Raúl Esparza
Raúl Eduardo Esparza is a Cuban-American stage and television actor, singer, and voice artist, best known for his role as New York Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba in where he had a recurring role in season 14 and was promoted to a series regular in seasons 15 to 19. He has received Tony nominations for his role as Philip Salon in the Boy George musical Taboo in 2004; Robert in the musical comedy Company in 2006; a lazy and snarky man in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming; and an aggressive volatile movie producer in David Mamet's Speed the Plow. He played the role of Riff Raff on Broadway in the revival of The Rocky Horror Show and the role of Caractacus Potts in the Broadway musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Esparza has been nominated in all Tony categories for which an actor is eligible. He is widely regarded for his versatility on stage, having performed musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Boy George, and the Sherman Brothers and plays by Mamet, Pinter, William Shakespeare, Tom Stoppard, and more. His film work includes Sidney Lumet's Find Me Guilty and Wes Craven's My Soul to Take and his television credits include roles on The Path, Medium, Hannibal, and Pushing Daisies. He narrated the audiobook for Stephen King's Under the Dome, as well as several others, and sings in concerts all over the country.
Early life
Born in Wilmington, Delaware, to Cuban parents, and raised in Miami, Florida, Esparza graduated from Belen Jesuit in 1988 and won a Silver Knight Award in Drama that same year. In 1992, Esparza received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama and a Bachelor's degree in English from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.Career
Theatre
Broadway theatre
Esparza first drew attention with his performance in the 2000 Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, which won him the Theatre World Award. Additional Broadway credits include Cabaret, Taboo, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Sondheim's Company. He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award for his performance in the musical Taboo. His performance in Company earned him a second Tony nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Musical, as well as his second Drama Desk award. Beginning in November 2007, he appeared in Harold Pinter's play The Homecoming and was Tony-nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In 2008, he played Charlie Fox in the revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow co-starring Jeremy Piven and Elisabeth Moss on Broadway. His performance in Speed-the-Plow earned him a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Play, making him the second performer to be nominated in all four acting categories a performer is eligible for at the Tonys, although he has yet to win one.Esparza appeared in a limited-engagement revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, which began previews at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on February 25, 2011 and opened on March 17, 2011.
Esparza appeared in the musical Leap of Faith in the role of the "Reverend" Jonas Nightingale. He was involved in the workshop in 2008, the out-of-town tryout at the Ahmanson Theatre in 2010, and the Broadway production in 2012, for which he received a 2012 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.
Other theatre
In 1999, Esparza portrayed Che in the national tour of Evita, opposite Natalie Toro. The tour was intended to open on Broadway, but failed to do so. In 2001, he appeared Off-Broadway in tick, tick... BOOM! by Jonathan Larson, garnering a Drama Desk Award nomination as Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He appeared in two Stephen Sondheim musicals, Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along at the 2002 Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration. He also appeared as The Arbiter in the Actors Fund of America concert of Sir Tim Rice's Chess in September 2003.In 2009, Esparza starred in a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Delacorte Theater with Anne Hathaway, from June 25 through July 12. He starred as Hapgood in the City Center Encores! staged concert production of Anyone Can Whistle from April 8 to 11, 2010, opposite Sutton Foster as Fay and Donna Murphy as the Mayoress.
In July 2013, Esparza starred in a production of The Cradle Will Rock at the New York City Center.
In February 2018, Esparza played Freddie Trumper in the Kennedy Center's revival of Sir Tim Rice's Chess. From October to December 2018, Esparza played the title role in Classic Stage Company's Off-Broadway production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. He was nominated for the 2019 Drama Desk Award for Best Actor for the role.
In July 2019, Esparza appeared in a production of Road Show at the New York City Center. In October of the same year, Esparza played Harry, in the off-Broadway comedy Seared by Theresa Rebeck.
In April 2020 he was a host, executive producer and performer in, a virtual concert in honour of the 90th birthday of composer Stephen Sondheim and benefiting the charity organisation ASTEP.
Television
In 2007, Esparza had a recurring role on the TV show Pushing Daisies as traveling salesman Alfredo Aldarisio, a role originally given to Paul Reubens. In 2009, he recorded the audiobook Under the Dome by Stephen King. He has done previous narration for The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, and The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark. In January 2010, Esparza performed opposite Lucie Arnaz, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Valarie Pettiford at the 92Y's Lyrics and Lyricist event honoring Desi Arnaz and his Orchestra, "Babalu: The American Songbook Goes Latin". In 2010, Esparza appeared as Abel Plenkov in Wes Craven's My Soul to Take.From 2013 to 2015, Esparza appeared in the recurring role of Dr. Frederick Chilton in Hannibal. He appeared in the 2016 film Custody, written and directed by James Lapine, as an Administration for Children's Services agent.
''Law & Order: SVU''
In 2012, Esparza became a recurring actor on the long-running NBC drama series ' as Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba, starting in the third episode of the show's 14th season, "". He appeared in 11 episodes of the show's 14th season. On July 17, 2013, he was upgraded to series regular for the show's 15th season. His character became the first series regular ADA since Stephanie March in the 11th season and the first regular male ADA in series history. His role on SVU was not his first Law & Order role, however, as he had previously portrayed an ADA in a 2009 episode of ', and a suspect in a 2010 episode of the original Law & Order. On February 7, 2018, Esparza left the series after six seasons in the episode ".”Although having left the series to return to the stage, Esparza has been back on the show, making a very brief cameo before the main title in the season 21 episode "Redemption in Her Corner.”
Personal life
Esparza married Michele Marie Perez, his high school girlfriend, in 1994. They divorced in 2008. Esparza was the subject of a New York Times profile in 2006 in which he revealed that he is bisexual.Esparza is currently in a relationship with his long-term boyfriend Bill Curran.