Michael Berresse (born August 15, 1964) is an American actor, dancer,

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

, and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Life and career

Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, but reared primarily in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

, Berresse's father was a chemical engineer and his mother is the artist and author Cynthia Berresse Ploski. He has an older brother and two older sisters. A nationally competitive gymnast and diver from age eight, he went straight from high school to a stint performing in Walt Disney theme parks in Orlando and Tokyo before moving to New York and making 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 1990 revival of ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...

''. In 1992, he appeared on

Star Search ''Star Search'' was an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./ Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 2929 Productions from 2003 to 2004. On both versio ...

in a dance group called "The Boys Back East", winning the title of Best New Dance Group and a shared prize of $100,000. He has appeared on Broadway in many shows including: ''

Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-s ...

'', ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

'' (first as the murder victim, Fred Casely, and later as the lawyer, Billy Flynn), ''

'', ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

'', ''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

'', ''

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during ...

'', '' The Light in the Piazza'' and most recently as Zach in the revival of ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers ...

''. For his performance as Bill Calhoun in ''Kiss Me, Kate'', Berresse was nominated for a 2000

Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. The award has been given since 1947, but the nominees who did not win have only been publicly announced since 1956. Winner and ...

as well as London's

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

. In addition to Broadway, he has worked extensively in regional theatre, most recently in

Jason Robert Brown Jason Robert Brown (born June 20, 1970) is an American musical theatre composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards for his work on ''Parad ...

's musical ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' at the

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighboring ...

in Los Angeles as well as

Larry Kramer Laurence David Kramer (June 25, 1935May 27, 2020) was an American playwright, author, film producer, public health advocate, and gay rights activist. He began his career rewriting scripts while working for Columbia Pictures, which led him to Lo ...

's ''

The Normal Heart ''The Normal Heart'' is a largely autobiographical play by Larry Kramer. It focuses on the rise of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City between 1981 and 1984, as seen through the eyes of writer/activist Ned Weeks, the gay founder of a promi ...

'' at

Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.) Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...

He also portrayed Bob Mackie/Robert Altman/Artie in The Cher Show beginning Late 2018 on Broadway. Berresse was the director and choreographer of the Broadway musical, 'title_of_show''.html" ;"title="title_of_show.html" ;"title="'title of show">'title of show''">title_of_show.html" ;"title="'title of show">'title of show''for which he was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award and a recipient of off-Broadway's Obie Award and which starred and was co-created by his Significant other, partner Jeff Bowen. In 2012 he reunited with the ''[title of show]'' creative team to direct the off-Broadway musical ''

Now. Here. This. ''Now. Here. This.'' is a musical from the team of '' itle of show', with music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen and a book by Hunter Bell and Susan Blackwell. It is a collaborative work by Hunter Bell, Michael Berresse, Susan Blackwell, Heidi Blickenst ...

'' He recently directed the world premiere of Paul Gordon's ''Analog & Vinyl'' in summer 2014. He made his film debut as the Stage Manager in Spielberg's ''

A.I. Artificial Intelligence ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' (also known as ''A.I.'') is a 2001 American science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg. The screenplay by Spielberg and screen story by Ian Watson were based on the 1969 short story "Supertoys Last All ...

'', played an assassin in ''State of Play'', directed by Kevin Macdonald and starring Russell Crowe, and recently appeared in ''The Bourne Legacy'', with Jeremy Renner.https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1006558/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 He also appears as himself in the documentary film ''Every Little Step'', which follows the casting process of the production of ''

'' in which he starred. In the program for the London run of ''Kiss Me Kate'', which ran from October 2001 to August 2002. He resides in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Michael Berresse
at

Internet Off-Broadway Database The Internet Off-Broadway Database (IOBDB), also formerly known as the Lortel Archives, is an online database that catalogues theatre productions shown off-Broadway. The IOBDB was funded and developed by the non-profit Lucille Lortel Foundation ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berresse, Michael American male musical theatre actors American male dancers 1964 births Living people Male actors from Massachusetts Male actors from Chicago People from Holyoke, Massachusetts American male film actors 21st-century American male actors