Jonathan B. Wright
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Bradford Wright (born December 13, 1986) is an American
actor
who is best known for his performance as Hanschen, in the Tony Award-winning
Broadway
musical
Spring Awakening.
in Livonia, Michigan
. Within CAPA, Wright was cast in several productions including:
Wright won a prestigious scholarship to the Cranbrook Summer Theater in his junior year of high school, where he played Romeo
in a production of Romeo and Juliet
. In 2003, he was cast in Jake Heggie
's opera
Dead Man Walking
at the Michigan Opera Theater. At the age of 16, Jonathan came to New York
and attended the summer acting workshop at The Lee Strasberg Theater Institute. Upon graduation from high school in 2005, returned to New York to become the youngest member of The Actors Center
's nine month conservatory program. Jonathan auditioned in 2005 for a role in the Off-Broadway musical production of Spring Awakening at the Atlantic Theater Company
. Jonathan was cast in the role of Hanschen, the choir boy who seduces his fellow male classmate, for which he has received rave reviews, being cited by some as a scene-stealer. He continued with Spring Awakening as it moved to Broadway and went on to win 8 Tony awards. Wright's final performance was on April 20, 2008.
In October 2007, Wright was cast as Lethario in his first feature film, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
, which was released on October 3, 2008. His character (also referred to as "Beefy Guy") is the boyfriend of Dev (Rafi Gavron
), the lead singer for The Jerk Offs. In May 2008, Wright was cast as Trent Preston in Youth in Revolt alongside Michael Cera
, his Infinite Playlist castmate. Youth in Revolt received wide theatrical release on January 8, 2010.
Wright is also known as Jonny Wright, Jonny B. Wright and Jonny B.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
who is best known for his performance as Hanschen, in the Tony Award-winning
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
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...
musical
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...
Spring Awakening.
Life and career
Wright began acting at the age of 14 at the Creative And Performing Arts magnet program (CAPA) located at Winston Churchill High SchoolWinston Churchill High School (Wayne County, Michigan)
Churchill High School, named after Winston Churchill, is one of the three main public high schools in the city of Livonia, Michigan, a western suburb of Detroit. The school was created in 1968 as an add-on to the other high schools in Livonia in response to the population boom that the city saw...
in Livonia, Michigan
Livonia, Michigan
Livonia is a city in the northwest part of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Livonia is a very large suburb with an array of traditional neighborhoods connected to the metropolitan area by freeways. The population was 96,942 at the 2010 census, making it Michigan's 9th largest...
. Within CAPA, Wright was cast in several productions including:
- BrigadoonBrigadoonBrigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Songs from the musical, such as "Almost Like Being in Love" have become standards....
– New Yorker - You Can't Take It with YouYou Can't Take It with YouYou Can't Take It with You is a comedic play in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The original production of the play opened at the Booth Theater on December 14, 1936, and played for 837 performances...
– Ed Carmichael - Stage DoorStage DoorStage Door is a RKO film, adapted from the play by the same name, that tells the story of several would-be actresses who live together in a boarding house at 158 West 58th Street in New York City. The film stars Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Constance Collier,...
– Adolph Gretzel - A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
– Snug - Les MisérablesLes Misérables (musical)Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
– Bishop and Monparnasse - Dancing at LughnasaDancing at LughnasaDancing at Lughnasa is a 1990 play by dramatist Brian Friel set in Ireland's County Donegal in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg. It is a memory play told from the point of view of the adult Michael Evans, the narrator...
– Michael Evans - Li'l AbnerLi'l Abner (musical)Li'l Abner is a musical with a book by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, music by Gene De Paul, and lyrics by Johnny Mercer.Based on the comic strip Li'l Abner by Al Capp, the show is, on the surface, a broad spoof of hillbillies but is also a pointed satire taking on any number of topics, ranging...
– Abner - A Piece of My Heart – Ensemble
- Into the WoodsInto the WoodsInto the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
– The Baker - A Streetcar Named DesireA Streetcar Named Desire (play)A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
– Stanley KowalskiStanley KowalskiStanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire.-In the play:Stanley lives in the working class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella , and is employed as a factory parts salesman. He was an Army engineer in WWII, having... - The CrucibleThe CrucibleThe Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
– Reverend John Hale - MacbethMacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
– MacduffMacduff (thane)Macduff, the Thane of Fife, is a character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth . Macduff plays a pivotal role in the play: he suspects Macbeth of regicide and eventually kills Macbeth in the final act...
Wright won a prestigious scholarship to the Cranbrook Summer Theater in his junior year of high school, where he played Romeo
Romeo Montague
Romeo is one of the fictional protagonists in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is the son of old Montague and his wife, who secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet...
in a production of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
. In 2003, he was cast in Jake Heggie
Jake Heggie
Jake Heggie is an American composer and pianist.Jake Heggie is the composer of the operas Dead Man Walking , The End of the Affair , At The Statue of Venus , To Hell and Back , and Moby-Dick , as well as the stage work For a Look or a Touch...
's opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Dead Man Walking
Dead Man Walking (opera)
Dead Man Walking is the first opera by Jake Heggie, with a libretto by Terrence McNally; it premiered on October 7, 2000 at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco Opera.-Roles:...
at the Michigan Opera Theater. At the age of 16, Jonathan came to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and attended the summer acting workshop at The Lee Strasberg Theater Institute. Upon graduation from high school in 2005, returned to New York to become the youngest member of The Actors Center
The Actors Center
The Actors Center, New York City, was founded in 1996 by J. Michael Miller. It was established on the concept that established actors need to continue to develop their craft in relation to their growth as human beings...
's nine month conservatory program. Jonathan auditioned in 2005 for a role in the Off-Broadway musical production of Spring Awakening at the Atlantic Theater Company
Atlantic Theater Company
Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their acting students from New York University, inspired by the...
. Jonathan was cast in the role of Hanschen, the choir boy who seduces his fellow male classmate, for which he has received rave reviews, being cited by some as a scene-stealer. He continued with Spring Awakening as it moved to Broadway and went on to win 8 Tony awards. Wright's final performance was on April 20, 2008.
In October 2007, Wright was cast as Lethario in his first feature film, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is a 2008 romantic comedy film directed by Peter Sollett and starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings. Written by Lorene Scafaria and based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, the story tells of teenagers Nick and Norah , who meet when...
, which was released on October 3, 2008. His character (also referred to as "Beefy Guy") is the boyfriend of Dev (Rafi Gavron
Rafi Gavron
Raphael Pichey "Rafi" Gavron is a British actor, known for his roles in the Anthony Minghella romantic-drama film Breaking and Entering , and the 2008 movies Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and the fantasy Inkheart....
), the lead singer for The Jerk Offs. In May 2008, Wright was cast as Trent Preston in Youth in Revolt alongside Michael Cera
Michael Cera
Michael Austin Cera is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Arrested Development, Youth in Revolt, Superbad, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Juno. Cera received the 2008 Canadian Comedy Award for best male performance for his work in Superbad.-Early...
, his Infinite Playlist castmate. Youth in Revolt received wide theatrical release on January 8, 2010.
Wright is also known as Jonny Wright, Jonny B. Wright and Jonny B.