Christopher John O'Neill is a comedian and

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 ...

actor, best known for playing the role of Elder Arnold Cunningham in the musical ''

The Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...

''. While performing at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

with his two-man traveling comedy act, ''

The Chris and Paul Show The Chris and Paul Show is an American sketch comedy duo composed of Christopher John O'Neill and Paul Valenti. They are known for their vaudeville-inspired physical comedy, which consists of largely pantomimed scenes with minimal or no dialogue. ...

'', O'Neill was spotted by a casting director and invited to audition for the role of Elder Cunningham. He joined the first national tour as Elder Cunningham in December 2012, his professional acting debut, and in January 2015 he joined the Broadway cast. In 2019, The Chris and Paul Show competed in the NBC comedy competition television series ''

Bring the Funny ''Bring the Funny'' is an American comedy competition series that aired on NBC from July 9 to September 17, 2019. Hosted by comedian Amanda Seales, the series features various comedy acts performing in front of an audience for a chance to win $2 ...

'', making it to the finals of the show's first season.

Early life

Christopher John O'Neill grew up in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, the son of Rich and Karen O'Neill. His father is a

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

and

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

-educated pianist, and his mother is a

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

teacher. He also has one brother, Brian. While O'Neill took up music and performed in musicals and plays, he grew up wanting to be a

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player, and by the end of high school he wanted to be a professional comedian. O'Neill applied to several college theater programs, but owing to a lack of experience, was not accepted into any of them.

The Chris and Paul Show

Starting in 2000, O'Neill and Paul Valenti began collaborating as a sketch-comedy duo called The Chris and Paul Show. O'Neill described the duo's style as "stupid and abrupt"; it also involved physical comedy. In 2003, shortly after O'Neill graduated high school, the pair moved to New York City, where O'Neill worked a series of retail and service jobs while Valenti found gigs for the duo to perform at. The Chris and Paul Show did receive some acclaim, with O'Neill receiving the Best Actor in a Comedy award from the

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and the duo receiving Best Newcomer award at the 2011 Montreal Sketch Festival. They were also nominated for the same award at the 2011

, which invited them to return in 2012. In 2019, The Chris and Paul Show competed in the NBC comedy competition television series ''

'', making it to the finals of the show's first season.

''The Book of Mormon''

While performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, O'Neill and Valenti were both spotted by a casting director for the musical ''

''. The two made it through several auditions in Los Angeles before O'Neill was invited to New York for a month-long training camp and extended audition. Over a dozen other people auditioned for the role of Elder Cunningham at the training camp, including

Ben Platt Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He began his acting career in musical theater as a child and appeared in productions of ''The Sound of Music'' (2006) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (201 ...

and

Cody Strand Cody may refer to: People *Cody (given name) *Cody (surname) * Cody (wrestler), a ring name of Cody Runnels Places Canada *Cody, British Columbia United States * Cody, Florida * Cody (Duluth), Minnesota *Cody, Missouri * Cody, Nebraska *Cody, W ...

, who would be chosen to play the role in Chicago and on Broadway, respectively. O'Neill was selected to play Elder Cunningham for the first national tour, replacing original cast member

Jared Gertner Jared Gertner is an American actor best known for his work in the American musical theater, including a co-starring role in the first touring and London productions of ''The Book of Mormon''. Life and career Gertner was raised in Toms River, New ...

, who left the national tour for the soon-to-open West End production. He made his debut on December 28, 2012. The performance was also the national tour debut of Mark Evans, who replaced

Gavin Creel Gavin James Creel (born April 18, 1976) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter best known for his work in musical theater. Creel made his Broadway theatre, Broadway debut in 2002 in the leading role of Jimmy in ''Thoroughly Modern Millie ( ...

(who also left for West End) as Elder Price. The role was O'Neill's first in professional musical theater. On January 6, 2015, O'Neill joined the Broadway cast of ''The Book of Mormon'', with Gavin Creel joining the Broadway Cast as Elder Price the same night.

Personal life

O'Neill married his longtime girlfriend, Jennifer Viola Sessions, in April 2013. He has two daughters, Harper and Hailey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, Christopher John Male actors from Stamford, Connecticut Living people 21st-century American comedians American male musical theatre actors Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)