Todrick Hall


Todrick Hall is an American singer, songwriter, actor, director, choreographer and YouTuber. He gained national attention on the ninth season of the reality singing competition American Idol, where he made it to the semi-finals. Following this, he amassed a following on YouTube with viral videos including original songs, parodies, and skits. He aspires to be a role model for LGBTQ and people of color, and includes his experiences as a Black gay man in his art. A documentary series about his video-making process titled Todrick aired on MTV in 2015.
Starting with season eight, Hall became a resident choreographer on RuPaul's Drag Race, and occasional judge. From 2016 to 2017, Hall starred as Lola in Kinky Boots on Broadway. Later in 2017, he began appearances as Billy Flynn in Chicago on Broadway and the West End.
As a singer-songwriter he has released three studio albums, including the visual albums Straight Outta Oz and Forbidden. In 2020 he released an EP, Quarantine Queen, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic featuring “Mask, Gloves, Soap, Scrub”, and was the international host of Global Pride 2020.

Early life and education

Todrick Hall was born on a farm April 4, 1985 in Plainview, Texas, a farming community in the state’s panhandle. He was raised by a single mother until she married when he was a teen, gaining a brother and stepfather. The schools and community supported a system of sports, especially football, and the related cheerleading; the arts were not a priority. Later the family would move to Dallas. Raised as a single child until his teens, he accepts his people skills were lacking. He did have the family’s twelve nephews and their grandsons around but never fit in with their activities. He knew he was different, he liked playing with dolls, and worried if his family would still accept him if he turned out to be one of those gay people they made fun of on television. They regularly went to church where he would sing. From an early age he dreamed of becoming “one of these black women who could sing all these crazy notes”, which could have been prompted by his cousin Dreamgirls’ legend Jennifer Holliday. He also loved The Walt Disney Company’s heroines, “I think I was honestly very naive growing up and thought I was a Disney princess my whole life”.
His favorite story since he was six is The Wizard of Oz, later he would create Oz, the Musical, based on the book, an entire homage to the film, The Wizard of Ahhhs featuring the pop a cappella quintet Pentatonix, and his visual album and tour Straight Out of Oz. Hall also has an arm full of tattoos devoted to the story, and one on the back of his neck that is a patch with “Made in Oz”.
He loved watching the Walt Disney parade at Christmastime, he learned to dance by recording to VHS tape, and replay to teach himself the choreography. A lifelong fan of musicals, the first he ever saw was Disney’s Cinderella with Whitney Houston and Brandy. An elementary teacher of his in the city lead Hall toward the arts; theater, the symphony orchestra, ballet and music, he said. “She opened my eyes to this whole realm of the fine arts that I didn’t know existed.” Her husband hated musicals but they had season passes so she took Hall to The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, “all the classics”. At home after school he would skip doing homework and instead teach himself how to do the dances and songs in his garage. He still had no training until a woman who owned Tip Tap Toes, a dance studio started training him. His first performance was in The Nutcracker at Ballet Lubbock/Lubbock Ballet Theatre. Hall began studying ballet at nine-years-old there soon after.
He realized he is gay in high school, and came out to his family when he was fifteen; it took them a few years to accept. His mother, and best friend, did not take the news well—being a gay man in the African-American community is often seen as betraying family obligations—and had to share it with the rest of the family. At sixteen he started as a performer on weekends at the amusement park Six Flags Over Texas; it was the first time he combined singing and dancing. He also performed on cruises with Royal Caribbean, Holland America Line, and at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
Hall feels his tenacious work ethic comes from the lack of opportunities he had in the entertainment industry as a Black gay man, it also fueled his desire to be a creator, and help open the door for other performers, especially minorities. When he was seventeen, Hall embarked on a project to mount, and hopefully tour, a musical version of the hit 1939 film The Wizard of Oz but he could not afford the performing rights. He envisioned a project that opened up the performance arts to children as he had been as a child. He learned the children’s novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, that the movie was based on, was in the public domain. Hall reimagined the book’s story for a modern setting and added characters to his musical, Oz, The Musical, including a sassy doo-wop trio of girls who act as the narrator. Area children audition and a hundred are cast as the majority of the actors presenting the dozen new songs in a range of genres from country to hip hop and rock. The first show’s were local, and the children loved them, a Dallas banker stepped in to be the financial backer for the projects. They mounted a small tour in Texas which lost money but as the director Hall was not responsible for any shortcomings, although he felt responsible. A larger national tour was mounted, with the leads played by celebrity tweens including Aundrea Fimbres, Orlando Brown, Ryne Sanborn, Ryan Knowles, and Vonzell Solomon, the show toured through 2010.
He liked to produce and mount productions, but this caused conflicts with his drama teacher in high school when young actors had to turn down school projects to do Hall’s musicals. He graduated from Arlington Independent School District.

