Jeffry Denman
Encyclopedia
Early life
Denman was born and raised in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
and graduated from the University of Buffalo as a Musical Theatre Dance major.
Career
He made his BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in the 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name....
, played Munkustrap
Munkustrap
Munkustrap is a Jellicle cat, named in T. S. Eliot's poem "The Naming of Cats". He is a principal character in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats.-The musical:...
in the closing company of Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
and understudied Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
in the original cast of The Producers
The Producers (musical)
The Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics written by Brooks and music composed by Brooks and arranged by Glen Kelly and Doug Besterman. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich...
. He was the assistant choreographer and understudy for the Noel Coward role in the Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
musical revue If Love Were All in 1999.
At New York City Center
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
Encores!
Encores!
Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert is a program that has been presented by New York City Center since 1994. Encores! is dedicated to performing the full score of musicals that rarely are heard in New York City...
concert series he played Jenkins in Of Thee I Sing
Of Thee I Sing
Of Thee I Sing is a musical with a score by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. The musical lampoons American politics; the story concerns John P. Wintergreen, who runs for President of the United States on the "love" platform...
(2006) and Pat Mason, Jr. in Face the Music
Face the Music (musical)
Face the Music is a musical, the first collaboration between Moss Hart and Irving Berlin . Face the Music opened on Broadway in 1932, and has had several subsequent regional and New York stagings...
(2007).
In 2004 he originated the role of Phil Davis opposite Brian d'Arcy James
Brian d'Arcy James
Brian d'Arcy James is an American actor and musician.-Personal life:James was born in Saginaw, Michigan, the son of Mary , a seller of children's books, and a lawyer father, Thomas F. James. Brian's maternal grandfather was Harry F. Kelly, former Governor of the state of Michigan...
, Anastasia Barzee
Anastasia Barzee
Anastasia Barzee is a celebrated Broadway, Film and Television actress. She is a graduate of Frost School of Music at Miami University. Along with fellow Miami grads, the Grammy Award nominated Matt Pierson and Grammy Winner Gil Goldstein she has recorded a solo album, The Dimming of the Day, of...
and Meredith Patterson
Meredith Patterson
Meredith Patterson is an American musical theatre actor known for her Broadway performances, as well as her television and film work.-External links:...
in the World Premiere production of Irving Berlin's White Christmas
Irving Berlin's White Christmas
Irving Berlin's White Christmas was an LP album of songs by Rosemary Clooney from the movie White Christmas, released by Columbia Records in 1954....
at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco. In 2008 he starred in the original Broadway production opposite Stephen Bogardus
Stephen Bogardus
-Biography:Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Bogardus graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in 1972 and Princeton University in 1976, where he was a member of the Princeton Nassoons and the Princeton Triangle Club.-Career:...
, Kerry O'Malley and Meredith Patterson
Meredith Patterson
Meredith Patterson is an American musical theatre actor known for her Broadway performances, as well as her television and film work.-External links:...
.
He co-starred in Ken Ludwig
Ken Ludwig
Ken Ludwig is an American playwright and theatre director.Born in York, Pennsylvania, Ludwig was educated at the York Suburban Senior High School, York PA Haverford College , Harvard Law School, and Trinity College at Cambridge University...
's musical The Gershwins' An American in Paris at the Alley Theatre
Alley Theatre
The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning indoor theatre in Downtown Houston, Texas, and hosts two stages. The "Hubbard" is the main stage with seating for 824; the more intimate "Neuhaus" seats 310. Nine towers and open-air terraces give the Alley Theatre a castle-like quality. Inside, a staircase...
, Houston, Texas, in 2008. The Houston Chronicle wrote of him: a "song-and-dance man in the classic tradition, Denman is a natural scene-stealer."
In 2010 he choreographed and played the role of Artie in the Off Broadway premiere of Yank!: a World War II Love Story by Joseph and David Zellnik and was nominated for a 2010 Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Best Featured Actor in a musical as well as a 2010 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Choreography.
He appeared as Lee Tannen in the World premiere production of I Loved Lucy, a play based on the best selling memoir by Lee Tannen, produced by the Laguna Playhouse in October 2010.
He is the author of A Year With The Producers:One Actor's Exhausting (But Worth It) Journey from Cats to Mel Brooks' Mega-Hit (Routledge, 2002).
Recordings
Face the MusicFace the Music (musical)
Face the Music is a musical, the first collaboration between Moss Hart and Irving Berlin . Face the Music opened on Broadway in 1932, and has had several subsequent regional and New York stagings...
(Encores! Cast Recording)
Irving Berlin's White Christmas
White Christmas (musical)
White Christmas is a musical based on the Paramount Pictures 1954 film of the same name. The libretto is by David Ives and Paul Blake, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin...
(Studio Cast Recording)
Stage Door Canteen: Broadway Responds to World War II (92nd Street Y Concert Cast Recording)
The Producers
The Producers
The Producers commonly refers to Mel Brooks' series of comedic works about two con-men who attempt to cheat theater investors out of their money, only to have the scheme improbably backfire:...
(Original Broadway Cast)
How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name....
(1995 Revival Cast Recording)