Christian Borle

Christian Dominique Borle (born October 1, 1973)[1] is an American actor and singer. He is a two-time Tony Awardwinner for his roles as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher and as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten![2] Borle also originated the roles of Prince Herbert, et al. in Spamalot, Emmett in Legally Blonde, and Joe in Some Like It Hot on Broadway. He starred as Marvin in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos. He also starred as Tom Levitt on the NBCmusical-drama television series Smashand Vox in the adult animated black comedy musical series Hazbin Hotel. He has been nominated for five Tony awards, including Legally Blonde, Peter and the Starcatcher, Something Rotten!, Falsettos, and Some Like It Hot. He won a Grammy in 2024 for the original cast recording of 'Some Like It Hot' in the Best Musical Theater Album category. Borle was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Andre Bernard Borle (1930–2011),[3] a professor of physiology at the University of Pittsburgh.[4] His love for Star Wars and drawing made him dream of becoming a comic book artist when he grew up, but it was only when a friend convinced him to audition for a school play in his second year at Shady Side Academy that he began to develop an interest in acting.[5] Borle attended the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University, graduating in 1995.[6][7] After he graduated, he moved to New York City and landed his first acting job. He worked as an elf at Macy's Santaland. Soon after moving to New York City, Borle was cast in the German production The Who's Tommy.[9] Returning to the states, he joined the national tour of West Side Story in 1996, as a replacement for the role of Riff.[10] Borle was next cast as Willard Hewitt in the first national tour of Footloose, which opened on December 15, 1998, at the Allen Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio.[11] After his tenure as Willard, Borle made his Broadway debut in the ensemble of the 2000 revival of Jesus Christ Superstar. He left the production after two months to reprise his role of Willard Hewitt (succeeding Tom Plotkin) in the Broadway production of Footloose in June 2000.[12]Soon after joining the company, the show received its closing notice, and Borle remained with the show for a few weeks through its final performance on July 2, 2000.[13] He was the dance captain and understudyfor several characters for the short-lived 2002 musical Amour. Borle appeared in a 2003 advertisement for the California-based online auction company eBay. In the 30-second TV spot, Borle plays a store clerk who breaks into song and dance when asked about a product. The song, "That's on eBay", was a parody of the Dean Martin standard "That's Amore". Also in 2003, he replaced Gavin Creel in the role of Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie. He married his co-star, actress Sutton Foster, who had played Millie, in September 2006.[14][15][16]Borle and Foster divorced in 2009. Borle met actress Sutton Foster in college and they married on September 18, 2006.[55] They divorced in 2009.[17][56] In 2012, Foster said that she and Borle remain friends[57] and continue to support and appear in each other's work.