Michael Rupert


Michael John Rupert is an American actor, singer, director and composer. Rupert originated the role of "Marvin" in the William Finn musicals March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland.

Early life

Rupert made his Broadway debut in 1968 in Kander and Ebb's The Happy Time as the young Bibi Bonnard, which earned him his first Tony Award nomination, for Featured Actor in a Musical. He returned to California after The Happy Time, and appeared in local theater while in high school.

Career

In 1974, Rupert returned to Broadway as a replacement in the role of Pippin.
In 1981, he appeared on Broadway in Shakespeare's Cabaret. He then originated the role of Marvin in two William Finn musicals, March of the Falsettos at the Off-Broadway Playwrights Horizons and Falsettoland. In 1986 he appeared as Oscar in the Broadway revival of Sweet Charity, for which he won the 1986 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. He played Alex in the musical Mail, which ran on Broadway between March and May 1988 and for which he composed the music with book and lyrics by Jerry Colker. He was a replacement in the role of Stine in City of Angels in 1991, played Marvin again in Falsettos in 1992, and was in Ragtime as a replacement Tateh. In 2003, he performed with Betty Buckley, Christian Borle, Carolee Carmello and Keith Bryon Kirk in the Lincoln Center staging of William Finn's Elegies: A Song Cycle. He originated the role of Professor Callahan in Legally Blonde on Broadway and on the National tour, starting in February 2010. He appeared in the play 7th Monarch Off-Broadway at the Acorn Theater, opening in June 2012. He appeared in the Broadway revival of On the Town as Judge Pitkin, which ran from October 2014 to September 2015.
In regional theatre, he starred in a workshop production of The Happy Elf, composed by Harry Connick, Jr. at Montgomery College's Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center, Rockville, Maryland in a co-production with Adventure Theatre, Washington, DC in November 2010.
His television credits include guest roles on series such as My Three Sons, The Waltons, Marcus Welby, M.D. and its legal spin-off , Emergency!, Cannon, Alice and The Partridge Family. He was in the Legally Blonde video which was broadcast on MTV in 2007.
In addition to acting, Rupert has directed several plays and musicals. In 1997 he directed The Lunch Anxieties by Larry Kunofsky Off-Broadway and a musical, The Stars In Your Eyes by J. Arlington Meyrelles III in 1998 in an Equity workshop production. Rupert is also a composer. He wrote the score to Strange Vacation and Mail. He composed the music for the musical Streets of America and also co-wrote the book and lyrics with Matthew Riopelle. The musical was presented at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in 2007. He wrote the music, with book and lyrics by Jerry Colker to the musical 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down'', which ran Off-Broadway in February through June 1985. The musical won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book. His debut single, "Racing to the Moon" was released on August 18, 2008 on the Footlight label.
Rupert lives in New York City with his life partner, Will Chafin.