Zachary James

Zachary James
Born (1981-12-07) December 7, 1981
Providence, Rhode Island
Occupation TV and stage actor, opera singer
Years active 2003 - Present

Zachary "Zach" James (born December 7, 1981) is an American actor and operatic bass. He is best known for creating the role of Lurch in The Addams Family on Broadway, Abraham Lincoln in the world premiere Philip Glass opera, The Perfect American, and for a cameo appearance as Carl on the television show 30 Rock. He has sung with some of the world’s top opera companies and orchestras including English National Opera, LA Opera, Teatro Real, The New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo.

Biography

James (left) as Terry in Breaking the Waves at Opera Philadelphia, with John Moore as Jan

Early life

James was born in Providence, Rhode Island and grew up in Spring Hill, Florida. The son of a professional jazz guitarist, James played percussion and served as drum major in his high school marching band. Although his first goal was to become a band director, he had a longing for musical theater.[1] James, inspired by actor Nathan Lane,[2] majored in musical theatre at Ithaca College and later moved to New York City.[3][4]

Career

Zachary James created the role of Lurch in the Broadway musical production of The Addams Family. James appeared in the Original Broadway Cast of Coram Boy and also in the original cast of the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of South Pacific.[5] New York credits include the role of Oberon in the world premiere of Kristin Hevner's Il Sogno. As an operatic singer, he created the role of Abraham Lincoln in Philip Glass' opera The Perfect American at the Teatro Real in Madrid and created the role of Terry in the world premiere of Breaking the Waves by Missy Mazzoli for Opera Philadelphia. He has also performed with English National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, The Philadelphia Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, The New York Philharmonic, Des Moines Metro Opera, Arizona Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Ash Lawn Opera, Knoxville Opera, Central City Opera, Anchorage Opera, Opera Roanoke, Union Avenue Opera, Opera Ithaca, Shreveport Opera, American Lyric Theater, New York City Ballet and Australia's Opera Queensland.[6]

Regional theatre credits include Miles Gloriosus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.[7] James also appeared in his own one man opera, Imbecile d' Amour, that played in New York in 2008, in Chicago in late 2009, and again in New York in 2010 and 2011.[8] In 2010 through the end of 2011 he starred as Lurch in the original cast of the Broadway musical The Addams Family.[2] In 2008, James made a cameo appearance as the character "Carl" in the 30 Rock episode "Gavin Volure".[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Zachary James · News". Zachjames.com. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  2. 1 2 Mellini, Michael. "The Addams Family's Zachary James on Serving Up Laughs as Lurch" broadway.com
  3. 1 2 "Zachary James". Who's Who, playbill.com, Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  4. ↑ "Lurch Speaks... and sings!", moviedearest.com
  5. ↑ The Broadway League. "Zachary James | IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". IBDB. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  6. ↑ "'THE ADDAMS FAMILY's' Zachary James Shares His 'IMBECILE D'AMOUR' Oct. 25th 2009/10/18". Chicago.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  7. ↑ "Playbill's Who's Who Biographies"
  8. ↑ "James' 'IMBECILE D'AMOUR' a Beautifully Sung Showcase". BroadwayWorld.
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