Wesley Taylor

Wesley Taylor
Born (1986-08-13) August 13, 1986 (age 38)
Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S.
EducationUniversity of North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA)
Occupation(s)Actor, singer, writer, dancer
Years active2008–present
PartnerIsaac Cole Powell (2017–2021)
AwardsTheatre World Award (Rock of Ages)

Wesley Taylor (born August 13, 1986) is an American stage actor and writer, best known for his work in musical theatre and television.

Theatre career

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In summer 2008, Taylor performed in Barrington Stage Company's production of the musical See Rock City and Other Destinations.[1] The show won Richard Rodgers and Jerry Bock Awards.[2] Taylor made his Broadway debut in the rock musical Rock of Ages, where he originated the role of the German city developer Franz.[3][4] He won a Theatre World Award for this role and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award.[5]

His second major role on Broadway was as Lucas Beineke, Wednesday's love interest, in the musical The Addams Family, a role he originated after previously playing the role in the 2009 Chicago production of the show.[6][7][8] The show premiered on Broadway in April 2010, with Taylor appearing alongside Krysta Rodriguez, who played Wednesday Addams, Lucas' love interest.[4][6] He left the role on March 8, 2011.[9]

On March 7, 2011, Taylor played the title role alongside Lauren Molina in a reading for a stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, penned by playwright Michael Raver.[10] On April 2, 2011, Taylor, Erin Davie, Ann Harada, Kendrick Jones, and Burke Moses performed the concert, Broadway Tribute in Northport, Long Island at the Engeman Theater. The concert performance featured "the performers re-creating songs they performed on Broadway."[11][12]

He then starred as Michael "Mouse" Tolliver in the world-premiere musical Tales of the City (based on the book series by Armistead Maupin), which began performances on May 18, 2011, in San Francisco at the American Conservatory Theater, directed by Jason Moore.[13] After three extensions, Tales of the City closed on July 31, 2011.[14]

Taylor played the role of God in An Act of God in 2016 at the Denver Center.[15] Taylor played the role of Sheldon Plankton opposite Stephanie Hsu as Karen Plankton in the Broadway musical adaptation of SpongeBob SquarePants,[16] which opened on December 4, 2017.[17] Taylor played the role of The Mad Hatter in Alice by Heart at the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater, which opened on February 26, 2019.[18]

Other projects

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He has appeared on television in One Life to Live, Live! with Regis and Kelly, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien.[19] Taylor played Bobby on NBC series Smash.[20] Taylor co-wrote and starred alongside Alex Wyse in the webseries "Indoor Boys", playing the character Luke.

Since early 2009, Taylor and former Rock of Ages co-stars have maintained a YouTube web series titled Billy Green.[21][22] The series deals with an up-and-coming actor Billy Green, who arrives in New York City but has no idea how to act around established performers, constantly giving away his resume. Billy Green's main cast stars Taylor as Billy and Jackie Hoffman[23] as his over-protective mother. The idea came about during Taylor's senior year at drama school:

... I was looking for a short comic scene for the showcase, our presentation for casting directors and agencies. I could not find anything that I thought was funny enough or not overdone. My classmate E.J. Cantu and I wrote a scene called "The Audition," revolving around a guy named Carson who is auditioning for Death of a Salesman and a clueless, brand-new-to-the-city boy named Billy who sits next to Carson in the waiting room. That sketch became the premise for the pilot of Billy Green.[24]

Taylor also participated in a reading for a play called A Dog's Tale (or The Thing About Getting) at the Kennedy Center.[25][26] In addition, Taylor has written several short plays: Star-Crossed, The Game, and The Delivery Boy.[27] His latest project, What's So Funny?, received a developmental reading on August 12, 2011, at Ripley-Grier Studios in Manhattan.[28]

