Life and career

Born in Manhattan, Kansas

Manhattan, Kansas

Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...

, the son of a career military officer, Breaker grew up partly in Germany and attended Douglas Anderson School of the Arts

Douglas Anderson School of the Arts

Douglas Anderson School of the Arts is a magnet high school in the San Marco neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida. The school opened in the 1922 as a primary school specifically for African American students. The school is named after local civil rights activist, Douglas Anderson...

, a performing arts school in Florida. He then earned a BFA degree from the Juilliard School

Juilliard School

The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

 in 2002. He married director Kate Whoriskey

Kate Whoriskey

Kate Whoriskey was the artistic director of the Intiman Theatre in Seattle, Washington, USA, for a year, departing in April, 2011 after the theater's board cancelled the remainder of the 2011 season due to financial problems. Whoriskey had been co-Artistic Director of Intiman along with Bartlett...

 in 2008, and the couple have a son, Rory.

Beginning his career in 2002 immediately after graduating from Juillard, Breaker has performed in Off-Broadway, London and U.S. regional theatre productions. He performed in five plays at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C. His first major role was the Youth, protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

 of the Off-Broadway premiere of Passing Strange

Passing Strange

Passing Strange is a rock musical about a young African American's artistic journey of self-discovery in Europe, drawing on heavy elements of existentialism, metafictional comedy, and the Künstlerroman. The musical's lyrics and book are by Stew with music and orchestrations by Heidi Rodewald and Stew...

, in which he won an Obie in 2008 for his performance. He was then nominated for a Tony for the show's Broadway transfer, in which he again played the Youth; he also played this role in Spike Lee

Spike Lee

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....

's filmed version of the musical. Breaker has also been a guest star on television.

One of his most recognizable roles was Donkey

Donkey (Shrek)

Donkey is a fictional talking donkey from the Shrek series of films and he serves as the deuteragonist of the films, voiced by Eddie Murphy. The character has also featured in the original story Shrek!...

 in the original Broadway production of Shrek the Musical, which ran from November 2008 through January 2010. He starred alongside long-time Broadway stars Brian d'Arcy James

Brian d'Arcy James

Brian d'Arcy James is an American actor and musician.-Personal life:James was born in Saginaw, Michigan, the son of Mary , a seller of children's books, and a lawyer father, Thomas F. James. Brian's maternal grandfather was Harry F. Kelly, former Governor of the state of Michigan...

, Sutton Foster

Sutton Foster

Sutton Lenore Foster is an American actress, singer and dancer. Foster has received two Tony Awards, in 2002 for her role of Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie and in 2011 for her role of Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes...

, John Tartaglia

John Tartaglia

John Nicholas Tartaglia is an American singer, actor, dancer, puppeteer.Tartaglia was born in Maple Shade, New Jersey, U.S.. He joined Sesame Street's puppetry team at the age of 16 part-time, performing as a right hand and many minor characters, including Phoebe and being the backup for Kevin...

 and Christopher Sieber

Christopher Sieber

Christopher Sieber is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Kevin Burke in Two of a Kind starring Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen and Lord Farquaad in Shrek the Musical. Christopher studied acting and musical comedy at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City...

. He earned a Drama Desk Award

Drama Desk Award

The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...

 nonimation for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, for his portrayal. His voice can be heard on the original cast recording of the show.

He has also appeared in the plays Well

Well (play)

Well is a play about illness written by and starring Lisa Kron. Well made its world premier at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York City in 2004. The play was directed by Leigh Silverman and also starred Jayne Houdyshell as Lisa's mother, Ann Kron. The Public Theater production garnered...

and Cymbeline

Cymbeline

Cymbeline , also known as Cymbeline, King of Britain or The Tragedy of Cymbeline, is a play by William Shakespeare, based on legends concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobelinus. Although listed as a tragedy in the First Folio, modern critics often classify Cymbeline as a romance...

.

In 2009, he co-hosted the Obie Awards.