Asa Somers
Encyclopedia
Asa Somers is an American
stage
, film
, and television
actor
. He is an alumnus of the Phillips Exeter Academy
and graduated with a Bachelor's degree
in English Literature and Theatre Studies at Yale University
.
debut in The Rocky Horror Show
as a Phantom and Narrator understudy, then went on to join the original Broadway casts of Dance of the Vampires as Herbert, Taboo
as the fight captain and standby for Boy George, Grey Gardens as a standby for Joe and Jerry, and Next to Normal.
He was also in the Off Broadway productions of Once Around The Sun as Kevin at the Zipper Theatre, the Playwrights Horizons
production of The Burnt Part Boys as Miner Taylor, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
as Hedwig at the Jane Street Theatre, and Next to Normal as Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine at the Second Stage Theatre
.
Somers originated Dan in the US national tour cast of Next to Normal, alongside
Alice Ripley, Emma Hunton, Curt Hansen
, and Jeremy Kushnier
and stayed with the production until its close on July 30, 2011.
productions of Kean as Edmund Kean at Yale University
, We're All Dead as Oedipus Rex at the Blue Heron Arts Center, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
as Hedwig at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco, Hair
as Berger at the Theatre Under The Stars
in Houston, Man In The White Suit as Michael at New York Stage & Film, and Tallgrass Gothic as Daniel at the Actors Theatre of Louisville
.
episode "D-Girl." In 2003, he played the paramedic in Whoopi
in the episode "Once Bitten." He appears as Chaz in the pilot episode of The Wedding Album
. In 2007, Somers plays Mike Conneally in the Law & Order
episode "Over Here." He has appeared twice in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
as Craig Vattic in the episode "Game" and as Colin Andrews in the episode "Smut." Somers is also a restaurant customer in the 2009 Ugly Betty
episode "Blue on Blue" and plays Mr. Harper in The Good Wife episode "Heart." He recently appeared in Royal Pains
and in Gossip Girl
as Richard Wellings in the episode "It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World."
, a rock musical revolving around the September 11 attacks, which opened at the Quad Cinema
in Greenwich Village
. He is featured in the independent films Never Forever
as Rich, which was shown at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
, and Ira & Abby as Gus. Somers also appears in the shorts A Change of Climate as Eddie, When Stars Fall as Capella, and No, No Now as Adrian Lanes.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He is an alumnus of the Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
and graduated with a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in English Literature and Theatre Studies at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
Stage work
Somers made his BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...
as a Phantom and Narrator understudy, then went on to join the original Broadway casts of Dance of the Vampires as Herbert, Taboo
Taboo (musical)
Taboo is a stage musical with a book by Mark Davies , lyrics by Boy George, and music by George and Kevan Frost....
as the fight captain and standby for Boy George, Grey Gardens as a standby for Joe and Jerry, and Next to Normal.
He was also in the Off Broadway productions of Once Around The Sun as Kevin at the Zipper Theatre, the Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
production of The Burnt Part Boys as Miner Taylor, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical about a fictional rock and roll band fronted by an East German transgender singer. The text is by John Cameron Mitchell, and the music and lyrics are by Stephen Trask. The musical premiered in 1998 and has been performed throughout the world in hundreds...
as Hedwig at the Jane Street Theatre, and Next to Normal as Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine at the Second Stage Theatre
Second Stage Theatre
Second Stage Theatre is an award-winning contemporary Off-Broadway theater company.-Mission:The theatre's mission is to give new life to contemporary American plays and to produce the world premiers of new plays by both established and emerging playwrights...
.
Somers originated Dan in the US national tour cast of Next to Normal, alongside
Alice Ripley, Emma Hunton, Curt Hansen
Curt Hansen (actor)
Curt Hansen www.curthansen.com is an American-born actor/singer. A Wisconsin native, Curt has performed on Broadway in the final cast of Hairspray, as well as other Broadway readings and workshops. Recently Curt was the Gabe understudy/cover in the Tony award winning Broadway musical Next to Normal...
