen on the ABC thriller series Quantico, appearing in all three seasons of the show.