Career

2006–2010: Broadway, YouTube, ''American Idol''

When Hall was twenty he auditioned for the Broadway production of The Color Purple with Oprah Winfrey, and Fantasia Barrino. He worked in The Color Purple, in the ensemble, and as understudy for the role of Harpo. His working with Barrino would inspire him to later audition for the reality singing competition American Idol, he saw how it transformed her life. After The Color Purple he would do Memphis: The Musical, and touring productions of Beauty and the Beast, Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the Rockettes, and Hairspray.
Hall moved to Los Angeles, moving into a four-bedroom “nondescript three-story home in the Hollywood Hills”, and joined the video-sharing platform YouTube in May 2006, and made over 300 videos in the next five years. His first video, filmed while still living in Texas, was “a hilarious clip of him singing his order to a McDonald’s drive-through speaker ”. He said it was pivotal in helping him see a way forward, he would not get much recognition in a supporting role on Broadway but his video got millions of viewers. In 2008 Hall made a video of Hard to Say Goodbye which boosted his subscribers to two million. Hall credits YouTube with being an ideal space for young gay men in particular, and all LGBTQ youth, to see without prejudice what gay people were like, escaping years of societal homophobia he had experienced while growing up. He also credits his YouTube works for laying the foundation of future success including landing his first starring Broadway role, and connecting worldwide with fans who would later support his music and tours. He started his more noteworthy videos in 2010, and then in 2011 started them as a full time pursuit. He says the platform showcases “how I can write a song, create the concepts, execute them, direct, choreograph and do hair and makeup” as well as perform. He created concert tours like “Twerk Du Soleil” and the “Toddlerz Ball” of his most popular videos to connect with fans in person packing venues from Los Angeles to London.
In August 2009, Hall auditioned to the ninth season of American Idol in Dallas, Texas. He sang a self-composed song mentioning the judges – Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, and guest judge Joe Jonas – to make his case for inclusion in the program. Years later, reflecting on his Idol experiences, he is most proud of his audition song for showing his creativity and what he does, it is his fondest memory of his time on the show. All four approved of his participation; he went into Hollywood week and eventually the semi-finals. In the Top 24, he sang Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone", and in the Top Twenty performed Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do with It". He was eliminated in the Top 16 on March 11, 2010, after his rendition of Queen's "Somebody to Love;" he was one of four contestants eliminated in that round, and thus ranked between 13th and 16th overall. Judge Simon Cowell dismissively told Hall he “wouldn’t amount to anything beyond a Broadway actor”. In retrospect Hall regretted not being his authentic gay self, he even had a girl waiting for his post-audition walk outside with his golden ticket, he vowed to be honest going forward even if it meant less success commercially.
In August 2010, Hall returned to Broadway in the musical Memphis. Hall feels, in contrast to producing shows and managing staff, that his Broadway work was less stressful as he was an employee who did his job then was done. As a producer he was responsible for every facet of production.

2011–2013: Career growth and YouTube fame

Hall’s audience has grown considerably: as of June, 2019, Hall currently has 3.1 million subscribers on YouTube, and as of March 2018, his videos have been viewed 531.9 million times. Hall's videos include several of his own original songs and music videos, choreographed flash mobs for Ariana Grande and Beyoncé performed in an actual Target store, the latter of which Beyoncé personally recognized Hall for, musical collaborations with Pentatonix, and personal updates.
In May 2011, he released a video audition for the third season of Glee titled "I Wanna Be on Glee", for possible inclusion in the show. Though the video was popular, Hall was not cast in the program.
In November 2013, Virgin America produced a pop-music safety video directed by Jon M. Chu with music by Jean-Yves Decornet. Hall wrote the song and lyrics and starred in the video. In December 2013, Hall released a Christmas album entitled Dear Santa, with covers of "This Christmas" and "Sleigh Bells", produced by wiidope as well as original songs "So Cold" and "SplitsOnXmasTrees".
Hall did a choreographed flash mob in a Target store to Beyoncé’s “End of Time” prompting her to hire Hall as a choreographer on her roller-disco video, “Blow” which came out in November 2013.

