American actor
Randy Harrison
Harrison in 2007
Born (1977-11-02 ) November 2, 1977 (age 46) Education University of Cincinnati (BFA )Occupation Actor Years active 1985–present
Randolph Clarke Harrison [ 1] (born November 2, 1977)[ 1] is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Justin Taylor on the Showtime drama Queer as Folk .
Early life and college
Harrison was born in Nashua, New Hampshire , where he starting acting early. He attended Bicentennial Elementary School and starred as Peter Pan in the school play. He was also active in the Actorsingers and played Winthrop in a 1987 production of The Music Man .[ 2] He moved to Alpharetta, Georgia , with his family at age eleven.[ 3] He attended Pace Academy , a private prep school in Atlanta .[ 4] His father is an executive with a large paper company, while he has described his mother as a "thwarted artist."[ 5] His only sibling, an older brother, is a bank manager.[ 5]
Harrison attended the University of Cincinnati 's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in musical theatre . During his time at CCM, Harrison starred in university productions such as Hello Again , Shopping and Fucking , and Children of Eden . He also had roles in other theatrical venues across the U.S., in productions such as Violet at the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati , 1776 at the St. Louis Municipal Theatre and West Side Story at the Forestburg Playhouse, as well as productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream , The Real Inspector Hound and A Cheever Evening .
Career
Harrison made his television debut playing Justin Taylor , a gay teen, in 2000's American version of Queer as Folk , based on the British television series . The series ran for five seasons, ending in 2005. In 2002, Harrison played the character Sean in Bang Bang You're Dead , a made-for-television movie based on the play of the same name. Harrison stars as Brutus in cinematographer/director/writer Patrick Donelley's postmodern feature film adaptation of Julius Caesar opposite actor John Shea as the title role.
In 2002, Harrison starred in the play Deviant at the New York International Fringe Festival . In summer 2004, Harrison made his Broadway debut as Boq in the musical Wicked . His Off Broadway credits include A Letter for Ethel Kennedy (MCC Theater, 2002), the Father in Oak Tree (Perry Street Theatre, 2006), Young Spencer in Edward II (Red Bull Theatre, 2007–08), Eros in Antony and Cleopatra (Theatre for a New Audience, 2008), Laszlo Fickes/Gerhardt Zeitzler in A Singing Forest (Public Theatre, 2009), and Kevin Adams-Weller in Harbor (Primary Stages , 2013). Harrison has also done several staged readings for Red Bull Theatre and starred in their "In the Raw" workshop production of A Tyger's Heart in February 2011.
Harrison has a substantial résumé in regional theatre, most prominently as a featured player since 2005 at the Berkshire Theatre Festival . Roles with BTF include Alan Strang in Equus (2005), the title role in Amadeus (2006), Bill Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (2007), Frank Gardner in Mrs. Warren's Profession (2007), Lucky in Waiting for Godot (2008), Osvald Alving in Ghosts (2009), Nagg in Endgame (2010), and the title character in The Who's "Tommy " (2011). Other regional theatre credits include Lysander/Thisbe/Cobweb in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival production of A Midsummer Night's Dream , presented in spring 2006 by the SITI Company (where Harrison has studied extensively through Skidmore College and in Manhattan ); Tom in the Guthrie Theater 's production of The Glass Menagerie (2007); Andy Warhol in the Yale Repertory Theatre 's production of Pop! (2009); Sebastian in the Shakespeare Theatre Company 's production of Twelfth Night (2010); Tim in the Studio Theatre 's production of Habit of Art ; and Ken in the George Street Playhouse 's production of Red (2012).
In 2006, Harrison co-founded the Arts Bureau (tAB) [1] , an umbrella organization encompassing theatre, film, music, and writing. In July 2007, he starred in tAB's first production, a heartwarming story, ultimately , based on the work of Anton Chekhov . In late 2007/early 2008, Harrison shot and starred in the first tAB short film , Thinking , which has been shown at several film festivals . In Summer 2008, tAB shot its first feature film Lorton Lake .
Personal life
Harrison, who is gay, dated Advertising Age columnist Simon Dumenco from 2002 to 2008; the two met when Dumenco interviewed Harrison for a New York magazine cover story.[ 6] [ 7] [ 8] As of December 2009, Harrison lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn , with his cats Ella and Aggie.[ 9]
Filmography
Television
Film
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2002
Bang Bang You're Dead
Sean
Television film
2008
Thinking...
