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Roger Bart

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Roger Bart
Born (1962-09-29) September 29, 1962 (age 62)
Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S.
EducationRutgers University, New Brunswick (BFA)
Occupation(s)Actor, singer
Years active1987–present
External image
image icon Bart at an event for The Lost Room in 2006

Roger Bart (born September 29, 1962) is an American actor and singer. He won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Snoopy in the 1999 revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Bart received his second Tony Award nomination for playing Carmen Ghia in the original production of The Producers and his third for his performance as "Doc" Brown in Back to the Future: The Musical. His other accolades include a SAG Award and three Outer Critics Circle Award nominations. In 2007, he began a three-year stint as Frederick Frankenstein in the Broadway and touring production of Young Frankenstein.

Bart performed the song "Go the Distance" from the 1997 animated film Hercules, which was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Early life and education

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Bart was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son of a teacher and a chemical engineer, and grew up in Bernardsville, New Jersey.[1][2] His uncle is journalist Peter Bart.[2] He graduated from Bernards High School in 1980 and was later inducted into the school's hall of fame.[3]

He earned his BFA in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in 1985.[4]

Bart was close friends with Jonathan Larson: both worked as waiters between theater jobs and frequently hung out at each other's workplaces. He participated in early presentations of Larson's work including Tick, Tick... Boom! and Rent; the main character "Roger" from Rent is named after him.[5][6]

Career

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He made his Broadway debut in Big River as Tom Sawyer in 1985. Additional theatre credits include Jonathan in the Alan Menken/Tim Rice musical King David, Harlequin in Triumph of Love, Snoopy in the Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (for which he won the Drama Desk Award and a Tony), Carmen Ghia and later Leo Bloom in The Producers (earning Drama Desk and Tony nominations), and The Frogs at Lincoln Center, which reunited him with fellow Producers star Nathan Lane and Susan Stroman.[7]

In 1996 and 1997, Bart appeared as Bud Frump in the USA national tour of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.[8][9][10]

On television, Bart played George Carlin's son on The George Carlin Show (1994), and on Bram & Alice (2002) he portrayed Bram's assistant, Paul Newman. He became widely known to viewers with his portrayal of George Williams, the unhinged homicidal pharmacist in love with Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), on Desperate Housewives, which earned him a SAG Award.[11]

Bart provided the singing voice for teenage Hercules in Disney's Hercules, as well as the singing voice of Scamp in Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure. He was featured in the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives with Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, Christopher Walken and Glenn Close, and in The Producers (2005), in which he reprised his role of "common-law assistant" Carmen Ghia.[11]

In December 2006, Bart played Howard "The Weasel" Montague in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries The Lost Room. In 2007, he starred as Stuart in Hostel: Part II, the sequel to 2005's Hostel, and had supporting roles in American Gangster and Spy School. In 2008, he appeared in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, the sequel to 2004's Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and The Midnight Meat Train.[11]

Bart also originated the lead role of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein in the musical adaptation of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, which opened on Broadway in November 2007, following a run in Seattle. He reprised the role alongside former Broadway co-stars Shuler Hensley and Cory English in the United States national tour that launched in September 2009.[12] He ended his run on August 8, 2010, and was succeeded by Christopher Ryan. Bart originally portrayed the role of Igor in the original workshop read-through.[citation needed]

Brad Oscar and Bart reprised their roles as Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, respectively, in a production of The Producers at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. The show ran from August 23–29, 2010.[13]

In 2011, Bart was cast in the recurring role of Mason Treadwell on the ABC drama series Revenge.[14]

In 2013, Bart was cast in the recurring role of Roger Riskin on the Showtime drama series Episodes.[15]

Bart was originally set to play the dual role of Charles Frohman and Captain James Hook in the 2014 A.R.T. pre-Broadway production of Finding Neverland. He was ultimately replaced by Michael McGrath.[16]

In 2016, Bart returned to Broadway in the musical Disaster![17]

In 2017, Bart was cast in the recurring role of Vice Principal Nero on the second season of the Netflix comedy-drama series A Series of Unfortunate Events.[18]

In 2018, Bart was cast in the main role of Judge Wilson on the Freeform drama series Good Trouble, the spin-off of The Fosters.

