Robert Petkoff

Robert Petkoff is an American stage actor born in Sacramento, California, the fifth of seven children of Carolyn and Peter Petkoff. His father served as an officer in the Air Force, and the family relocated frequently throughout Petkoff's childhood. He graduated from Princeton High School in Illinois and went on to study theater at Illinois State University. Following college, he launched his acting career with the Illinois Shakespeare Festival before moving to Chicago, where he worked with the Oak Park Festival Theatre and Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Early professional work took Petkoff across multiple disciplines and regions. While in Chicago, he was cast in the television pilot Mona, a spin-off from Who's the Boss?, which led him to relocate to Los Angeles for five years. During that period he combined television work with stage productions, including Julius Caesar at the Mark Taper Forum, directed by Oskar Eustis, and The School for Husbands at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. In 1993, director Michael Kahn cast him as the Duke of Aumerle in Richard II at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., and Petkoff returned to the company twice more in 1994. He subsequently performed at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater under Barbara Gaines, taking on the title role in Hamlet and the role of Troilus in Troilus and Cressida. Director Mark Lamos then cast him as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet at the Hartford Stage Company, opposite Calista Flockhart as Juliet.

Petkoff's Broadway debut came in Epic Proportions, starring Kristin Chenoweth. He was subsequently cast in Sir Peter Hall's Tantalus, a co-production of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and the Royal Shakespeare Company that opened in Denver, toured the United Kingdom, and concluded with performances at the Barbican Theatre in London. The production was the subject of a television documentary examining the collaboration between Hall and John Barton. Petkoff worked with Hall on two additional productions: as Perry Stewart in The Royal Family at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket, alongside Judi Dench, Toby Stephens, and Emily Blunt, and as Algernon in a national tour of The Importance of Being Earnest with Lynn Redgrave.

His first professional musical role came in 2002 at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where he starred as George in Sunday in the Park with George, directed by Gary Griffin. His Broadway musical debut followed in 2004, when he played Perchik in the revival of Fiddler on the Roof starring Alfred Molina and Harvey Fierstein, directed by David Leveaux. That production received a Tony Award nomination for Best Revival of a Musical as well as a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Revival of a Musical. In 2007, Petkoff joined the national tour of Spamalot as Sir Robin, replacing David Turner in the role. After a year on tour, he moved into the Broadway company, replacing Martin Moran until Clay Aiken assumed the part, then reclaimed the role following Aiken's first departure. He also appeared in Happiness at Lincoln Center Theater in 2009, directed by Susan Stroman, playing the role of Neil.

Petkoff returned to Broadway in November 2009 in the revival of Ragtime, playing Tateh at the Neil Simon Theater under the direction of Marcia Milgrom Dodge. The production closed on January 10, 2010, and received seven Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical Revival, along with nine Drama Desk Award nominations, including Outstanding Revival of a Musical. In 2011, he played Buddy in Follies at the Chicago Shakespeare Festival, again directed by Gary Griffin. The following year, he starred as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh in the Roundabout Theatre production of Anything Goes at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, opposite Stephanie J. Block as Reno Sweeney.

In 2014, Petkoff appeared on Broadway in All the Way, playing Hubert Humphrey opposite Bryan Cranston as Lyndon B. Johnson. In 2015, he played Richard Hannay in 39 Steps at the Union Square Theater in New York City and then took on the title role in Sweeney Todd at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. From late 2016 through 2017, he played Bruce Bechdel in the first national tour of Fun Home, the Tony Award-winning musical. Petkoff's Broadway work continued with an appearance in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, extending his stage credits through 2022.

Beyond the stage, Petkoff has performed on the West End and in regional theater, and has worked in film and television. He has provided voices for more than two dozen audiobooks and won an award for his narration of Michael Koryta's So Cold the River. He is married to actress Susan Wands and has lived in New York City for over two decades, where he has also participated in benefit concerts for theater-district-related charities.