David Cantor
Encyclopedia
David Cantor is an American actor and singer from New York City
best known for his stage work in musical theatre
, including appearances on Broadway
in the musical Evita and in both comic and dramatic roles in a number of national tours, Off-Broadway
and regional productions. He has also played roles in films and television.
and attended Indiana University
.
Cantor first appeared on Broadway
covering the role of Che in Evita (1982) and then playing Che in the first national tour of the musical on the U.S. west coast
. The New York Times
later wrote on July 14, 1985 of Cantor's performance in an off-Broadway production of Evita, "David Cantor, a veteran in the part, is a marvelous Che, never lapsing into excessive snideness, singing gorgeously and, at times, sailing into the stratosphere with his crystalline 'high-flying, adored' pianissimi." His next role on Broadway was Bobinet in La vie parisienne
by Jacques Offenbach
(1983). Cantor also played Benny in a national tour of The Desert Song
by Sigmund Romberg
(1988).
Cantor appeared Off-Broadway
for over 400 performances as Amshel and occasionally as Nathan Rothschild
in the critically acclaimed 1990-91 revival of The Rothschilds at Circle in the Square theater. His other stage credits include Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing
(1978); Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer
(1978); Matt in The Fantasticks
in a production directed by the show’s creators, Tom Jones
and Harvey Schmidt
(1982); John Adams in 1776 (1982); Charlie in Tintypes
(1986); Stanley Jerome in both Brighton Beach Memoirs
(1986) and Broadway Bound
(1987); Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors (1987); and Vernon Gersch in They're Playing Our Song
(1988). Cantor has performed principal roles in all of the Gilbert and Sullivan
comic opera
s in the U.S., Great Britain, and Italy.
Cantor appeared in the films Prince of the City
(1981), So Fine
(1981), The Chosen
(1981) and Working Girl
(1988). In the early 1980s, he played a number of television soap opera
roles in All My Children
, Loving
, Another World
, and Ryan's Hope
.
. Cantor lives in New Jersey with his wife (also formerly an actress) and children.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
best known for his stage work in musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, including appearances on Broadway
Broadway 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...
in the musical Evita and in both comic and dramatic roles in a number of national tours, Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
and regional productions. He has also played roles in films and television.
Biography
Cantor was raised in Pleasantville, New YorkPleasantville, New York
Pleasantville is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 7,019 at the 2010 census. It is located in the town of Mount Pleasant. Pleasantville is home to a campus of Pace University and to the Jacob Burns Film Center...
and attended Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
.
Cantor first appeared on Broadway
Broadway 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...
covering the role of Che in Evita (1982) and then playing Che in the first national tour of the musical on the U.S. west coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
later wrote on July 14, 1985 of Cantor's performance in an off-Broadway production of Evita, "David Cantor, a veteran in the part, is a marvelous Che, never lapsing into excessive snideness, singing gorgeously and, at times, sailing into the stratosphere with his crystalline 'high-flying, adored' pianissimi." His next role on Broadway was Bobinet in La vie parisienne
La vie parisienne
La vie parisienne is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, composed by Jacques Offenbach, with a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.This work was Offenbach's first full-length piece to portray contemporary Parisian life, unlike his earlier period pieces and mythological subjects...
by Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
(1983). Cantor also played Benny in a national tour of The Desert Song
The Desert Song
The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colonial rule. It was also inspired by stories of Lawrence of...
by Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period...
(1988).
Cantor appeared Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
for over 400 performances as Amshel and occasionally as Nathan Rothschild
Nathan Mayer Rothschild
Nathan Mayer, Freiherr von Rothschild , known as Nathan Mayer Rothschild, was a London financier and one of the founders of the international Rothschild family banking dynasty...
in the critically acclaimed 1990-91 revival of The Rothschilds at Circle in the Square theater. His other stage credits include Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
(1978); Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer is a comedy by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith, son of an Anglo-Irish vicar, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a great favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in Britain and the United States. It is one of the few plays from the 18th...
