William Michals

William Michals is an American stage actor and baritone singer whose Broadway career spans from 1988 to 2023. Known by the moniker "America's Baritone," he made his Broadway debut playing the Beast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast and subsequently returned to the same production in the role of Gaston. His additional Broadway credits include Parade, in which he appeared as Detective J. N. Starnes and understudied the roles of Judge Roan, Old Soldier, and Governor John Slaton, as well as South Pacific, Bright Star, The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast, and My Fair Ladies.

Beyond Broadway, Michals has taken on a wide range of leading roles in major theatrical productions. His portrayals include Javert in Les Misérables, Billy Flynn in Chicago, Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, Harold Hill in The Music Man, Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Lancelot in Camelot, and Dom Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He has performed the title roles in both The Phantom of the Opera and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the latter at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival in 2012. He appeared as Emile de Becque in South Pacific at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival in 2011 and again at the Olney Theatre Center of the Arts in 2018. In 2019, he played Max von Mayerling in Sunset Boulevard at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Massachusetts. He has also appeared as Captain Hook in Leonard Bernstein's Peter Pan. His portrayal of Chauvelin in a national tour of The Scarlet Pimpernel earned him the Anselmo Award, recognition from Chicago's Jeff Awards, and a National Star Award.

Michals has performed opera in New York and Boston and appeared in concert at the Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals. His operatic roles include Escamillo in Carmen, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. He regularly performs with leading American orchestras, among them the San Francisco, San Diego, Utah, and Hartford Symphonies, as well as The New York Pops and the Philly Pops.

His performance work extends to civic and commemorative events. He has sung the national anthem at major league sporting events and performed for members of the House and Senate inside the United States Capitol. On December 11, 2001, he sang "Let There Be Peace On Earth" at a memorial service held at Ground Zero. His television appearances include Law and Order, All My Children, and Guiding Light.