Michael Rupert

Hello friends!

Today's episode is pretty special. They say don't meet your heroes. That is, unless they are Michael Rupert. Then you are in for a real treat. It was such a pleasure having Michael on, and he shares some invaluable insight on sustaining a lifelong career in this industry.

Michael John Rupert is an American actor, singer, director and composer. In 1968, he made his Broadway debut in The Happy Time as Bibi Bonnard for which he received a Tony Award nomination and the Theater World Award. He originated the role of "Marvin" in the William Finn musicals March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland. Rupert has been the nominee and recipient of several Tony and Drama Desk awards.

Theater Credits Include:

The Happy Time - Bibi Bonnar (Original Broadway Cast)
Pippin  - Pippin (replacement)
Shakespeare's Cabaret - Michael
March of the Falsettos - Marvin (Original Cast)
Sweet Charity - Oscar (revival)
Mail - Alex
City of Angels - Stine (replacement)
Falsettoland - Marvin (Original Cast)
Falsettos - Marvin (Original Cast)
Ragtime - Tateh (replacement)
Elegies: A Song Cycle - Original Performer
Legally Blonde - Professor Callahan (Original Broadway Cast)
Monarch - Kenneth Sharpe
On The Town - Judge Pitkin (revival)

Directing

• In 1997, Rupert directed an Off-Broadway production of  The Lunch Anxieties by Larry Kunofsky at the Harold Clurman Theatre. 
• He directed J. Arlington Meyrelles III's musical, The Stars In Your Eyes, in an Equity workshop production in 1998.
•  Rupert directed Thrill Me: Leopold & Loeb Story (2005) at the York Theatre.

Composing

• Rupert composed the music, with book and lyrics by Jerry Colker, to the 1985 Off-Broadway music 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down, which won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book and was nominated for Outstanding Music.
• The score for Mail (1988) was also written by Rupert with Colker once again writing the book and lyrics. 
• Rupert wrote the score to Strange Vacation (1998) and collaborated with Allan Heinberg. 
• He composed the score and co-wrote the book and lyrics with Matthew Riopelle for the musical Streets of America (2007).
• On August 18, 2008 the number "Racing to the Moon" was released Footlight Label as a single featuring three different performances: one by Rupert, another by actor Sebastian Arcelus, and an instrumental version by the guitarist David Timmons. 
• His debut single, "Racing to the Moon" was released on August 18, 2008 on the Footlight label.

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