2014–2015: ''Pop Star High'' and ''Todrick'' docuseries

From April 1 to May 13, 2014, Hall released an eight episode web series on his YouTube channel called Pop Star High. The series takes place in a world where all of the most famous Pop Stars of our day all went to high school together. The series portrays and parodies pop stars like Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift, Ne-Yo, Kanye West, Eminem, Jay-Z, and Tyga, and draws on the tropes of high school comedy movies. The soundtrack for the series was released on April 1, 2014.
On October 22, 2014, MTV announced Todrick, a docuseries following Hall, would premiere in 2015. On 20 December 2014, Hall produced and appeared in a commercial for the series and featured other celebrities' holiday wishes. Eight episodes of the docuseries were ordered and aired throughout 2015. The soundtrack for the show was released on October 13, 2015. In October 2015, he was picked as Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month and was featured on NBC's Today show hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb and broadcast nationally where he performed live his single "Wind It Up".
In February 2015, he was the first artist featured on VH1’s Huge on the Tube series.

2016–2017: ''Straight Outta Oz'', ''Kinky Boots'', and ''RuPaul's Drag Race''

Hall first appeared as a guest judge on the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race for an episode which featured a Wizard of Oz-inspired challenge and aired April 11, 2016; they did not know his lifelong passion for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Hall reappeared as a full-time judge for later in 2016 and again for the ninth season aired throughout 2017. Along with Drag Race, Hall frequently appeared on Logo TV's game show Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul alongside other celebrities.
On June 23, 2016, Todrick self-released his second album, Straight Outta Oz. Straight Outta Oz is a visual concept album that uses the imagery of The Wizard of Oz to explore Todrick's own life and rise to fame. He was inspired to create the project after seeing Disney’s Zootopia, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, and Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade. The album has seventeen songs, the tour had over twenty; it took about six weeks to write, and then filming the videos happened in two weeks. The project's first video was posted to YouTube on June 23, 2016. The videos had cameos from Kim Chi, Bob the Drag Queen, Willam Belli, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nicole Scherzinger, Pentatonix, Perez Hilton, and Amber Riley. “Color” ruminates on his first boyfriend, a handsome Londoner, “the first to really know me.” Hall announced the Straight Outta Oz Tour to promote the album which originally ran between July 7, and August 12, 2016 in the United States and Canada. The album debuted in ITunes Top Ten Pop Album Chart after its release in late June 2016.
The Straight Outta Oz Tour was interrupted by Hall's casting in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots. They offered the lead in Kinky Boots “without even auditioning, because they felt my story was so similar to that of Lola’s”, a drag queen cabaret performer. Hall's performance was well received by critics. He performed 155 shows from November 1, 2016, to March 1, 2017.
The Straight Outta Oz Tour was revived in 2017 and ran between March 30, and June 5, in various North American, European, and Australian locations. It was accompanied by an expanded deluxe edition that included songs that were featured on the tour but not on the original version of the album. Additionally, the album included an extended version and new video for "Wrong Bitch" featuring Bob the Drag Queen, and a rerecorded version of Todrick's previous single "Low" featuring RuPaul. In August 2017, he had a cameo as a back-up dancer in the music video for Taylor Swift's song, "Look What You Made Me Do"; the two had become friends in 2015, and would collaborate on several projects.
From November 30, 2017, to January 14, 2018, played Billy Flynn in a limited engagement role in Chicago. During his tenure, the show had its best-grossing week in its 21-year Broadway history.
In December he released the documentary film Behind the Curtain about the production behind Straight Outta Oz filmed in conjunction with AwesomenessTV who had released a successful documentary about another gay YouTuber Tyler Oakley. It was screened in select theatres and later released on home video. Later that month he had a guest appearance in the Bob's Burgers Season 8 episode "The Bleakening" as drag queen Miss Triple-Xmas performing the song "Twinkly Lights". He also released a medley of covers of songs from the Pitch Perfect film series that was featured on the Pitch Perfect 3 Special Edition soundtrack.