, and Jeremy Kushnier
Jeremy Kushnier
Jeremy Kushnier is a stage actor and songwriter.- Overview :Kushnier is most well known for his role in the Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys in the role of Tommy Devito and was one of the "Top 10 Great Chicago Performances of 2007". He starred in the Chicago cast, and then opened the Vegas...
and stayed with the production until its close on July 30, 2011.
Regional theatre
Somers appeared in the regional theatreRegional theatre in the United States
Regional theaters, or resident theaters, in the United States are professional or semi-professional, theater companies that produce their own seasons. The term regional theatre most often refers to professional theatres outside of New York City...
productions of Kean as Edmund Kean at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, We're All Dead as Oedipus Rex at the Blue Heron Arts Center, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical about a fictional rock and roll band fronted by an East German transgender singer. The text is by John Cameron Mitchell, and the music and lyrics are by Stephen Trask. The musical premiered in 1998 and has been performed throughout the world in hundreds...
as Hedwig at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco, Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
as Berger at the Theatre Under The Stars
Theatre Under The Stars (Houston)
Theatre Under the Stars is a year-round, professional, non-profit musical theatre production company. It is located in Houston, Texas, performing mostly at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Theatre Under The Stars’ season generally includes both self-produced shows as well as national...
in Houston, Man In The White Suit as Michael at New York Stage & Film, and Tallgrass Gothic as Daniel at the Actors Theatre of Louisville
Actors Theatre of Louisville
Actors Theatre of Louisville is a performing arts theater located in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1964 by Louisville native Ewel Cornett, local producer Richard Block and actor Ken Jenkins of Scrubs fame, and was designated the "State Theater of Kentucky" in 1974. It is run as a...
.
Television work
In 2000, Somers appeared as Blaine Richardson in The SopranosThe Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
episode "D-Girl." In 2003, he played the paramedic in Whoopi
Whoopi
Whoopi is an American situation comedy, starring Whoopi Goldberg. The series revolved around the events and people at her hotel, the Lamont Hotel, in New York City...
in the episode "Once Bitten." He appears as Chaz in the pilot episode of The Wedding Album
The Wedding Album (TV series)
The Wedding Album is an American television pilot ordered by the Fox Network for the 2006-2007 television season. It was picked up for series order as a midseason replacement during the 2006-2007 television season...
. In 2007, Somers plays Mike Conneally in the Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
episode "Over Here." He has appeared twice in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
as Craig Vattic in the episode "Game" and as Colin Andrews in the episode "Smut." Somers is also a restaurant customer in the 2009 Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
episode "Blue on Blue" and plays Mr. Harper in The Good Wife episode "Heart." He recently appeared in Royal Pains
Royal Pains
Royal Pains is a USA Network television series that premiered on June 4, 2009, starring Mark Feuerstein, Paulo Costanzo, Jill Flint and Reshma Shetty. The series is based in part on actual concierge medicine practices of independent doctors and companies...
and in Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
as Richard Wellings in the episode "It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World."
Film work
Somers co-stars as Kyle Cassimer in the 2009 independent film Clear Blue TuesdayClear Blue Tuesday
Clear Blue Tuesday is a 2009 musical film directed by Elizabeth Lucas. It will premiere at the Quad Cinema in New York City on September 3, 2010.-Plot:...
, a rock musical revolving around the September 11 attacks, which opened at the Quad Cinema
Quad (cinema)
The Quad Cinema is New York City's first four-screen movie theater, and, according to its founder, the "East Coast's first multiplex". Located in Greenwich Village, it was opened by entrepreneur Maurice Kanbar, along with his younger brother Elliott Kanbar, in October 1972...
in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
. He is featured in the independent films Never Forever
Never Forever
Never Forever is a 2007 US/Korean movie written and directed by Gina Kim, released worldwide in December 2007...
as Rich, which was shown at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, and Ira & Abby as Gus. Somers also appears in the shorts A Change of Climate as Eddie, When Stars Fall as Capella, and No, No Now as Adrian Lanes.
External links
- Asa Somers at the Internet Movie Database
- Asa Somers at the Internet Broadway Database
- Asa Somers Official Website
- Asa Somers Fansite