Brian Stokes Mitchell


Brian Stokes Mitchell is an American actor and singer. A powerful baritone, he has been one of the central leading men of the Broadway theatre since the 1990s. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2000 for his performance in Kiss Me, Kate.

Early life

Mitchell was born in Seattle, Washington, the youngest of four children of George Mitchell, an electronics engineer, and his wife Lillian, a school administrator. Mitchell grew up at various U.S. military bases overseas, where his father was a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy. As a young boy, he lived in San Diego, California, where he began acting in school musicals. He did not attend college, having begun performing professionally in high school, although he did have private teachers in both acting and voice in his teen years. He has said that he studied film scoring, orchestration, and conducting through UCLA. Prior to Ragtime, he was known professionally as Brian Mitchell.

Career

Stage

Mitchell first performed on Broadway in the musical Mail in 1988, with music by Michael Rupert and lyrics by Jerry Cocker, winning the Theatre World award. His Broadway credits include an all-black revival of George and Ira Gershwin's Oh, Kay!, Jelly's Last Jam based on the works of jazz artist Jelly Roll Morton, and Kander and Ebb's Kiss of the Spider Woman.
He originated the role of Coalhouse Walker Jr, in the musical Ragtime, which opened on Broadway in January 1998. He received a 1998 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He appeared in the 1999 revival of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate as Fred Graham / Petruchio, winning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He appeared on Broadway in King Hedley II in 2001 and Man of La Mancha in 2002.
He appeared in the New York City Center Encores! staged concert productions of Jule Styne's Do Re Mi, Bob Merrill's Carnival!, Kismet and The Band Wagon in 2014.
He played the title role in the 2002 Kennedy Center production of Sweeney Todd, part of the Stephen Sondheim celebration.
On June 9, 2005, Mitchell appeared in a concert version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific at Carnegie Hall. He starred as Emile, alongside Reba McEntire as Nellie Forbush and Alec Baldwin as Luther Billis. The production was taped and telecast by PBS in 2006. Of his performance, Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times, "As for Mr. Mitchell, his place in the pantheon of romantic musical leads is now guaranteed."
in Dallas, Texas, September 1, 2011
Playbill Records released his debut solo CD, Brian Stokes Mitchell on June 6, 2006. Mitchell has also performed in a Christmas concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir later released as a CD and DVD entitled Ring Christmas Bells. His second solo CD, "Simply Broadway," was released October 30, 2012, by CD Baby.
Mitchell returned to Broadway to star with Patti LuPone in the musical version of the Pedro Almodóvar film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, which opened at the Belasco Theatre in November 2010.
A new musical titled Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, based on the making of Shuffle Along opened on Broadway on March 14, 2016 in previews, officially on April 21 at the Music Box Theatre. Mitchell played "F.E. Miller", with Audra McDonald as "Lottie Gee", Billy Porter, Joshua Henry and Brandon Victor Dixon.
Mitchell plays Nicholas Prophet in , a scripted podcast serial.

Television and film

Mitchell has a number of television and film credits, including the role of John Dolan in ', and a seven-year stint as Dr. Justin 'Jackpot' Jackson on Trapper John, M.D. from 1979 to 1986. Mitchell made several appearances as a celebrity panelist on episodes of $25,000 Pyramid and $100,000 Pyramid in the 1980s, and was considered one of the game's better celebrity players. He played recurring roles as Hilary Banks' news anchor fiancé Trevor Newsworthy/Collins on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and on Frasier as Dr. Frasier Crane's upstairs neighbor and nemesis Cam Winston. He supplied the singing voice of Jethro in the animated feature The Prince of Egypt. He guest starred in March 2010 in Ugly Betty as Wilhelmina Slater's ex-boyfriend, Don.
He appeared on the 57th episode of Glee, titled "Heart" in 2012, and the 58th, titled "On My Way," as one of Rachel's dads along with Jeff Goldblum.
He also played a recurring role on the USA Network series Mr. Robot as Scott Knowles, CTO of E Corp. The series began in June 2015 and ended in December 2019.
He has also done voice-overs for animation including Animaniacs, Capitol Critters, Tiny Toon Adventures, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, The Further Adventures of SuperTed, Kid 'n Play, New Kids on the Block, Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf, Gravedale High, Potsworth & Co., Captain Planet and the Planeteers, The Tom and Jerry Kids Show, Yo Yogi!, Fantastic Max, Pound Puppies, The Addams Family, California Raisins, The Angry Beavers, James Bond Jr., ', Paddington Bear, Pinky and the Brain, Defenders of Dynatron City, The Hot Rod Dogs and Cool Car Cats, Droopy, Master Detective, Denver, the Last Dinosaur, Mighty Max, Don Coyote & Sancho Panda, Vampirina and the two Flintstones animated movies Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby and I Yabba-Dabba Do!.

Personal life

He has been married to actress Allyson Tucker since 1994 and has a son, Ellington. Mitchell was diagnosed with COVID-19 on April 1, 2020. After his recovery, he sang nightly from a window of his Upper West Side apartment in Manhattan to thank first responders and medical workers.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Discography

Brian Stokes Mitchell, June 6, 2006
;Track listing
  1. Something's Coming
  2. The Best Is Yet to Come
  3. Pretty Women
  4. Just In Time
  5. Lazy Afternoon
  6. Another Hundred People /Take the A Train
  7. How Long Has This Been Going On?
  8. Life is Sweet
  9. Losing My Mind
  10. Being Alive
  11. How Glory Goes
  12. Grateful

    Awards and nominations

Sources: Playbill BroadwayWorld
YearAwardCategoryTitleResultRef.
2001Grammy AwardBest Spoken World AlbumThe Complete Shakespeare Sonnets
1998Tony AwardBest Actor in a MusicalRagtime
2000Tony AwardBest Actor in a MusicalKiss Me Kate
2001Tony AwardBest Actor in a PlayKing Hedley II
2003Tony AwardBest Actor in a MusicalMan of La Mancha
2016Tony AwardIsabelle Stevenson Award
1998Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Actor in a MusicalRagtime
2000Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Actor in a MusicalKiss Me Kate
2001Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Actor in a PlayKing Hedley II
2003Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Actor in a MusicalMan of La Mancha
2011Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Featured Actor in a MusicalWomen on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
1998Outer Critics Circle AwardsOutstanding Actor in a MusicalRagtime
2000Outer Critics Circle AwardsOutstanding Actor in a MusicalKiss Me Kate
2001Outer Critics Circle AwardsOutstanding Actor in a PlayKing Hedley II
2003Outer Critics Circle AwardsOutstanding Actor in a MusicalMan of La Mancha
1988Theatre World AwardMail

Honors