In 2019, Bart was cast as Hades in the world premiere of Disney's musical, Hercules.[19] That same year, he was announced to play Dr. Emmett Brown in the musical adaptation of Back to the Future.[20] After playing the role at the Manchester Opera House and West End's Adelphi Theatre, he reprised the part in the Broadway production.[21]

In 2021, Bart cameoed in the film adaptation of Tick, Tick... Boom!, 30 years after performing in the original show with Jonathan Larson.[22] A character in the film played by Joshua Henry is named "Roger" after him, and is loosely inspired by Bart.[23]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1997 Hercules Young Hercules (singing voice)
1999 The Insider Seelbach Hotel Manager
2001 Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure Scamp (singing voice) Direct-to-video
2004 The Stepford Wives Roger Bannister Remake of the 1975 film
2005 The Producers Carmen Ghia Based on the 2001 musical
2006 I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With Burl Canasta
2007 Hostel: Part II Stuart
American Gangster U.S. Attorney
2008 Spy School Principal Hampton
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay Dr. Beecher
The Midnight Meat Train Jurgis
2009 Law Abiding Citizen Brian Bringham
2011 One Night Stand Himself
2012 Excision Bob
Freaky Deaky Jerry Baker
A Green Story Johnson
Smiley Professor Clayton
The Last Man Will Short film
2013 April Apocalypse Jack
Last Vegas Maurice Tischler
2015 Molly Brad Short film
Trumbo Buddy Ross
2016 Internet Famous Chris!
2017 Speech & Debate Principal Bellingham
2018 Ghost Light Henry Asquith
2019 Bayou Tales Adam
2021 Tick, Tick... Boom! Featured Diner
TBA Broadway: The Next Generation Himself Documentary; filming

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1994 The George Carlin Show Ron Blessington Episode: "George Gets a Big Surprise"
2000 Law & Order Alec Hughes Episode: "Surrender Dorothy"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Benjy Dowe Episode: "Closure"
2002 Bram & Alice Paul Recurring role (8 episodes)
2005 Out of Practice Lou Pimsky Episode: "Losing Patients"
International Digital Emmy Awards Himself (host) Television special
2005–2006,
2007, 2012 		Desperate Housewives George Williams 16 episodes (recurring season 1, also starring season 2 episodes 2–9, special guest star season 2 episode 24, uncredited season 8)
2006 The Lost Room Howard 'The Weasel' Montague Television miniseries (2 episodes)
My Ex Life Unknown role Television movie
2009 30 Rock Brad Halster Episode: "Cutbacks"
2010 CSI: Miami Bob Starling 2 episodes
Human Target John Doe Episode: "Dead Head"
2011 Medium Dennis Caruso Episode: "Me Without You"
Traffic Light Marty Episode: "Pilot"
The Event Richard Peel Recurring role (10 episodes)
The Life & Times of Tim Mayor (voice) Episode: "Percey Davis/Boulevard/Cool Uncle Stu Balls"
2012 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Jeffrey Fitzgerald Episode: "Tressed to Kill"
Hot in Cleveland Jimmy Episode: "Claus, Tails & High-Pitched Males: Birthdates 3"
Himself (uncredited) Episode: "Some Like it Hot"
Grimm Constantine Brinkerhof Episode: "Big Feet"
Perception IRS Agent Ethan Kendrick Episode: "Messenger"
Political Animals Barry Harris Television miniseries
Recurring role (6 episodes)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Adam Cain Episode: "Twenty-Five Acts"
Easy to Assemble Howard Friske Recurring role (9 episodes)
2012–2015 Revenge Mason Treadwell Recurring role (11 episodes)
2013 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Rep Episode: "The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award"
2013–2014 How I Met Your Mother Curtis Recurring role (5 episodes)
2014 Jessie Mr. Phil McNichol Episode: "Krumping and Crushing"
The Exes Sam Episode: "When Haskell Met Sammy"
How to Build a Better Boy Dr. James Hartley Television movie
Celebrity Ghost Stories Himself Episode: "Julie White/Roger Bart/Dominique Swain/Thomas Ian Nicholas"
2014–2017 Episodes Roger Riskin Recurring role (11 episodes)
2015 Modern Family Anders Episode: "Valentine's Day 4: Twisted Sister"
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll Jeremy Episode: "Supercalifragilisticjuliefriggingandrews"
Scream Queens Dr. Herfmann Episode: "Chainsaw"
You're the Worst Jonathan R. Strasburg Episode: "All About That Paper"
4th International Academy of Web Television Awards Himself (host) Television special
2016 Doc McStuffins Ferris (voice) Episode: "Blast Off to the Unknown!/Bust a Move"
Code Black Hank Goldman Episode: "What Lies Beneath"
2016–2017 No Tomorrow Cory Casey 2 episodes
Graves Lawrence Mills Recurring role (11 episodes)
2017 Grace and Frankie Steve Clarrington Recurring role (3 episodes)
There's... Johnny! Angelo Recurring role (5 episodes)
2018–2019 A Series of Unfortunate Events Vice Principal Nero 4 episodes
2018 Quantico Fedowitz Episode: "Bullet Train"
Elementary Kip Lowell Episode: "You've Come a Long Way, Baby"
2019–2021 Good Trouble Judge Wilson Series regular (19 episodes)
2019 The Good Fight Brad Cayman Episode: "The One Where Kurt Saves Diane"
2021 The Blacklist Scooter Rovenpor 2 episodes