(1978); Matt in The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into...
in a production directed by the show’s creators, Tom Jones
Tom Jones (writer)
Tom Jones is a lyricist of musical theatre. His best known work is The Fantasticks, which ran off-Broadway from 1960 until 2002, and the hit song from the same, Try to Remember. Other songs from "The Fantasticks" include "Soon It's Gonna Rain", "Much More" and "I Can See It"...
and Harvey Schmidt
Harvey Schmidt
Harvey Lester Schmidt is an American composer for musical theatre. He is best known for composing the music for the longest running musical in history, The Fantasticks, which ran off-Broadway from 1960 - 2002.-Biography:...
(1982); John Adams in 1776 (1982); Charlie in Tintypes
Tintypes
Tintypes is a musical revue conceived by Mary Kyte with Mel Marvin and Gary Pearle.With its time frame set between the turn of the 20th century and the onset of World War I, this chamber piece with a cast of five provides a musical history lesson focusing on an exciting and tumultuous period in...
(1986); Stanley Jerome in both Brighton Beach Memoirs
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Brighton Beach Memoirs is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon, the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy. It precedes Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound.-Characters:*Eugene Morris Jerome, almost 15...
(1986) and Broadway Bound
Broadway Bound
Broadway Bound is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the last chapter in his Eugene trilogy, following Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues....
(1987); Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors (1987); and Vernon Gersch in They're Playing Our Song
They're Playing Our Song
They're Playing Our Song is a musical with a book by Neil Simon, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, and music by Marvin Hamlisch.In a story based on the real-life relationship of Hamlisch and Sager, a wisecracking composer finds a new, offbeat lyricist, but initially the match is not one made in heaven...
(1988). Cantor has performed principal roles in all of the Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
s in the U.S., Great Britain, and Italy.
Cantor appeared in the films Prince of the City
Prince of the City
Prince of the City is an American crime drama film about an NYPD officer who chooses to expose police corruption for idealistic reasons. The character of Daniel Ciello was based on real-life NYPD Narcotics Detective Robert Leuci and the script was based on Robert Daley's 1978 book of the same name...
(1981), So Fine
So Fine (disambiguation)
So Fine may refer to:*"So Fine", a 1959 song by The Fiestas*So Fine , a 1975 album by Loggins and Messina*"So Fine" , a song by Electric Light Orchestra from their 1976 album A New World Record...
(1981), The Chosen
The Chosen
The Chosen may refer to:*The Chosen , a novel by Ricardo Pinto*The Chosen , a novel by Chaim Potok**The Chosen , a 1981 film based on Potok's novel*The Chosen , a novel by L. J. Smith...
(1981) and Working Girl
Working Girl
Working Girl is a 1988 romantic comedy film written by Kevin Wade and directed by Mike Nichols. It tells the inspiring story of a Staten Island-raised secretary, Tess McGill , working in the mergers and acquisitions department of a Wall Street investment bank...
(1988). In the early 1980s, he played a number of television soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
roles in All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
, Loving
Loving (TV series)
Caden Grant Carlton loves Mika Ayako Ryan more.Loving is an American television soap opera which aired on ABC's daytime lineup from June 26, 1983 to November 10, 1995 for 3,169 episodes...
, Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
, and Ryan's Hope
Ryan's Hope
Ryan's Hope is an American soap opera, revolving around 13 years of trials and tribulations within a large Irish American family in the Riverside district of New York City. It aired from July 7, 1975 to January 13, 1989 on ABC...
.
Personal
Retired from show business (although he occasionally still performs in local productions), Cantor now owns and operates SmartStaff Personnel, a staffing and placement firm in Berkeley Heights, New JerseyBerkeley Heights, New Jersey
Berkeley Heights is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 13,183....
. Cantor lives in New Jersey with his wife (also formerly an actress) and children.