Andrew Rannells

Andrew Rannells
Falsettos – 2016 Broadway
Born	Andrew Scott Rannells (1978-08-23) August 23, 1978 Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Residence	New York City, New York, United States
Education	Creighton Preparatory School
Alma mater	Marymount Manhattan College
Occupation	Actor, voice actor, singer
Years active	1995–present
Known for	Elder Price, The Book of Mormon. Whizzer Falsettos
Television	The New Normal Girls
Awards	Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album The Book of Mormon

Andrew Scott Rannells (born August 23, 1978) is an American actor, voice actor, and singer.

Rannells is known for his Tony-nominated performance as Elder Price in the 2011 Broadway musical The Book of Mormon. As a featured soloist on the musical’s original Broadway cast recording, he won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Rannells received his second Tony nomination in 2017 for his performance as Whizzer in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos.

Rannells’ other Broadway credits include Hairspray, Hamilton, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Jersey Boys, and Falsettos.

Early life

Rannells was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Charlotte and Ronald Rannells.[1] He is the fourth of five siblings, with three sisters and an older brother.[1] His family has an Irish and Polish background.[2]

Rannells attended Our Lady of Lourdes grade school and then Creighton Prep,[1] an all-boys Catholic school in Omaha.[2][3] His family lived in the Hanscom Park neighborhood in Omaha.[1]

As a child, Rannells took classes at the Emmy Gifford Children’s Theater and performed at the Omaha Community Playhouse and the Firehouse Dinner Theatre and the Dundee Dinner Theatre.[1][4] Rannells was 11 when he did his first play. He did community theater with Conor Oberst.[5] Rannells also did voice-over work and commercials, including a 1996 Grease spoof with Amy Adams.[2]

Rannells moved to New York City in 1997 after high school, studying theater at Marymount Manhattan College for two years before he started auditioning full-time and was landing roles.[6]

Career

For about three years, from 2001–04, he worked with 4Kids Entertainment, a New York City animation production company, where his Omaha voice-over work served him well. He also directed a small number of video games, “Kirby” and “Sonic the Hedgehog.”[1]

As a voice actor, Rannells appeared in several 4Kids and DiC television programs and video games, such as Yu-Gi-Oh![5] Before winning his first Broadway role, Rannells took part in a number of regional theater productions, including Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Miss Saigon, and Thoroughly Modern Millie.[7] For his turn as Hedwig at the Zachary Scott Theater Center in Austin, Texas, in 2002,[8] Rannells was nominated for and won for best actor in a musical at the B. Iden Payne Awards in September 2002, which honor outstanding achievements in Austin theater.[9] In 2006, he won the role of Link Larkin in the Broadway production of Hairspray.[10] This was his first Broadway show, what he considers his big break. Rannells followed this with some regional performances.[2]

Rannells in 2009

Rannells played Bob Gaudio in the First National Tour of Jersey Boys. His last performance with the tour was on December 6, 2008, in Toronto. In January 2009, he reprised the role of Gaudio in the musical’s Broadway production.

Rannells originated the role of Elder Price in The Book of Mormon, a musical written by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. For his performance, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for his performance in the musical’s Original Broadway Cast Recording. His last performance was June 10, 2012.[11] Rannells played a stripper in the 2012 film Bachelorette[12] and played a lead character, Bryan Collins, in the 2012–13 television series The New Normal.[13][14]

Rannells played the recurring role of Elijah on the HBO television series Girls.[15]

Rannells temporarily replaced Jonathan Groff in the role of King George III in Hamilton on Broadway from October 27 to November 29, 2015, while Groff fulfilled pre-arranged filming commitments.[16]

Rannells played the role of “Whizzer” in the Broadway revival of Falsettos directed by James Lapine. He was joined by Christian Borle and Stephanie J. Block who play Marvin and Trina, respectively.[17] The musical ran from September 29, 2016 (previews) to January 8, 2017.[18][19]

Personal life

Rannells is openly gay.[20] He knew he was gay since high school.[2] Rannells said he came out to his family when he was 18, but by then they had already figured it out.[21] He also came out to his theater friends but not the people at his all-boys Catholic school.[2] Rannells currently lives in New York City after temporarily relocating to Los Angeles to film The New Normal.[2]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
2010	Sex and the City 2	Wedding Chorus
2012	Bachelorette	Manny
2015	The Intern	Cameron
2016	Why Him?	Blaine Pederman

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995–97	Street Sharks	Streex, Shrimp Louie (voices)	Lead role
1999	Archie’s Weird Mysteries	Archie Andrews (voice)	Lead role
2000	Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters	Mako Tsunami, Noah Kaiba, Leon von Schroeder/Leon Wilson (voices: English dub)	Recurring roles
2001	Cubix	Connor	Lead role
2001	Shaman King	Len Tao (voice, English dub)	Lead role
2002	Ultimate Muscle	Additional voices	Recurring role
2002	Knight Hunters Eternity	Toudou Hijiri
2002	Tokyo Mew Mew	Dren, Wesley J. Coolridge III (voices: English dub)	Lead role
2002	Liberty’s Kids	Alexander Hamilton (voice)	Guest role
2003	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Additional voices	Recurring role
2004	One Piece	Young Roronoa Zoro (voice, 4Kids English dub)	Guest role
2005	Yu-Gi-Oh! GX	Wheeler the Chimpanzee, Belowski, Additional voices	Recurring role
2012–17	Girls	Elijah Krantz	Recurring role (season 1–3) Main role (season 4–6)
2012–13	The New Normal	Bryan Collins	Lead role
2013	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Quinn Abernathy	Episode: “Clark Gregg Wears a Navy Blazer & White Collared Shirt”
2013–14	How I Met Your Mother	Darren	2 episodes
2015	Glee	Himself	Episode: “Dreams Come True”
2015	The Knick	Frazier H. Wingo	4 episodes
2016	The Simpsons	Himself (voice)	Episode: “How Lisa Got Her Marge Back”
2016	Another Period	Bertram Harrison Fusselforth VII	3 episodes
2016	Sofia the First	Morris (voice)	Episode: “Beauty Is the Beast”
2016	Drunk History	John A. Roebling	Episode: “Landmarks”
2017	Welcome to the Wayne	Andrei (voice)	3 episodes
2017	Big Mouth	Matthew (voice)	8 episodes
2017	Vampirina	King Peppy (voice)	Episode: “The Plant Predicament/Mummy Mayhem”
2017	Will & Grace	Reggie	Episode: “Grandpa Jack”