Theatre

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Year Title Role Venue Notes
1985–1987 Big River Tom Sawyer (replacement) Eugene O'Neill Theatre
1990-1993 Tick, Tick... Boom! Backup singer Second Stage Theater (1990)
Village Gate (1991)
New York Theatre Workshop (1992-93) 		Workshop
1991 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Tobias Ragg New Israeli Opera
1992–1994 The Secret Garden Dickon Touring production
1993–1995 The Who's Tommy Cousin Kevin Touring production
1996–1997 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Bud Frump Touring production
1997 King David Jonathan New Amsterdam Theatre
1997–1998 Triumph of Love Harlequin, the valet Royale Theatre
1999 You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown Snoopy Ambassador Theatre
2001 The Producers Carmen Ghia Cadillac Palace Theatre
2001–2002 St. James Theatre Broadway
2002–2003 Leo Bloom
2003–2004 Carmen Ghia
2004 The Frogs Xanthias Vivian Beaumont Theater
2005 The Producers Leo Bloom St. James Theatre
2006
Young Frankenstein Igor Unknown Workshop
2006–2007 The Producers Leo Bloom St. James Theatre Broadway
2007 Young Frankenstein Frederick Frankenstein Paramount Theatre Seattle, Washington (pre-Broadway try-out)
2007-2009 Hilton Theatre Broadway
2010 Providence Performing Arts Center Broadway Across America tour (First National Tour)
2012 The Producers Carmen Ghia Hollywood Bowl
2016 Disaster! Tony Nederlander Theatre Broadway
2018 Annie Rooster Hannigan Hollywood Bowl
2019 Hercules Hades Delacorte Theatre [19]
2020 Back to the Future:
The Musical 		Dr. Emmett Brown Manchester Opera House
2021–2023 Adelphi Theatre West End
2023–2024 Winter Garden Theatre Broadway

