Happy birthday to 2020 Tony nominee Aaron Tveit, who was born Oct. 21, 1983. Raised in Middletown, NY, Tveit performed in all four of his high school’s theater productions, including West Side Story as Tony. He studied musical theater at Ithaca College but left to join the national tour of Rent. He returned to Ithaca briefly but left again to play Link Larkin in the national tour of Hairspray, in which he made his Broadway debut in 2006.
In 2007, Tveit originated the role of Gabe in the Off-Broadway premiere of Next to Normal, before returning to Broadway in 2008 as Fiyero in Wicked and then in the 2009 transfer of Next to Normal. (In between its Off-Broadway and Broadway runs, Next to Normal was retooled in a 2008 run at Arena Stage, a production I was fortunate to work on.) Below is a clip of him as Gabe from the 2009 Tony Awards.
He originated the role of Frank in Broadway premiere of Catch Me If You Can in 2009 and played revolutionary Enjolras in the 2012 all-star film adaptation of Les Misérables. Below is a clip of him as Frank from the 2011 Tony Awards.
In the past few years, Tveit made his London debut as John Wilkes Booth in the 2014 revival of Assassins, starred as Danny in the 2016 TV production of Grease Live!, and received his first Tony nomination this year for his portrayal of Christian in Moulin Rouge! Below is the official video of Tveit performing the signature song “Come What May” from Moulin.