New Face 3: Jeremy Jordan (Five to Watch in 2012)

(Third in a series of five posts.)

TALK about silver linings. Jeremy Jordan starred in the very well-received musical "Newsies" at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey last fall (good). But when word came that the show would move to Broadway, he was already tied up (bad), having promised to star as Clyde Barrow in the Broadway musical version of "Bonnie & Clyde" (good). "Bonnie & Clyde" ran only a month (bad). Making Jordan available to play the lead in "Newsies" (very good), which is about the newsboy strike of 1899. It opens in March.

AGE 27.

BORN AND RAISED Corpus Christi, Tex.

ALMA MATER Ithaca College.

AVAILABILITY Engaged to Ashley Spencer, an actress now appearing in "Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical."

BROADWAY DEBUT Playing Tony two performances a week in the most recent revival of "West Side Story." (Unless swing in "Rock of Ages" counts.)

CAREER COMPLICATION There's another Jeremy Jordan, who's a porn star.

FIRST ROLE IN A BIG MOVIE "Joyful Noise" (2012). He plays Dolly Parton's grandson.

WHAT THE TIMES THOUGHT Reviewing the Paper Mill production, David Rooney wrote that the lead newsboy (Christian Bale in the movie) was "played with winning charm and robust voice by Jeremy Jordan," whom Rooney also called "a charismatic lead."

"Newsies," by Alan Menken, Jack Feldman and Harvey Fierstein, directed by Jeff Calhoun, Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (866) 870-2717, ticketmaster.com. Opening night: March 29, 2012.

WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? Start by scrolling to read about two other new faces to watch in 2012: Elena Roger, the coming "Evita," and Paul Nolan, in the second coming of "Jesus Christ Superstar."

New Face 2: Elena Roger (Five to Watch in 2012)

(Second in a series of five posts)

LET someone else fuss over the news that Ricky Martin is coming to Broadway, playing Che in the revival of "Evita."
The actor we're interested in seeing is the diminutive, South American-born Elena Roger, who made her West End debut playing the role in London in 2006. She seems tailor-made for the role.

AGE 37.

BORN AND RAISED Buenos Aires, Argentina.


WHAT THE TIMES THOUGHT When Ben Brantley, the Times's chief theater critic, saw the show in London, he was not as enamored of it as most London critics were. That may be why it's taken six years to transfer here.

WHAT THE WEST END CRITICS THOUGHT The Evening Standard summed it up: Elena Roger "woke late yesterday morning to find herself the toast of London."

HOW HER EVITA WILL BE DIFFERENT FROM ELAINE'S AND PATTI'S AND MADONNA'S Roger says she wants "to show how strong she was. How she was inside, her thoughts about the life, why she didn't have children, her feelings about helping people."

BROADWAY DEBUT "Evita" is it.

HOW SHE BECAME INTERESTED IN SHOW BUSINESS Listening to her grandmother's Italian opera records.

PAST GLORIES "Piaf" and "Boeing-Boeing" (in London), "Les Miserables" and "Saturday Night Fever" back home.

MODEST GOALS "I know I want to work for my whole life because I know I can't live without music and dancing. But I don't know if I want to be a big star. It's not my dream."

"Evita," by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, directed by Michael Grandage, choreographed by Rob Ashford, Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway. Opening night: April 5, 2012. Previews begin in March. Michael Cerveris plays Juan Peron.


WANT MORE THEATER GOSSIP? Scroll to read about another new face, Paul Nolan, starring in "Jesus Christ Superstar." Then search to read features and quizzes about stage stars like Cherry Jones and hit shows like "The Book of Mormon."

New Face 1: Paul Nolan (Five to Watch in 2012)

First in a series of five posts.

AND another hundred people just got off o' the train.

The super-acclaimed incarnation of "Jesus Christ Superstar" that began at the Stratford Theater Festival in Canada is on its way to the Neil Simon Theater in New York. Paul Nolan (above), the man in the title role, is said to be no small part of the production's success.


AGE Early 30s.


BORN AND RAISED Rouleau (pronounced RO-lo), Saskatchewan, Canada. A farmer's son.


ALMA MATER Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts.


EARLIER CAREER AMBITION Forestry service firefighter in British Columbia.


EARLIER EMPLOYERS The Disney cruise line, Starbucks.


BROADWAY DEBUT This is it.


HIS OWN RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE The Santiago de Compostela pilgramage in Spain. "It's indescribable how it slows time down. It ... becomes a huge metaphor for every day of your life."


WHAT BEING AN ACTOR TAKES "As an artist, your biggest weapon is your imagination and your heart."



THOUGHTS ON SWITCHING FROM HOCKEY TO MUSICAL THEATER IN HIGH SCHOOL "I got a lot of grief from people I knew. I don't get it why the arts are effeminate and sports are masculine."


"Jesus Christ Superstar," by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, directed by Des McAnuff, Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (877) 250-2929, ticketmaster.com. Opening night: March 22, 2012.


WANT MORE THEATER GOSSIP? Scroll or search to read about shows and stars from the spring of 2010 to the future.