Austin Miller

Infobox actor
name = Austin Miller

---

imagesize = 150px
caption = Austin Miller
birthname = John P. Miller
birthdate = birth date and age|1976|6|07
birthplace = Alvin, Texas
United States
deathdate =
deathplace =
othername =
yearsactive =
spouse =
website = http://www.austinmillerfromgrease.com
academyawards =
emmyawards =
tonyawards =

Austin Miller (born June 7, 1976) is an American actor, dancer, and singer, known for television and stage performances. He played the part of Hawk in the soap opera "Days of Our Lives", performed as the lead in the "Hairspray" musical in both a national tour and a Las Vegas production, and in 2007 was a second place finalist on the televised competition "".

Biography

Miller was raised in the small town of Alvin, Texas (population 21,000), to a conservative Catholic family. [http://www.baylor.edu/Lariat/news.php?action=story&story=44529 "Former student makes it big"] , "The Baylor Lariat", March 9, 2007] Miller started performing at the age of 7, graduating from Alvin High School in 1994. He studied dance in Houston, and then briefly attended Texas's Baylor University on a vocal scholarship, where he joined Delta Tau Delta fraternity. But he dropped out to join a Las Vegas show, "Enter the Night," later performing in "Starlight Express".The 19-year-old Miller then went on a national tour with the "Grease" musical, playing the character of Kenickie (Rizzo's boyfriend, played by Jeff Conaway in the film). He also performed in "Smokey Joe's Cafe", playing the character of Michael, and the National Tour of "Victor/Victoria".

After various musical theatre roles, he moved to Los Angeles, obtaining a part as a minor character, Hawk, on the popular soap opera "Days of Our Lives", and also being cast in some small movie roles. He then auditioned for and won the role of Link Larkin in a nationally touring production of "Hairspray". He also took on the same role in the short-lived Las Vegas production of "Hairspray", which ran from February-June 2006 at the Luxor Hotel. [ [http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Feb-10-Fri-2006/weekly/5714066.html "Let Us 'Spray'"] , February 10, 2006, "Las Vegas Review-Journal"]

"Grease"

Though he had performed in the national tour of "Grease", when he auditioned for the same role on Broadway, he was turned down as not "blue collar" enough. At the audition, however, he heard of and applied for the upcoming televised competition, "Grease: You're the One that I Want!" whose winners were to be cast in the lead roles of Danny and Sandy in the next Broadway production. ["", "The casting search continues", January 14, 2007] Thousands of applicants were considered, with a few dozen then chosen to go to a "Grease Academy" bootcamp for one week. Miller proceeded through that step as well, and in 2007 was chosen to be one of the 12 contestants to go on to the live show, where call-in votes by the viewing audience were combined with judges' opinions to eliminate a different contestant each week. Miller had the nickname of "Hot Danny" on the show, and was often referred to as one of the veterans, since he has extensive stage experience but was competing against other contestants with much less. On both the February 11 and February 18, 2007 broadcasts one of the judges, influential producer David Ian, chose Miller as the "best Danny of the night." ["Grease: You're the One that I Want!", "One Danny and one Sandy must leave," February 11, 2007] ["Grease: You're the One that I Want!", "The remaining contestants perform," February 18, 2007] On March 18, 2007, Miller was named as one of the two finalists in the competition, and was told that there was only a 1% difference in voter opinion between him and the other finalist, "Slacker Danny" Max Crumm. On March 25, 2007, Crumm was declared the final winner.

According to a March 29, 2007 interview in the "Houston Chronicle", Miller is currently in negotiation for his next project, which may be a television drama series. [http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/entertainment/4672405.html "Winning Grease Isn't Everything"] , "Houston Chronicle", March 29, 2007]

In September 2007, Miller will be performing in the New York Musical Theatre Festival, in a show called "TULLY (in no particular order)". [ [http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=551374 Grease Finalists Austin Miller and Kate Rockwell Set for NYMF"s Tully] ]

Performances

tage

* "Smokey Joe's Cafe" (Michael)
* "Grease" (Kenickie)
* "Hairspray" (Link)
* "Tully (In No Particular Order)" (Claude Beautee)
* "Disney's When You Wish - Theatre Under The Stars, Houston, Texas "

Television

* "Days of Our Lives" ("Hawk," 2001-2002)
* "" ("Hot Danny," 2007)

Film

* "Puerto Vallarta Squeeze" (surfer) 2004
* "America's Sweethearts" (dancer) 2001

References

External Links

* [http://www.austinmillerfromgrease.com/index.html Official website]
* [http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/cincy/cincy101.html "Interview with Austin Miller"] from TalkinBroadway.com
*
* [http://austinmillerfanclub.com/ Official Austin Miller fan club site]