Happy birthday to two-time Tony winner Michael Cerveris, born Nov. 6, 1960, in Bethesda, Md. Raised in Huntington, W.Va., Cerveris graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy, N.H., before going on to theater studies at Yale University. After roles in several TV series, including Fame (1986), he made his film debut as a musician in Tokyo Pop (1988). He made his Broadway debut in 1993 as the title character of Tommy, which he had originated at La Jolla Playhouse, receiving a Tony nomination. He returned to Broadway in the 1997 musical Titanic. Below is Cerveris and the original cast of Tommy at the 1993 Tonys.
In 1998, Cerveris played the title character in Hedwig and the Angry Inch Off-Broadway, reprising the role in 2000 on London’s West End. In 2004, he appeared in the musical film Temptation and as John Wilkes Booth in the Broadway premiere of Assassins, for which he won his first Tony Award. In 2005, he performed with Kristin Chenoweth in the City Center Encores! concert version of The Apple Tree and as the title role in the Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd, for which he received his third Tony nom. Below is a clip of Cerveris singing “The Ballad of Booth.”
He next appeared on Broadway in the 2007 musical LoveMusik, receiving his fourth Tony nomination, and appeared Off-Broadway in the 2008 production of Road Show. Cerveris then played Perón in the 2012 Broadway revival of Evita, receiving his fifth Tony nom, and Bruce Bechdel in the 2015 Broadway musical Fun Home, for which he won his second Tony. Below is Cerveris and the Broadway cast of Fun Home at the 2015 Tonys.