Jason Graae | |
---|---|
Born |
Chicago, Illinois |
May 15, 1958
Education |
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre (1980) University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music |
Occupation | Stage, film, and television actor |
Home town | Tulsa, Oklahoma |
Awards |
Bistro Awards (4) Ovation Awards (2) Joel Hirschhorn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre Artistic Director's Achievement Award New York Nightlife Awards (2) |
Website | http://www.jasongraae.com |
Jason Graae (pronounced "grah" or "graw", but not "gray") (born 15 May 1958) is an American musical theater actor, best known for his musical theater performances but with a varied career spanning Broadway, opera, television and film. He has won four Bistro Awards, two Ovation Awards, two New York Nightlife Awards and the Joel Hirschhorn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre.
Though he was born in Chicago, Graae was educated in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at Edison Preparatory School where he played the oboe, acted in plays, and sang in the chorus. He appeared in a production of the musical George M! in the seventh grade. Following his passion for music, Graae went to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, hoping to become a concert oboist, but did not like his instructor's approach. He transferred to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music only to have his previous instructor move there as well. Taking this as "a sign from the musical gods", he pursued a career in musical theatre instead. He graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre from the now-merged University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music.
His mother was a dancer in Broadway musicals who moved to Europe after marrying his father; they fled from the Nazis in World War II and returned to the United States. His father was also musical, playing cello in a symphony outside Chicago in his spare time (while working as a scientist), and his sister is a classical pianist. Graae's first agent urged him to change his surname to "Grey" but he refused, wanting to honour his Danish father. He described Victor Borge, who came to America on the same boat as his father as both fled the 1940 invasion of Denmark, as his main inspiration. In 2007, his mother moved from Tulsa to Los Angeles to live with Graae and his partner. In an interview he said that "life has indeed upheaved as I know it.... We're thinking of starting a new sitcom called 'Two Gays, a Dog and an Old Lady.'" Graae came out to his mother in 1983, an experience recalled in his two-hander production The Prince and the Showboy with Faith Prince.