Brian Charles Rooney is an American actor and singer. Technically a

sopranist A sopranist (also, sopranista or male soprano) is a male singer who is able to sing in the vocal tessitura of a soprano usually through the use of falsetto or head voice vocal production. This voice type is a specific kind of countertenor. In ra ...

(sopranista or male soprano), he has also sung high tenor roles in theatrical productions in the United States, Canada, and Europe. He made his

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

debut in The Roundabout Theatre Company's 2006 revival of

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

and

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

's ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music ...

'' in the role of Lucy Brown. As a tenor, he played Tony on a European tour of the American musical ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

''. He has been featured in musical and non-musical theatrical productions in such cities as San Francisco, Miami, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Dallas. He has been a featured soloist with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, as a pop-rock singer-songwriter, he began performing original material in concert venues in New York City. His collaborator is

Paul Leschen Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, composer and arranger for the rock-band,

The Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters were an American pop rock band formed in 2001. Its members include Jake Shears and Ana Matronic as vocalists, Babydaddy as multi-instrumentalist, Del Marquis as lead guitar/bassist, and Randy Real (who replaced Paddy Boom) as dr ...

. Rooney's recent ventures in concert performance and production in New York City have been greeted positively. Rooney starred as General George B. McClellan in the 2014

New York Musical Theatre Festival The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) was an annual three-week summer festival that operated from 2004 to 2019. It presented more than 30 new musicals a year in New York City's midtown theater district. More than half were chosen by leading theate ...

production of ''

Bayonets of Angst ''Bayonets of Angst'' is a musical comedy written by Rick Kunzi and Adam Barnosky. The show about the American Civil War. Production history In 2013, ''Bayonets of Angst'' was a finalist in the Ken Davenport Ten Minute Play Contest. The premie ...

'', a bluegrass musical comedy about the Civil War. He was awarded a New York Musical Theatre Festival Award for Excellence for "Outstanding Individual Performance".

Awards

In 2007, Rooney was awarded the Lys Symonette Award for Outstanding Dramatic Excellence by the Kurt Weill Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooney, Brian Charles Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people American male actors American male pop singers Sopranists American male singer-songwriters