John O'May is an American-born Australian actor, best known for his stage performances. O'May grew up in Baltimore and went to

Patapsco High School Patapsco High School and Center For The Arts is a public high school in the United States, located in Dundalk in Baltimore County, Maryland, near Baltimore. About the School Patapsco is located in the suburban community of Dundalk, in southeaste ...

, where he later become a teacher. He came to Australia in 1972, where he replaced

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...

as Judas in ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hymn ...

''. He created and performed in the revues ''Gershwin'' (with

John Diedrich John Edwin Diedrich (born 25 February 1953 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian actor, director, producer and singer, known for stage and television roles in Australia and the UK. He played the lead role of Curly in the 1980 West End revi ...

) in 1975 and ''The 20s and All That Jazz'' (with Diedrich and Caroline Gilmer) in 1977. O'May played Che in the original Australian cast of ''

Evita Evita may refer to: Arts * Evita (1996 film), ''Evita'' (1996 film), a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name * Evita (2008 film), ''Evita'' (2008 film), a documentary about Eva Péron * Evita (album), ''E ...

'' which opened in Adelaide in April 1980. In the 1980s he was a regular performer with the

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre compa ...

, and played Bobby in ''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

'' for the

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...

in 1986 and Captain Corcoran in ''

H.M.S. Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, whic ...

'' for the

Victoria State Opera The Victoria State Opera (VSO), based in Melbourne, Australia, was founded in Melbourne in 1962. The company, founded by Leonard Spira, was a move into grand opera by the then amateur Gilbert and Sullivan-oriented Victorian Light Opera Co. The n ...

in 1987. He directed and starred in the musical ''

Seven Little Australians ''Seven Little Australians'' is a classic Australian children's literature novel by Ethel Turner, published in 1894. Set mainly in Sydney in the 1880s, it relates the adventures of the seven mischievous Woolcot children, their stern army father ...

'' in 1988. O'May played Monsieur André in the original Australian cast of ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pierr ...

'' which opened at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne in December 1990. He later performed each of the two manager characters in various productions over the subsequent decades. Other notable roles include John Wilkes Booth in ''

Assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. Assassin may also refer to: Origin of term * Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins Animals and insects * Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviida ...

'' in 1995, and Fredrik Egerman in ''

A Little Night Music ''A Little Night Music'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the 1955 Ingmar Bergman film ''Smiles of a Summer Night'', it involves the romantic lives of several couples. ...

'' in 1997, both for the Melbourne Theatre Company. For the latter, he received a Green Room Award for male artist in a leading role. In 2014 he appeared as Doctor Tambourri in Sondheim's '' Passion''. Screen credits include supporting roles in the films '' Starstruck'' and ''

Rebel A rebel is a participant in a rebellion. Rebel or rebels may also refer to: People * Rebel (given name) * Rebel (surname) * Patriot (American Revolution), during the American Revolution * American Southerners, as a form of self-identification; ...

'' and the television opera ''The Divorce''."''The Divorce'' is a comedic opera, and unlike anything else on Australian TV"
by Paul Kalina, ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', 26 November 2015

References

External links

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Profile
markgogoll.com {{DEFAULTSORT:OMay, John 20th-century Australian male actors 21st-century Australian male actors Australian male stage actors Australian male film actors Australian male television actors Australian male musical theatre actors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Male actors from Baltimore