# John Dossett

John Dossett (born April 15, 1958) is an American actor and singer.

## Early life and education

Dossett attended Mount Pleasant High School in Wilmington, Delaware, from 1972 through 1976, where he was an announcer for the school's radio station, WMPH, and appeared in student theater productions.

## Career

Dossett made his Broadway debut in 1979 in a short-lived musical entitled the King of Schnorrers. In 1982 he joined the cast of Fifth of July, after which the bulk of his work was in off-Broadway productions and on television. He was a member of the off-Broadway Circle Repertory Company, performing in many plays between 1980 and 1994. A significant screen credit is the 1990 AIDS drama, Longtime Companion.
He later achieved success in two popular musicals, Ragtime (1998) and the 2003 revival of Gypsy as "Herbie" opposite Bernadette Peters. His performance in the latter garnered him both Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominations as Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. He was reunited with his Gypsy co-star Peters in a one-night-only benefit reading of Love Letters in September 2007, for Opening Act.
In 2005, he took over the role of Sam Carmichael in Mamma Mia! Dossett appeared in the world premiere of the Michael John LaChiusa and Sybille Pearson musical Giant, as Bawley, at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia through May 31, 2009. He reprised his role at the Dallas Theater Center production of Giant, from January 18, 2012, through February 19.
He played the role of "Aaron" in the new musical First Wives Club, starting in July 2009 at the Old Globe, San Diego, California. In September 2009, Dossett returned to the Broadway musical Mamma Mia! in the role of Sam Carmichael opposite Tony Award winner Beth Leavel and later Lisa Brescia.
In September 2011, he played the role of Joseph Pulitzer in the premiere of the Disney stage musical Newsies at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. He had been cast as Frank Crawley in the Broadway production of Rebecca, but left that musical because he appeared in Newsies on Broadway as Joseph Pulitzer. Newsies opened on Broadway on March 15, 2012, in previews. He later joined the Broadway production of Chicago as Billy Flynn for an engagement lasting from March to May 2015.
He played the role of "Larry Murphy" in the Off-Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen, which opened in previews on March 26, 2016, at the Second Stage Theatre, and closed on May 29, 2016. He appears as "Tommy Lewis" in the musical by Doug Wright (book), Scott Frankel (music) and Michael Korie (lyrics) titled War Paint. The musical, which stars Patti Lupone and Christine Ebersole, premiered at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, on June 28, 2016. On March 7, 2023, he took over the role of the Wizard in the Broadway production of Wicked. Dossett played his final performance with the show on March 3, 2024.

## Personal life

Dossett married actress Michele Pawk on February 13, 2004. The couple met in 1994 while working together in an off-Broadway musical, Hello Again. They worked together in the musical Mamma Mia! in 2005 and also star alongside each other in Wicked beginning in March 2023. The couple resides in South Orange, New Jersey. They have a son, Jack, born in February 2000.