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2004	Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monster Coliseum	Mako Tsunami
2006	Bully	Bif Taylor
2016	Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links	Mako Tsunami

Theater

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000–01	Pokémon Live!	James	Baritone/Tenor
2005	Hairspray	Fender, Link Larkin	Replacement roles[22]
2006	The 60’s Project	Performer	Chester, CT (Regional): World Premiere
2007	Jersey Boys	Bob Gaudio	US Tour: 1st National Tour, replacement role[23]
2010	Lysistrata Jones	Michelangelo “Mick” Jackson	Originated role[24]
2011	The Book of Mormon	Elder Price	Originated role
2014	Hedwig and the Angry Inch	Hedwig	Replacement
2015	Hamilton	King George III	Temporary five-week replacement
2016	Falsettos	Whizzer	Broadway revival
2018	Boys in the Band	Larry	Broadway revival

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2011	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	The Book of Mormon	Nominated
2011	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical		Nominated
2012	Grammy Award	Best Musical Theater Album		Won
2013	OFTA Award	Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Girls	Nominated
	Gold Derby Awards	Best Comedy Guest Actor	Girls	Nominated
	Dorian Awards	Rising Star		Nominated
2014	Gold Derby Award	Best Comedy Guest Actor	Girls	Nominated
2014	Critics’ Choice Television Award	Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series	Girls	Nominated
2015	Broadway.com Audience Awards	Favorite Replacement (Male)	Hedwig and the Angry Inch	Nominated
2016		Favorite Replacement (Male)	Hamilton	Nominated
2017		Favorite Featured Actor in a Musical	Falsettos	Won
2017	Tony Award	Best Performance by Featured Actor in a Musical	Falsettos	Nominated

References

Fischbach, Bob (May 1, 2011). “He has drive — and now Broadway”. Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
Taylor, Aisha (February 11, 2014). “girl on guy 126: andrew rannells” (audio podcast). girl on guy. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
Miller, Bruce R. (2011). “‘Nebraska native finds stardom in ‘Book of Mormon'”. Sioux City Journal. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
Francke, Warren (September 9, 2012). “Omaha’s Andy Now in New Normal: Oompa-Loompa Before Mormon Missionary”. The Reader (Omaha). Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
Rapkin, Mickey (9 June 2011). “Q&A: The Book of Mormon’s Andrew Rannells”. GQ. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
Yi, David (June 9, 2011). “‘The Book of Mormon’ star Andrew Rannells: college dropout turned actor gets suited up for the Tonys”. NY Daily News. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
Broadway.com Staff (30 December 2008). “Andrew Rannells Tapped to Play Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys”. Broadway Buzz. Broadway.com. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
[1]
Faires, Robert (4 October 2002). “Articulations”. The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
Truitt, Brian (June 9, 2011). “Rannells relishes first Tony nomination”. USA Today. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
Hetrick, Adam (June 6, 2012). “”Two By Two”: Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells Will Be Succeeded By Jared Gertner and Nic Rouleau in Book of Mormon“. Playbill. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
Ganz, Andrew (10 August 2012). “Book of Mormon’s Andrew Rannells Takes It Off in “Bachelorette” Film; Comedy Available on VOD Aug. 10″. Playbill. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
Goldberg, Lesley (February 22, 2012). “‘The Hangover Star Joins NBC’s Ryan Murphy Comedy”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
Miller, Bruce (November 24, 2012). “Andrew Rannells sends up boss in ‘New Normal'”. Sioux City Journal. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
Lynch, Matthew (April 28, 2011). “Andrew Rannells: Keeping the Faith”. Women’s Wear Daily. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
“Tony Nominee Andrew Rannells Will Step In for Jonathan Groff in Hamilton on Broadway”. Broadway.com. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
Paulson, Michael. “‘Falsettos’ Revival Casts Its Leads: Christian Borle, Andrew Rannells and Stephanie J. Block” The New York Times, March 31, 2016
Gans, Andrew. “Marvin’s Back with Whizzer, as ‘Falsettos’ Revival Begins” Playbill, September 29, 2016
Hetrick, Adam. “13 Shows Close as Broadway Gears Up for a Packed Spring” Playbill, December 29, 2016
Siegel, Miranda (May 29, 2012). “Andrew Rannells on His Girls Character, Slapping Marnie, and His New Ryan Murphy Show”. Vulture-New York. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
Martin, Denise (January 29, 2013). “Andrew Rannells: The Boy Scout With the Dirty Mouth”. Vulture-New York. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
Joy, Cara (November 11, 2005). “Andrew Rannells to Star as Hairspray’s Next Link Larkin”. broadway.com. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
^ Aradi, Cathi (March 3, 2008). “JBB EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Andrew Rannells!”. jerseyboysblog.com. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
Liner, Elaine (28 January 2010). “The Dallas Theater Center’s World Premiere, Give It Up! Asks The Audience To Give Up More Than Two And A Half Hours To Its Redbull-buzzed Idiocy”. Dallas Observer. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
Full refereneces at WIKI