Personal life

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Taylor was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey,[4] and raised in Orlando, Florida. He is half Puerto Rican,[29] and his parents once resided in China, where they taught at a university: "[I]t's kind of hard for them to come and see the shows I'm in. I always get a little jealous of other people's families ... But my parents – I love them and I totally respect them. They kind of didn't want to settle into being bored in middle age, and they wanted to start over and move to a different country."[30]

Taylor graduated from the theatre magnet at Dr. Phillips High School and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from North Carolina School of the Arts.[31] At the latter, Taylor performed as Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2 and Action in West Side Story.[32]

Taylor is openly gay.[33] In 2016, Taylor met Isaac Cole Powell, when Taylor was visiting his alma mater North Carolina School of the Arts, where Powell was a junior in the school's theatre program.[34] The two then began a relationship in 2017 and were engaged in May 2019. Their relationship ended in 2021.[citation needed]

Theater credits

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Year Title Role Theatre Director(s)
2008-09 Rock of Ages Franz New World Stages Kristin Hanggi
2009 Brooks Atkinson Theatre
2009–10 The Addams Family Lucas Beineke Oriental Theatre Julian Crouch and Phelim McDermott
2010-11 Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
2011 Tales of the City Michael American Conservatory Theater Jason Moore
2013 Little Miss Sunshine Josh / Kirby Second Stage Theater James Lapine
2015 Cabaret The Emcee Signature Theatre Matthew Gardiner
2016-17 An Act of God God Garner Galleria Theatre Geoffrey Kent
2017-18 SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical Sheldon Plankton Palace Theatre Tina Landau
2019 Alice by Heart Mad Hatter / Harold Pudding / Mock Turtle / Pigeon / Knave of Spades MCC Theater Jessie Nelson
The Who's Tommy Kevin Kennedy Center Joshua Rhodes
2021-22 Assassins Giuseppe Zangara Classic Stage Company John Doyle
2023 The 12 Tom Goodspeed Opera House

[35][36]

Filmography

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Films

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Year Title Role Notes
2014 Lucky Stiff Train waiter
2017 Wildman Wildman Short film
2020 The Surrogate Dave