## Acting credits
### Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Venue |
| 1979–1980 | King of Schnorrers | David Ben Yonkel | Grover Dale | Playhouse Theatre (NY) |
| 1980 | Innocent Thoughts, Harmless Intentions | Walter "Fishfoot" Fitzbout | B. Rodney Marriott | Circle Theatre |
| 1980 | The Diviners | Dewey Maples | Tom Evans | Circle Theatre |
| 1981 | Childe Byron | Boy | Marshall W. Mason | Circle Theatre |
| 1981–1982 | Francis | Francis Bernadone | Frank Martin | Parish Hall at the Church of the Heavenly Rest |
| 1982 | Richard II | Duke of Aumerle | Marshall W. Mason | Entermedia Theater |
| 1980–1982 | Fifth of July | Jed Jenkins (replacement) | Marshall W. Mason | New Apollo Theatre (NY) |
| 1987 | El Salvador | McCutcheon | John Bishop | Circle Repertory Theatre |
| 1988 | Reckless | Lloyd | Norman René | Circle Repertory Theatre |
| 1989 | Dalton's Back | Dalton Possil | Mark Ramont | Circle Repertory Theatre |
| 1989 | Mastergate | John Shepherd | Michael Engler | Criterion Center Stage Right |
| 1989 | Sunshine | Nelson | Marshall W. Mason | Circle Repertory Theatre |
| 1990–1991 | Prelude to a Kiss | Taylor, Peter (understudy, replacement) | Norman René | Circle Repertory Theatre, Helen Hayes Theatre |
| 1992 | Captains Courageous | Manuel | Graciela Daniele | Ford's Theatre |
| 1992 | Empty Hearts | Detective Dave Ennis/Hank Sweetzer | John Bishop | Circle Repertory Theatre |
| 1993 | Down the Road | Dan Henniman | David Dorwart | Linda Gross Theatre |
| 1993 | Paper Moon | Brother Randolph Sass | Matt Casella | Paper Mill Playhouse |
| 1993–1994 | Hello Again | The Senator | Graciela Daniele | Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater |
| 1994 | Moonshots and Cosmos | Tom | Marshall W. Mason | Circle Repertory Theatre |
| 1995 | Elmer Gantry | Elmer Gantry | Michael Maggio | Ford's Theatre |
| 1995 | Kiss of the Spider Woman | Valentin | Harold Prince | National Theatre |
| 1996 | Applause | Bill Sampson | Gene Saks | Paper Mill Playhouse |
| 1998 | How I Learned to Drive | Uncle Peck | Maria Mileaf | Plays and Players Theatre |
| 1999 | Dinner with Friends | Tom (replacement) | Daniel J. Sullivan | Variety Arts Theatre |
| 1999 | Trudy Blue | Don/James | Michael Sexton | MCC Theater |
| 1999 | The Visit | | Frank Galati | |
| 1999–2000 | Ragtime | Father (replacement) | Frank Galati | Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Farnsworth Studio |
| 2000 | Little Women | Professor Bhaer | Nick Corley | Randall L Wreghitt Productions Workshop |
| 2001 | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Judge Thatcher | Scott Ellis | Minskoff Theatre |
| 2002 | A Little Night Music | Fredrik Egerman | Mark Brokaw | Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Kennedy Center |
| 2002 | An Almost Holy Picture | Samuel Gentle | Michael Mayer | American Airlines Theatre |
| 2002–2003 | Dinner at Eight | Dr. J. Wayne Talbot | Gerald Gutierrez | Vivian Beaumont Theater |
| 2003–2004 | Gypsy | Herbie | Sam Mendes | Shubert Theatre |
| 2004–2005 | Democracy | Helmut Schmidt | Michael Blakemore | Brooks Atkinson Theatre |
| 2005 | Children and Art | | Richard Maltby Jr. | New Amsterdam Theatre |
| 2005 | The Constant Wife | Bernard Kersal | Mark Brokaw | American Airlines Theatre |
| 2005–2006 | Mamma Mia! | Sam Carmichael (replacement) | Phyllida Lloyd | Cadillac Winter Garden Theatre |
| 2006–2007 | The Clean House | Matilde's Father/Charles | Bill Rauch | Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater |
| 2008 | Saved | Pastor Skip | Gary Griffin | Playwrights Horizons |
| 2009 | First Wives Club | Aaron | Francesca Zambello | Old Globe Theatre |
| 2009 | White People | | Gus Reyes | Atlantic Stage 2 |
| 2009–2011 | Mamma Mia! | Sam Carmichael (replacement) | Phyllida Lloyd | Winter Garden Theatre |
| 2011, 2012–2014 | Newsies | Joseph Pulitzer | Jeff Calhoun | Paper Mill Playhouse, Nederlander Theatre |
| 2012 | Giant | Uncle 'Bawley' Benedict | Michael Greif | Joseph Papp Public Theater, Dallas Theater Center |
| 2014–2015 | Pippin | Charles (replacement) | Diane Paulus | Music Box Theatre |
| 2015 | Chicago | Billy Flynn (replacement) | Walter Bobbie | Ambassador Theatre |
| 2016 | Dear Evan Hansen | Larry Murphy | Michael Greif | Second Stage Theater |
| 2017 | War Paint | Tommy Lewis | Michael Greif | Nederlander Theatre, Goodman Theatre |
| 2018 | The Heart of Rock & Roll | Stone | Gordon Greenberg | Old Globe Theatre |
| 2018 | Sylvia | Greg | Matt Lenz | The Cape Playhouse |
| 2018 | Grand Hotel | Hermann Preysing | Tommy Tune | New York City Center |
| 2019 | A Small Fire | John Bridges | Joanie Schultz | Suzanne Roberts Theatre |
| 2019 | A Number | Salter | Eliza Baldi | People's Light and Theatre Company |
| 2021–2022 | Paradise Square | Frederic Tiggens | Frank Galati | Nederlander Theatre, Barrymore Theatre |
| 2022 | Parade | Judge Roan/Old Confederate Soldier | Michael Arden | New York City Center Encores! |
| 2023–2024 | Wicked | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | Joe Mantello | Gershwin Theatre |
| 2024 | The Heart of Rock and Roll | Stone | Gordon Greenberg | James Earl Jones Theatre |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1994 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Chick | Episode "The Last of the Watermen" |
| 1996 | JAG | Commander Dennis Brockman | Episode "Ares" |
| 1997 | Prince Street | | 2 episodes |
| 1999 | Sex and the City | Don | Episode "Games People Play" |
| 2002 | Hack | Jack Shannon | 2 episodes |
| 1999, 2005 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Tom Dayton (1999), Dr. Trainer (2005) | 2 episodes |
| 1993, 1999, 2002, 2005 | Law & Order | Don Stuart (1993), Frank Wellington (1999), Father Evans (2002), Judge Martin Schnell (2005) | 4 episodes |
| 2007 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Judge Nicholas Fenner Sr. | Episode "Players" |
| 2007 | Gossip Girl | Jack Roth | Episode "Roman Holiday" |
| 2008 | John Adams | Benjamin Rush | 6 episodes |
| 2010 | As the World Turns | Joe Chessley | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | The Good Wife | Kyle Murphy | Episode "Breaking Up" |
| 2011 | Lights Out | Dr. Wilson | Episode "Cut Men" |
| 2011 | Blue Bloods | Father McMurray | Episode "Model Behavior" |
| 2011 | Suits | Mr. Dockery | Episode "Pilots" |
| 2013 | The Americans | Kurt Schultz | Episode "COMINT" |
| 2018 | Instinct | Reilly | Episode "Flat Line" |
| 2018 | Madam Secretary | General David Nelson | Episode "Night Watch" |
| 2018 | Elementary | Treadwell | Episode "How to Get a Head" |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Director |
| 1989 | Longtime Companion | Paul | Norman René |
| 1992 | That Night | Larry Bloom | Craig Bolotin |
| 1997 | Nick and Jane | John | Richard Mauro |
| 1997 | Clover | Chase Porter | Jud Taylor |
| 1999 | Blue Moon | John Barnard | Ron Lagomarsino |
| 1999 | The Cracker Man | Hank | Rudy Gaines |
| 2000 | Big Eden | John Bishop | Thomas Bezucha |
| 2005 | Little Manhattan | Mickey Telesco | Mark Levin |
| 2011 | The Oranges | Shelly | Julian Farino |
| 2012 | Man on a Ledge | Ted Henry | Asger Leth |
| 2020 | No Loss Here | Ted | Nathan Brewer |