- Michael-Leon Wooley
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Michael-Leon Wooley 
Born Michael-Leon Wooley
March 29, 1971
Bowie, MarylandOccupation Broadway, television, film and voice actor Michael-Leon Wooley (born March 29, 1971) is an American television, film and theatre actor and singer. Wooley lends his voice to Louis the Alligator in Disney's Oscar nominated animated feature film, The Princess and the Frog. Wooley has also done a small role in Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV.
Contents
Early life
Wooley was born in Fairfax, Virginia to George and Winnie Wooley. He has a twin brother, Marcus-Leon, and a younger brother, George Jr.. He grew up in Bowie, Maryland. Wooley began playing the piano at age five and initially wanted to be a classical concert pianist. However after participating in a high-school production of Oklahoma! he became interested in the theatre and the dramatic arts.
At age sixteen he was given the opportunity to study piano at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. but turned it down to instead focus on acting and singing. At age eighteen Wooley was awarded a full scholarship to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York City, one of 21 scholarships granted in a nationwide competition. He studied at AMDA for a year before embarking on his own to pursue an acting career.
Wooley auditioned 107 times before landing his first role in the national tour of Purlie,[1] making three-hundred dollars a week. After the national tour of Purlie Wooley returned to New York and supported himself by playing in piano bars and occasionally singing in subway stations as well as working as a singing waiter on the Spirit of New York,[2] a dinner cruise ship that circles Manhattan.
Career
Theatre
In 1992 Wooley made his Broadway debut as an understudy (Big Moe) in the Clarke Peters' musical, Five Guys Named Moe.[3] After Five Guys Named Moe he embarked on national tours with The Pointer Sisters in Ain't Misbehavin'[4] and The Wiz with Stephanie Mills.
Wooley returned to Broadway in 2000 as Olin Britt[5] in the Broadway revival of The Music Man, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman.[6]
Wooley's most recent Broadway role was as the voice of the man-eating plant, Audrey II, in the 2003 revival of the musical Little Shop of Horrors[7] at the Virginia Theatre (renamed the August Wilson Theatre in 2005). Though his role was behind-the-scenes, theater critics took notice. Ben Brantley of the New York Times wrote Wooley had a "soulful bass voice"[8] and Clive Barnes of the New York Post said that Wooley as the "doom-struck voice of Audrey II" rounded out "one of the best casts on Broadway"[9]
Under the baton of Skitch Henderson, Wooley made his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Pops as one of the "New Faces of 2004" along with other Broadway notables such as John Tartaglia and Stephanie D'Abruzzo. The event was hosted by famed New York Post gossip columnist Liz Smith.[10]
Stage Productions (Listed Alphabetically/Not Exhaustive) Show Role Addtl. info American Buffalo(Broadway) Donnie Dubrow Understudy for Cedric the Entertainer A Soldier's Play (National Tour) C.J. Memphis Ain't Misbehavin' (National Tour) Ken Featuring The Pointer Sisters At Least It's Pink (off-Broadway) Simon Michael Patrick King, director Five Guys Named Moe (Broadway) Big Moe Understudy Floyd Collins (Regional) Ed Bishop Little Shop of Horrors (Broadway) Voice of Audrey II, the plant New Faces of 2004 Featured Artist Carnegie Hall debut Purlie (National Tour) Chorus The Music Man (Broadway) Olin Britt Susan Stroman, director and choreographer The Wiz (National Tour) Uncle Henry Starring Stephanie Mills Up In The Air (The Kennedy Center) Bull Frog Film
Wooley recently lent his voice for Disney's Oscar nominated animated feature film, The Princess and the Frog. He lends his voice to Louis, a high-strung jazz singing, trumpet playing alligator.
Wooley played Tiny Joe Dixon in the 2006 motion picture, Dreamgirls, and sang the solo 'Takin' The Long Way Home',[11] the third song on the movie soundtrack.
Other film credits include minor roles in Ghost Town, Good Sharma and My Father's Will.
Filmography Year Film Role Notes 2006 Dreamgirls Tiny Joe Dixon Singing "Takin' the Long Way Home" 2008 My Father's Will Subway Attendant Good Sharma Big Thug Ghost Town Medical Attorney 2009 The Princess and the Frog Louis the Alligator Singing "When We're Human" Television
Wooley's voice has been behind many television advertising campaigns for companies such as (but not limited to): Reebok, General Motors, McDonald's, Dairy Queen, K-Mart and the Oxygen Network. Wooley is also the voice of the demon boss, Twayne, on Comedy Central's Ugly Americans.[12]
He has made numerous guest appearances on television series such as Cosby,[13][14] Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,[15] The Knights of Prosperity,[16] Now & Again, Rescue Me[17] and The Rosie O'Donnell Show. He also was a guest singer on The Penguins of Madagascar in "The Falcon and the Snow Job" when Skipper and Kitka are being together. He recently voiced the DC Comics villains Darkseid and Kalibak on the animated series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Personal life
Jon-Marc McDonald, a close friend and sometimes-publicist for Wooley, confirmed on his website that Wooley performed We Have To Change at a fundraiser for Barack Obama in New York City on August 11, 2008. The song was specifically written for the fundraiser by Bill Russell and Henry Krieger.[18][19]
References
- ^ Internet Broadway Database
- ^ Spirit of New York Homepage
- ^ Black Broadway
- ^ Ain't Misbehavin' (The New Cast Recording)
- ^ Musicals101
- ^ Review: Music Man, The New York Times
- ^ New York Magazine accessed June 5, 2008
- ^ New York Times Theater Review accessed June 6, 2008
- ^ Clive Barnes, New York Post via Peter Fox Shoes accessed June 6, 2008
- ^ The New York Pops: Spring 2004 Newsletter
- ^ Calgary Sun Bootylicious accessed June 5, 2008
- ^ Comedy Central: Ugly American's
- ^ TV Guide Com: Cosby-Raising Paranoia
- ^ TV Guide Com: Cosby-The Wedding
- ^ Hollywood.com Law & Order: SVU cast listing
- ^ IMDB: Knights of Proseprity-Operation Montecristo
- ^ Yahoo TV Rescue Me Cast and Crew
- ^ Bake It Til You Make It
- ^ YouTube video of We Have To Change
External links
Categories:- 1971 births
- American film actors
- American television actors
- Living people
- People from Bowie, Maryland
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