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2010 Billy Green Billy Green 10 episodes
2011 One Life to Live Barton Episode dated 02.15
2012–13 Smash Bobby 26 episodes
2014 The Tomorrow People Monty the Magnificent Episode: "Smoke and Mirrors"
2015 Looking Milo Episode: "Looking for Home"
The Good Wife Todd Dipple Episode: "Loser Edit"
2017 I'm Dying Up Here Ken Episode: "Girls Are Funny, Too"
Difficult People Lyle Episode: "Bernie and Blythe"
2017–19 Indoor Boys Luke 24 episodes
2019–20 The Two Princes Prince Darling of the North 7 episodes
2023 Only Murders in the Building Clifford "Cliff" DeMeo 6 episodes
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Production History". seerockcitymusical.com.
  2. ^ Murray, Larry (August 19, 2008). "See Rock City & Other Destinations at Barrington Stage Company". Berkshire Fine Arts.
  3. ^ Varley, Eddie (December 18, 2008). "ROCK OF AGES Storms To Broadway 4/7, Previews Begin 3/20". BroadwayWorld.
  4. ^ a b c Vire, Kris (October 22, 2009). "The Addams Family: Q&A With Krysta Rodriguez and Wesley Taylor". Time Out Chicago. Archived from the original on June 30, 2010. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  5. ^ "Wesley Taylor". Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012.
  6. ^ a b Jones, Kenneth (February 26, 2009). "Addams Family Musical to Star Lane, Neuwirth, Carmello, Hoffman, Chamberlin and More". Playbill. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  7. ^ Jones, Kenneth (March 8, 2010). "Lane and Neuwirth Lead The Addams Family to Broadway, Starting March 8". Playbill. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  8. ^ Mellini, Michael (July 30, 2010). "What's Up, Wesley Taylor? The Addams Star on Family Life, Being Beautiful and Making the Stage His Playground". Broadway.com.
  9. ^ Jones, Kenneth (February 4, 2011). "Brad Oscar Will Play Uncle Fester in Addams Family; Blickenstaff, Grupper, Potter Join Cast". Playbill. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  10. ^ Gans, Andrew (March 7, 2011). "Wesley Taylor, Lauren Molina Uncover the Picture of Dorian Gray at March 7 Reading". Playbill. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  11. ^ Hetrick, Adam (March 9, 2011). "Erin Davie, Ann Harada, Burke Moses, Wesley Taylor to Perform Broadway in Long Island". Playbill. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  12. ^ "Wesley Taylor, Ann Harada, et al. Set for Engeman's BROADWAY TRIBUTE". BroadwayWorld Long Island. April 2, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  13. ^ "Judy Kaye, Wesley Taylor and More to Tell Tales of the City in San Francisco". Broadway.com. March 18, 2011.
  14. ^ "American Conservatory Theater: Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City – A New Musical". Act-sf.org. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  15. ^ Gioia, Michael (October 15, 2016). "Wesley Taylor Is God in An Act of God, Beginning Tonight". Playbill. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  16. ^ Weiss, Hedy (June 19, 2016). "Feel-good 'SpongeBob Musical' rumbles, toils and bubbles". Chicago Sun-Times.
  17. ^ Rosky, Nicole (June 5, 2017). "Breaking: SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS Will Open at the Palace Theatre This Fall!". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  18. ^ Lefkowitz, Andy (December 6, 2018). "Full Cast Set for Alice by Heart Musical from Spring Awakening & Waitress Writers". Broadway.com. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  19. ^ "Tales of the City". Playbill. June 2011.
  20. ^ Gans, Andrew (December 2, 2011). "Addams Family Star Wesley Taylor Will Have Recurring Role on NBC's "Smash"". Playbill. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  21. ^ "Kanaal van RockofAgesProd". YouTube. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  22. ^ "The Addams Family's Wesley Taylor Lands an Agent in New Web Spoof". Broadway.com. August 9, 2010. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  23. ^ "STAGE TUBE: Hoffman, Taylor Lead 'Billy Green' Webisode – Episode 4". BroadwayWorld. August 23, 2010. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  24. ^ "Billy Green : Behind the Scenes". Billygreen.tv. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  25. ^ Propst, Andy (September 1, 2010). "Patrick Heusinger, Phoebe Strole, Wesley Taylor, et al. Set for A Dog's Tale Reading". TheaterMania.
  26. ^ Peter, Thomas (September 1, 2010). "Patrick Heusinger, Pheobe Strole, Wesley Taylor to Participate in Reading of A Dog's Tale". Playbill. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  27. ^ Wolman, Lauren (August 7, 2011). "Wesley Taylor's New Play Gets Developmental Reading; Features Mike Wartella, Matthew Gumley et al". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  28. ^ Gans, Andrew (August 8, 2011). "Reading of Wesley Taylor's What's So Funny? to Feature Max Von Essen, Rachel de Benedet and More". Playbill. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  29. ^ "Not archived". Retrieved March 13, 2023.[dead link‍]
  30. ^ Nondorf, Tom (April 8, 2010). "THE LEADING MEN: Kevin Chamberlin and Wesley Taylor of The Addams Family". Playbill. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  31. ^ Wesley Taylor. Theatre Mania Celebrities.
  32. ^ "UNCSA Alumni Win Theatre World Awards". University of North Carolina School of the Arts. May 20, 2009. Archived from the original on February 11, 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
  33. ^ "Wesley Taylor Boyfriend, Engaged, Gay, Affair, Net Worth, Family". liverampup.com. June 5, 2019.
  34. ^ "Broadway First Dates: Wesley Taylor and Isaac Powell". YouTube. March 14, 2018. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.
  35. ^ "Wesley Taylor". Playbill.
  36. ^ "Wesley Taylor". BroadwayWorld.
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