Awards and nominations

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Association Year Category Nominated Work Result
Broadway.com Audience Awards 2024 Favorite Featured Actor in a Musical Back to the Future: The Musical Nominated
Favorite Funny Performance Nominated
Favorite Onstage Pair (with Casey Likes) Nominated
Drama Desk Awards 1999 Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown Won
2001 The Producers Nominated
DVD Exclusive Awards 2001 Best Original Song for "A World Without Fences" Lady and the Tramp 2: Scamp's Adventure Nominated
Online Film & Television Association Awards 1998 Best Music, Original Song for "Go the Distance" Hercules Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2006 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Desperate Housewives Won
Tony Awards 1999 Best Featured Actor in a Musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown Won
2001 The Producers Nominated
2024 Back to the Future: The Musical Nominated

References

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  1. ^ Gardner, Amanda. "THEATER; Tony Awards' New Jersey Ties", The New York Times, July 23, 2008. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
  2. ^ a b Horwitz, Simi (November 8, 2007). "First Banana". Backstage. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  3. ^ Hatala, Greg. "Glimpse of History: Arm-in-arm at commencement", The Star-Ledger, June 23, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2019. "Some of the school's notable alumni include Tony Award-winning actor Roger Bart ('80), John Geils Jr. of the J. Geils Band ('64) and Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep ('67)."
  4. ^ "Roger Bart". IMDb.
  5. ^ McPhee, Ryan. "To Days of Inspiration: Explore the Evolution of Rent Through Jonathan Larson's Own Notes". Playbill. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  6. ^ Buckley, Michael. "STAGE TO SCREENS: Roger Bart Discusses Producers and "Housewives"". Playbill. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  7. ^ Roger Bart at the Internet Broadway Database
  8. ^ Rousuck, J. Wynn (May 31, 1996). "A cheery revival for 'How to Succeed'". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on September 22, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  9. ^ "Ralph Macchio is fun in 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying' Oct. 1-6". sacnews.net. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011.
  10. ^ Berson, Misha (October 10, 1996). "How To Succeed in Show Business ... – Since His 'Karate Kid' Days, Ralph Macchio Has Matured – In Age And Talent". The Seattle Times.
  11. ^ a b c Roger Bart at IMDb
  12. ^ Jones, Kenneth (July 30, 2009). "Together Again: Bart and Hensley Will Tour in Young Frankenstein". Playbill. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  13. ^ "The Producers". Archived from the original on November 16, 2009.
  14. ^ Stanhope, Kate (November 17, 2011). "Desperate Housewives' Roger Bart Uncovers Revealing Revenge Role". Yahoo Entertainment. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  15. ^ Marechal, AJ (June 3, 2013). "Roger Bart to Recur on Showtime's 'Episodes' (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  16. ^ Tony Winner Swap: Michael McGrath To Replace Roger Bart in A.R.T.'s Finding Neverland Opening July 23
  17. ^ Lloyd Webber, Imogen (November 5, 2015). "Look Out! All-Star Disaster! Will Hit Broadway, Starring Adam Pascal, Roger Bart, Faith Prince & More". Broadway.com. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  18. ^ Petski, Denise (June 9, 2017). "'Series Of Unfortunate Events': Nathan Fillion, Tony Hale, Sara Rue, Lucy Punch & Roger Bart Join Season 2 Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  19. ^ a b Evans, Greg (June 20, 2019). "'Hercules' Stage Musical Adaptation Finds Its Strongman: Jelani Alladin Among Cast Announced For Shakespeare In The Park Production". Deadline.
  20. ^ Gans, Andrew (October 15, 2019). "Tony Winner Roger Bart Joins Cast of Back to the Future Musical". Playbill. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  21. ^ Hall, Margaret (March 22, 2023). "Jelani Remy, Liana Hunt, Nathaniel Hackmann, More Join Back to the Future on Broadway".
  22. ^ Goffe, Nadira (November 19, 2021). "An Exhaustive List of Every Broadway Cameo in Tick, Tick … Boom!". Slate. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  23. ^ Murray, Rebecca (November 17, 2021). "'tick, tick…BOOM!' Q&A with Andrew Garfield and Lin-Manuel Miranda". Showbizjunkies. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
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