Daniel Evans (actor)

Daniel Gwyn Evans (born 31 July 1973) is a Welsh actor and director.

Background

Evans was born in the Rhondda Valley in Wales. Evans started acting early in life, going to the Urdd Eisteddfod, and beginning to compete there from the age of five or six, as well as going to many amateur productions. He realised it was what he wanted to do aged 8, and aged 17, he won the Richard Burton Memorial Prize at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. A year later, he won the Chair at the Urdd Eisteddfod.

He attended Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen near Pontypridd, a Welsh-language secondary school which has nurtured many actors.

Career

Stage career

Evans trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1991 to 1994, but joined the Royal Shakespeare Company before completing his course. With the RSC he had small roles in ''Coriolanus'' and ''Henry V'', before playing Lysander when Adrian Noble's production of ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' toured in New York City and on Broadway.

He appeared in the controversial play ''Cardiff East'' by Peter Gill at the Royal National Theatre in 1997, and as the title role in ''Peter Pan'', alongside Ian McKellen and Claudie Blakley.

Directed by Trevor Nunn, he appeared in ''The Merchant of Venice'' and ''Troilus and Cressida'', and was then cast as the hero in the operetta ''Candide'', which also starred Simon Russell Beale. It was his first singing role, and saw him nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2000.

As well as Shakespeare and traditional theatre, Evans had starred in several more experimental plays. At the Royal Court Theatre, he appeared in the débuts of two Sarah Kane plays: ''Cleansed'' and '' 4.48 Psychosis''.

After the success of ''Candide'', Evans was soon cast in another singing role, this time the Stephen Sondheim musical '' Merrily We Roll Along'', for which he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical (2001).

Returning to Shakespeare, he played Ariel in Michael Grandage's production of '' The Tempest'' at the Sheffield Crucible, with Derek Jacobi starring as Prospero. For this, and for his performance in the play ''Ghosts'', he was awarded second prize for the Ian Charleson Award in 2003. With the Royal Shakespeare Company again, he appeared in ''Measure for Measure'' and ''Cymbeline''.

In November 2005, he starred in another Sondheim musical, ''Sunday in the Park with George'' at the Menier Chocolate Factory in the West End, playing the role of French Post-Impressionist painter Georges Seurat, opposite Anna-Jane Casey. It was directed by Sam Buntrock, and was a daring production, using extensive animation and projections to show the creation of Seurat's masterpiece, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte as it was put together over the course of the play.

At the end of its short run at the Menier, ''Sunday'' transferred to the larger Wyndham's Theatre, where it continued until September 2006. It won five Olivier awards, including Best Actor for Evans, Best Actress for Jenna Russell, who took over Casey's role when the Menier run finished, and Outstanding Musical Production.

In January 2008, ''Sunday'' started previews at Studio 54, on Broadway, New York, with Evans and Russell reprising their parts, and a new cast from the Roundabout Theatre Company. It opened on 21 February 2008 and closed on 29 June. The revival was nominated for, but failed to win, 9 Tony Awards, including Best Actor in a Musical for Evans, Best Actress in a Musical for Russell, and Best Direction of a Musical for Sam Buntrock. Evans was also nominated for an Outer Critics' Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, a Drama League Award for a Distinguished Performance, and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, although the prizes were taken by Paulo Szot (Outer Critics' Circle and Drama Desk), and Patti LuPone, respectively.

Television and film career

On television, he has worked extensively with the BBC
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