Summer 2011 - Brian Charles Rooney (T'99) received the Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of legendary Andy Warhol "superstar," Candy Darling, in the world premiere of Pop! at Yale Repertory Theatre. He reprised the role at City Theatre in Pittsburgh (Spring 2012), co-starring with Anthony Rapp as Warhol. In March of this year, Brian appeared as a soloist in the annual Broadway Cares fundraiser "Broadway Backwards" at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, with Betty Buckley, Adam Pascal, Len Cariou, Charles Busch, and Bruce Vilanch. In 2011, the benefit raised nearly $300,000 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS & the NYC LGBT Center. In the fall, Brian will reprise the role for which he won the NY Musical Theater Festival's Outstanding Performance Award in the rock musical, Bedbugs!!! Part horror show, part campy rock romp, the musical will open Off-Broadway, and has music by Scissor Sisters collaborator Paul Leschen. "Like" him on Facebook, or follow on Twitter: BCR_Octaves.
Winter 2009 - Rooney (T'99) portrayed fabled Warhol superstar Candy Darling in a workshop of the new musical Pop! at the Yale Institute of Music Theatre in June of 2009. He is reprising the role in Yale Repertory's full production of the show in November & December, followed by a projected NYC transfer in the Spring of 2010, under the direction of Mark Brokaw (Broadway's After Miss Julie). In August of '09, he appeared in a workshop of the new musical Crazy Head Space, directed by Gabriel Barre (Manhattan Theatre Club's The Wild Party), and co-starring Lilli Cooper (Broadway's Spring Awakening). He appeared as Jesus in an all-star benefit, concert reading of Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi in September of '09 in NYC.
Spring 2009 - Rooney played Piers Gaveston in Edward the King Off-Broadway at TBG Arts Center in 2008, and later won the Outstanding Individual Performance Award for his portrayal of Dionne Salon in the new musical Bedbugs!!! by Drama-Desk nominated composer Paul Leschen & librettist/lyricist Fred Sauter, which was a part of the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival. (Bedbugs!!! will begin a commercial run Off-Broadway in the Spring.) Brian played one of the two lead roles in the workshop of Allies, a new musical using the songs of the rock-group Heart. He will portray one of the featured leads in a workshop of the new Peter Gabriel musical, So... in the spring. Brian was approached by the NY Mid-Town International Theatre Festival to develop a solo-show for inclusion in their 2009 program. www.briancharlesrooney.com
Winter 2008 - Rooney portrayed Mother’s Younger Brother in a new production of Ragtime, working with creators Ahrens, Flaherty, McNally, and director Sidney J. Burgoyne at the new White Plains Performing Arts Center in February. He originated the role of Tom “Tennessee” Williams in the new biopic-musical, Becoming Tennessee, at the Eugene O’Neill Memorial Theatre Center this past summer, and reprised the role in a workshop production in December of 2007 at the Emelin Theatre. This spring, he will portray Piers Gaveston in a production of Edward the King, a new play by David Brendan Hopes. The play will open at The Barrow Group, Off-Broadway, in Manhattan, in May of 2008. www.briancharlesrooney.com
Summer 2007 - Rooney was awarded the Lys Symonette Award for Dramatic Excellence in the 2007 Lotte Lenya Singers Competition administered by the Kurt Weill Foundation. He debuted a highly successful, sold-out concert at The Zipper Factory in April 2007 - performing original pop-rock songs co-written with Paul Leschen (composer and arranger for the Scissor Sisters) and will repeat the concert in July of 2007 - info at <www.briancharlesrooney.com>. In May 2007, he portrayed Piers Gaveston in Edward the King, a new play by Pulitzer & National Book Award nominee David Brendan Hopes, which has just been optioned for an Off-Broadway production. He will portray a young Tennessee Williams in the new musical Becoming Tennessee at the Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center in August 2007, with a NYC production to follow in the fall or winter.
Theater Studies