2018–present: ''Forbidden'', ''Haus Party'', ''The Greatest Dancer'', and ''Quarantine Queen''

In March 2018 he released his new visual album follow-up to Straight Outta Oz called Forbidden. To promote the album, Hall embarked on Forbidden: The Tour across the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
In May 2019, Hall revealed that he will be releasing a trilogy of extended plays to be released across the next six months. The first EP, Haus Party, Pt. 1, was released with its first single "Glitter" was released May 16, 2019. The EP also contained the hit "Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels", with a remix featuring Ciara. The EPs were supported by the Haus Party World Tour. Part Two was released in July followed by Part Three in September 2019, the release of Haus Party, Pt. 2 was delayed to September 19, 2019. It was supported by the singles "Wig", "Fag", and "Dripeesha". Part Three was released in June 2020.
On June 17, 2019, Hall appeared in and co-executive produced the music video for singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's song "You Need to Calm Down". Hall also helped recruit guests for the cameo-filled video. In June 2019, Hall announced that he will be returning to Broadway to play Ogie Anhorn in the musical Waitress opposite fellow YouTuber Colleen Ballinger. In August 2019 he joined the panel of Dance Captains for the second series of The Greatest Dancer alongside the other Dance Captains Cheryl, Oti Mabuse and Matthew Morrison. From November 2019 to January 2020 Hall will play the lead, Billy Flynn, in the West End version of the musical Chicago.
In February 2020, Hall’s music for Disneyland’s new Magic Happens parade which happens twice daily in the park debuts. Hall “learned to dance by watching Disney parades”.
On April 27, 2020, Hall announced on social media that he had spent the past week writing and recording his fourth studio album entitled Quarantine Queen. The album was released on April 29, 2020. In May 2020 Hall became represented by CAA Management.

Artistry

Hall is a baritenor with a soulful, expressive voice, including falsetto; in addition to a singer, Hall is also a rapper. The genre of his works include R&B, pop, hip hop, neo-soul, funk, and musical theatre. Many of his lyrics include elements of social commentary, such as racism, gun violence in and against black communities in "Water Guns", acceptance of interracial relationships in "Color", and queer culture; Hall writes and produces much of his own music with WiiDope & Jeeve. Hall also posts musical tributes to his favorite musical artists such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift. These tributes feature elaborately-produced mashups of the artists' songs sung by Hall. Many are done in his “signature split-screen a cappella style” showing four Hall’s singing together.
Hall's music videos often feature extravagant production value not typically associated with artists outside major labels. Hall's videos often include bespoke costumes and urban fashion, elaborate sets, and extensive choreography, much of which is designed or created by Hall himself. Some of the productions are mini-musicals like his renditions of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Singin’ in Rain”. He frequently directs his own videos as well. The “acting is freewheeling, the tunes catchy, the writing sharp”. As part of his style, many of Hall's music videos include drag as a central component, either featuring Hall in drag himself or famous drag queens including RuPaul, Bob the Drag Queen, Willam Belli, and Alaska Thunderfuck, among others. He makes regular appearances on RuPaul's Drag Race as a resident choreographer and as a judge on the show.

Personal life

Todrick came out as gay at the age of fifteen.

Selected videography

2010–11

YearTitleRoleNotes
2008The Color PurpleBobby, Harpo, ensembleBroadway
2010–2011MemphisGator, ensembleBroadway
2016–2017Kinky BootsLola/SimonBroadway
2017–2018ChicagoBilly FlynnBroadway
2018ChicagoBilly FlynnWest End
2019WaitressOgieBroadway
2020Kinky BootsLola/SimonLos Angeles, California

YearTitleRoleNotes
2019HimselfGuest Appearance

Discography

  • Somebody's Christmas
  • Straight Outta Oz
  • Forbidden
  • Quarantine Queen

    Tours

  • Twerk du Soleil
  • Twerk the Halls
  • Toddlerz Ball
  • Straight Outta Oz
  • Forbidden: The Tour
  • Haus Party Tour

    Haus Party Tour

Haus Party Tour had a break due to Todrick being on The Greatest Dancer with the Oceania dates being in 2020. However, The Oceania tour dates were postponed to from 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Awards and recognition

  • 2014, named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list.
  • 2015, Business Insider’s list of the “Hottest YouTube Stars Alive”.
  • 2016 Streamy Awards, Music Award for Breakthrough Artist, winner.
  • 2019 MTV Video Music Award for collaboration on Taylor Swift’s “You Need To Calm Down”, winner as executive producer.