Steve Connell

Infobox Actor


imagesize =
caption = Steve Connell
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birthname = Steven Gerard Connell
birthdate = birth date and age|1975|3|11
birthplace = Thousand Oaks, California, United States
yearsactive = 2003 ─ present
spouse =
academyawards=
emmyawards =
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Steven Gerard Connell (born March 11, 1975 in Thousand Oaks, California) is an American actor, playwright, poet and spoken word artist.

Biography

Born in Thousand Oaks, California, Connell is the youngest of two children. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre.

Career

Connell burst onto the spoken word scene in Los Angeles, California. By 2003 he had won a number of national and regional slam championships in the United States, including the 2002 Hollywood Championship and the 2003 LA Championship. He was also the 2003 New Word Series Champion and, as captain of Team LA, won the 2003 National Poetry Championship. His skill as a poet and performer made him a sought-after spoken word artist in Losal Angeles, making him a regular at Da Poetry Lounge, Fly Poets and other poetry venues in the United States. He also served as poet and creative director for two national spoken word tours, "The Underground Poets Railroad" and Norman Lear’s "Declare Yourself".cite web
title = Children of Slam
publisher = KCET
url = http://www.kcet.org/explore-ca/web-stories/childrenofslam/steve.php
accessdate = 2008-06-04] As part of Declare Yourself he traveled across the United States in a campaign during the 2004 United States presidential elections to encourage young people to register to vote.

Theatre

In the theatre his one-man show "40 Days", received positive reviews from Pick of the Week from LA Weekly [ [http://www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=com_lsd&task=theatersearch&number=1&Itemid=108 LA Weekly - Calendar - Events - - The Essential Online Resource for Los Angeles ] ] and Critic’s Pick from Backstage West [ [http://www.thewordbegins.com/cast.html Cast Bios ] ] and was declared Best Solo Performance of 2005 by Entertainment Today. [ [http://www.aclu.org/standup/memb_conf/performers_speakers.html ACLU - Stand Up! ] ]

Connell has also created works writing partner Sekou tha Misfit. They were invited by HBO to perform their play,"No Easy Choice", at the 12th annual US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. They were also commissioned by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to create a new performance piece which was unveiled at the annual ACLU Membership Conference and followed that with "Unabridged", a series of recorded and filmed poems, described by the ACLU as "a new collection of poetry written especially for the ACLU that celebrates the power of words and captures the passion behind several of our current battles in the courtrooms and in Congress."cite web
title = ACLU - Unabridged
publisher = American Civil Liberties Union
url = http://www.aclu.org/multimedia/unabridged/index.html
accessdate = 2008-06-04]

"The Word Begins" written and performed with Sekou tha Misfit, and directed by Robert Egan, was developed at the Ojai Playwrights Conference and had it's world premiere at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, running from 2 October to 2 December, 2007,cite web
title = Signature Theatre 2007-2008 Mainstage
publisher = Signature Theatre
url = http://www.sig-online.org/seasondescrip.htm
accessdate = 2008-06-04] where it received three Helen Hayes Award nominations, The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Resident Play Award and The Canadian Embassy Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Resident Play.cite web
title = Nominees and Recipients
publisher = Helen Hayes Award
url = http://www.helenhayes.org/sub/nr.cfm
accessdate = 2008-06-05]

A collection of his one-man acts and spoken word, "Jumping the Median", is being produced by Norman Lear for a theatrical run in 2008. His work is also featured in theatre curriculum for University courses and he tours and performs at colleges, universities and schools across the United States. [ [http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2007/March/ATOG.html Cal PolyMulticultural Center’s “Another Type of Groove” Welcomes Spoken Word Poet: Steve Connell ] ] [ [http://www.ajula.edu/CCNewspaper/Default3.asp | American Jewish University ( AJULA ) formerly University of Judaism ] ] He is an outspoken political advocate, creating "I Am An American" and "In Sheep’s Clothing" to speak out, and against, the violation of civil liberties in the United States. [ [http://www.aclu.org/multimedia/unabridged/index.html American Civil Liberties Union ] ] [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLHdSovhzcA Youtube - I Am An American By Steve Connell ] ]

Film and television

His work has been featured on various television shows including "ABC World News", "Good Morning America" on ABC, "Hardball" on MSNBC, "Def Poetry" on HBO (twice), "Crossover" on Showtime, the "World AIDS Festival" on MTV, "Lyric Café" on B.E.T., as well as Oprah Winfrey’s celebration of Maya Angelou’s 75th birthday, Artisan Entertainment's "Belly DVD" and P Diddy’s Annual "White Party". He has also performed at private events for Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Connell has been featured in "The Beat"- a selection at The Sundance Film Festival, "Dirty Sexy Money" and the 2008 film "Blues".

Discography

Albums/EPs

*"The Intimate Nature of Knife Fights" (2001)

Filmography

*"The Beat" (2003)
*"Shanghai Kiss" (voice) (2007)
*"The List" (2007)
*"Blues" (2008)

Television

*"Dirty Sexy Money" (2008)

References

External links

*
* [http://www.stevenconnell.com/ Official Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/stevenconnell Myspace page]
* [http://www.forty-days.net "40 Days" show]
* [http://www.poetix.net/connell.htm Review of "40 Days" at poetix.net]