"Boy"
2010
Julius Caesar
Brutus
2011
Lorton Lake
2012
Gayby
Barman
Cameo appearance
2014
Such Good People
Alex Reardon
2015
Sam & Julia
Sam
2015
Photo OP
Jacob
Theater
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1985
Oliver
Child Chorus
Actorsingers, Nashua, NH
1987
Music Man
Winthrop
Actorsingers, Nashua, NH
Hello Again
Young Thing
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)
Shopping and Fucking
Robbie
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)
Children of Eden
Abel
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)
The Hot Mikado
Gentleman from Japan
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)
Rags
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)
1999
Violet
Billy Dean
Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati
1999
1776
The Courier
St. Louis Municipal Theater
Grease
St. Louis Municipal Theater
Anything Goes
St. Louis Municipal Theater
West Side Story
Action
Forestburg Playhouse
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Benjamin
Forestburg Playhouse
Babes in Arms
Lee Calhoun
Forestburg Playhouse
Cabaret
Forestburg Playhouse
The Real Inspector Hound
A Cheever Evening
2002
Deviant
2004
Wicked
Boq
Broadway
2005
Equus
Alan Strang
Berkshire Theatre Festival
2006
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Lysander/Thisbe/Cobweb
2006
Amadeus
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Berkshire Theatre Festival
2006
An Oak Tree
The father
A Letter From Ethel Kennedy
2007
The Glass Menagerie
Young Tom
Guthrie Theater
2007
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Billy Bibbit
Berkshire Theatre Festival
2007
Mrs. Warren's Profession
Frank Gardner
Berkshire Theatre Festival
2007/2008
Edward the Second
Young Spencer
2008
Antony and Cleopatra
Eros
April/May
2008
Waiting for Godot
Lucky
Summer Berkshire Theatre Festival
2009
The Singing Forest
Laszlo Fickes/Gerhardt Zeitzler
April/MayThe Public Theater
2009
Ghosts
Oswald
Summer Berkshire Theatre Festival
2009
POP!
Andy Warhol
FallYale Repertory Theatre
2010
Caligula by Albert Camus
Scipio
January Red Bull Theatre Revelations Reading
2010
Endgame
Nagg
Summer Berkshire Theatre Festival
2011
The Who's Tommy
Tommy
Summer Berkshire Theatre Festival
2011
The Habit of Art
Tim
Fall The Studio Theatre
2012
Red
Ken
January 31 - February 26 at George Street Playhouse March 23 - April 4 at Allen Theatre , Cleveland
2012
Silence! The Musical
Dr. Chilton
July 18 - September 9 at Elektra Theater, NYC
2013
Harbor
Kevin
July 23 - September 8 by Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters, NYC
2014
Atomic Musical
Paul Tibbets and Edward Teller[ 11]
June 26 - August 16 The Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row[ 12]
2014
Amadeus
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
October 9–26 Ensemble Theater Co. at The New Vic, Santa Barbara, CA
2016
Cabaret [ 13]
Emcee
January 26, 2016 - February 19, 2017 Roundabout Theater Co. Nat'l Tour
2017
Sunday in the Park with George
George
June 17 - August 20, 2017 Guthrie Theater
2017
Rocky Horror Show
Frank-N-Furter
13–29 October 2017 Bucks County Playhouse
2018
Angels in America
Prior Walter
April 17 - July 22, 2018Berkeley Rep
2018
Christmas on the Rocks[ 14] [ 15]
Tiny Tim, Charlie Brown, Ralphie, Hermie
27 Nov- 23 Dec,2018Theater Works Hartford [ 16]
2019
Cabaret[ 17]
Emcee
17 Jul - 10 Aug, 2019
Ogunquit Playhouse
2021
Cock [ 18]
John
Studio Theatre
2022
...what the end will be[ 19]
Charles
May 12 - July 10, 2022
Laura Pels Theatre
References
^ a b "Randy Harrison - Biography" . IMDb, Inc . Amazon. Retrieved August 20, 2010 .
^ "The Music Man (1987)" . The Actorsingers . Retrieved September 29, 2021 .
^ "Randy Harrison's biography" . Showtime . Archived from the original on February 19, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
^ "SPEED READS" , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , April 12, 2001. Accessed November 9, 2007. " Harrison, a 1996 graduate of Pace Academy in Buckhead, stars in Showtime's "Queer as Folk," which depicts the lives and loves of a group of gay men and lesbians."
^ a b "Windy City Times interview" . Archived from the original on 2007-10-15.
^ "NY Mirror" . The Village Voice . 30 March 2004.
^ "Simon Dumenco - I Want Media" . I Want Media. 28 April 2004.
^ "Gay Celebrity Boyfriends" . AfterElton.
^ Gates, Anita (2009-12-13). "A Musical's Star Plays, and Admires, Warhol" . The New York Times .
^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (May 1, 2015). "USA Network's Mr. Robot Adds Shield, Queer as Folk and Smash Alums" . TV Line. Retrieved May 1, 2015 .
^ Mandell, Jonathan (June 13, 2014). "Randy Harrison's Manhattan Project" . New York Theater. Retrieved June 18, 2014 .
^ "Randy Harrison Replaces Preston Sadleir in New Off-Broadway Musical ATOMIC" . Broadway World . May 2, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2014 .
^ "Cabaret the Musical - Tony Award Winner Best Musical Revival" . Cabaret the Musical . Retrieved 30 November 2017 .
^ "Randy Harrison Joins The Cast Of CHRISTMAS ON THE ROCKS" . Broadway World . Retrieved 2018-12-18 .
^ Rizzo, Frank. "Randy Harrison Taps Into His Loopy Side for Holiday Show" . Zip06.com . Retrieved 2018-12-18 .
^ "CHRISTMAS ON THE ROCKS" . theaterworkshartford.org . Retrieved 2018-12-18 .
^ Marois, Dan. "BWW Review: CABARET at Ogunquit Playhouse" . Broadway World . Retrieved 2019-07-23 .
^ "Randy Harrison isn't taking any chances with his career" . Metro Weekly . 2021-04-12. Retrieved 2022-05-27 .
^ "...what the end will be" . www.roundabouttheatre.org . Retrieved 2022-05-27 .
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