fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Gavin Lee (born 15 October 1971) is an English actor who has appeared on the stage in musical theatre, notably as Bert in the musical Mary Poppins, in both the West End and on Broadway, and as Squidward Tentacles in the original Broadway cast of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical.

Gavin Lee
Lee in 2019
Born	(1971-10-15) 15 October 1971 (age 50) Woodbridge, Suffolk, England
Occupation	Actor singer dancer
Years active	1990–present
Spouse	Emily Harvey ​ (m. 2005)​
Children	3

Early life

Lee is an alumnus of the Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts after which he has been involved in various musicals as a performer and choreographer.

Career

Lee appeared in the dance play Contact in the West End at the Queen's Theatre, opening in October 2002.[1]

In 2004, Lee auditioned to be the Bert understudy in the London production of Mary Poppins, but won the role outright. He originated the role of Bert in the original West End production. He also starred as Bert in the Broadway production of Mary Poppins.[2] He was chosen for the Broadway role because of his critically acclaimed performance as Bert in the West End production. He departed the Broadway production after nearly two years to launch the US National Tour, but returned to the Broadway production in August 2010 until January 2013. Lee was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical at the 2005 Olivier Awards and the 2005 Theatregoer's Choice Awards for originating the West End role of Bert. For his Broadway performance, Lee was nominated for the 2006 Outer Critics Circle Awards (Outstanding Actor in a Musical) and the 2007 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He also won the 2007 Drama Desk Award for Featured Actor in a Musical and an award for Outstanding Broadway Debut at the 63rd annual Theatre World Awards. In August 2007, Lee was added to Sardi's caricature gallery with other Broadway actors.[3]

In June 2008, Lee performed in a concert version of Show Boat at Carnegie Hall as Frank Schultz.[4] He has performed as part of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera film adaptation, appearing as one of the singers/dancers in the "Masquerade" scene.

Lee and former London co-star Laura Michelle Kelly performed as Bert and Mary Poppins in the America Celebrates 4 July at Fords Theatre in front of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama on 6 June 2010. The special aired on 2 July 2010 on ABC.[5] Lee again reunited with Kelly when he returned to the role of Bert in the Broadway production of Mary Poppins on 24 August 2010.[6]

He took over the role of Jerry Travers in the West End production of Top Hat beginning 5 February 2013.[7] He joined the Broadway revival of Les Miserables as Thenardier beginning 3 March 2015.[8]

Lee played Squidward Tentacles in SpongeBob SquarePants, the Broadway Musical. The stage musical premiered at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, and ran from June to July 2016.[9] Lee reprised his role as Squidward for the Broadway run of the musical, starting with November 2017 previews at the Palace Theatre[10] and remaining until it closed in September 2018.[11] Lee was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role as Squidward.

In June 2019, he appeared at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey, taking on the role of Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast.[12] He reprised the role in the 2021 UK tour.[13] The production then transferred to the West End's London Palladium for a limited engagement beginning June 2022.[14]

In 2020, on February 17, 2020, he performed the Manhattan Concert Productions' 50th anniversary celebration of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center. He played the Butler.

Personal life

Lee is married to Emily Harvey, an American actress who was playing the role of Mme Firmin in London's The Phantom of the Opera during his own run in London in Mary Poppins. They have 3 children.

Theatre appearances

Year	Show	Role	Venue	Notes
2021	Beauty and the Beast	Lumiere	UK Tour & London Palladium	Reprising his role from the 2019 Papermill Playhouse production
2020	Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat	Butler	David Geffen Hall
2019	Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol	Mr. Magoo/Scrooge	Gerald W. Lynch Theater
2019	Beauty and the Beast	Lumiere	Paper Mill Playhouse
2018	Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical	The Grinch	US National Tour	In Chicago, Boston, and New York
2017	SpongeBob SquarePants	Squidward Tentacles[10]	Palace Theatre	Broadway production; originated role
2016			Oriental Theatre	Originated role
2015	Les Misérables	Thénardier	Imperial Theatre	Replacement
2014	Holiday Inn	Ted Hanover	Goodspeed Opera House	Replacement
2013	Top Hat	Jerry Travers	Aldwych Theatre	Replacement
2010–2013	Mary Poppins	Bert	New Amsterdam Theatre	Return to role
2009–2010			US National Tour	Originated role
2008	Show Boat	Frank Schultz[15]	Carnegie Hall
2006–2008	Mary Poppins	Bert	New Amsterdam Theatre	Broadway production; originated role
2004–2006			Bristol Hippodrome & Prince Edward Theatre	West End production; originated role
2002	Contact	Aristocrat	Queen's Theatre
2002	Let's Kick Arts	Ensemble	Bridewell Theatre
2002	Aladdin	Wishee Washee	Devonshire Park Theatre
2001	Zip Goes a Million	Percy Piggott	The Theatre Museum
2001	DuBarry Was a Lady	Harry/Captain of the Guard	Her Majesty's Theatre
2001	Peggy Sue Got Married	Richard	Shaftesbury Theatre	Originated role
2000	Whenever	Oscar	Stephen Joseph Theatre
1999	A Saint She Ain't	Danny O'Reilly	Apollo Theatre & King's Head Theatre	Originated role
1999	Of Thee I Sing	J.P. Wintergeen	Bridewell Theatre
1999	Jubilee	Prince James	Her Majesty's Theatre	Also choreographer
1998	Singin' in the Rain	Don Lockwood	Haymarket Theatre
1998	Oklahoma!	Slim	National Theatre	Originated role
1998	Snoopy	Linus	Watermill Theatre
1997	Saturday Night	Male Vocalist	Bridewell Theatre	Originated role
1997	Crazy for You	Bobby Child	National Tour
1993		Swing	Prince Edward Theatre
1996	Immaculate Deception	Rosenburg	Wimbledon Studio Theatre
1984	Flower Drum Song	Wang San	Wolsey Theatre
1983	Bugsy Malone	Seymore Scoop	Her Majesty's Theatre	West End debut

Cast recordings

• Mary Poppins
• A Saint She Ain't
• Zip Goes a Million
• Saturday Night
• SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

Filmography

• Beyond the Sea
• The Phantom of the Opera

Television

• White Collar – Alan Woodford (5 episodes)
• The Good Wife – Jake Alister (Season 2, Episode 18 "Killer Song", 2011)[16]
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – Dennis Griscomb (2 episodes)
• The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage! – Squidward Tentacles (reprising his role from the Broadway musical)
• Little America – Henry (Season 1, Episode 4)

Awards and nominations

Tony Awards

Note: The year given is the year of the ceremony

Year	Award	Performance	Result
2007	Best Actor in a Musical	Mary Poppins	Nominated
2018	Best Featured Actor in a Musical	SpongeBob SquarePants	Nominated

Drama Desk Awards

Note: The year given is the year of the ceremony

Year	Award	Performance	Result
2007	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical	Mary Poppins	Won
2018		SpongeBob SquarePants	Won

Laurence Olivier Awards

Note: The year given is the year of the ceremony

Year	Award	Performance	Result
2005	Best Actor in a Musical	Mary Poppins	Nominated

References

External links

• Gavin Lee at the Internet Broadway Database
• Gavin Lee at IMDb

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