Christopher Fitzgerald (actor)
Christopher Cantwell Fitzgerald (born November 26, 1972) is an American actor and singer. He is known for his role as Boq in the musical "Wicked" and his role of Igor in "Young Frankenstein", for which he earned Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, and Tony Award nominations. He also starred as Ogie Anhorn in the Broadway production of "Waitress", with songs composed by Sara Bareilles. Early life. Fitzgerald was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, the son of Victoria D. Field, who worked for the American Kennel Club, and James W. Fitzgerald, Jr., a real estate agent  at Coldwell Banker. He grew up in South Portland, Maine and attended Waynflete School in Portland in 1991. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He is a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He also gained a master's degree in Fine Arts from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. He studied "techniques of clowning but also mime and storytelling, singing and comedy and everything. Juggling, balancing" at the Celebration Barn with Tony Montanaro in Maine. Career. Theatre. Fitzgerald started his acting career in 1980, at the age of  eight, when he appeared as the youngest boy in Portland Player's production of "Oliver!". From that time on, he worked steadily in community theater and Maine's New Vaudeville shows. In college, he began his career as a summer apprentice at Williamstown Theater Festival. At the age of twenty-six, in 1998, he starred in his first off-Broadway show, the controversial "Corpus Christi" by acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally. In the same year, he also appeared in "The Matchmaker" by Williamstown Theatre Festival, as well as an off-Broadway staging of "The Cripple of Inishmaan". During the following year , Fitzgerald appeared in the Sondheim-Weidman musical "Wise Guys". He also performed in a production of "Babes in Arms", produced by Encores! in the New York City Center. In 2000, Fitzgerald co-starred in the 1954 Sondheim musical "Saturday Night". His performance in this show earned him his first award nomination, for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. Also in 2000, Fitzgerald played the lead role in the one-man show "Fully Committed", appearing until 2001. In 2002, Fitzgerald opened in the musical "Amour", adapted from a 1943 French short story written by Marcel Aymé . He performed from October 20, 2002 until November 3, 2002. His performance earned him another nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. On October 30, 2003, Fitzgerald premiered in the musical "Wicked" in the role of Boq. He departed the role on January 2, 2005 and was replaced by Jeffry Kuhn. Fitzgerald was seen in "Gutenberg! The Musical!" directed by Alex Timbers from December 3, 2006, and ran until May 6, 2007. He appeared as the character "Igor" in the Broadway production of the Mel Brooks musical "Young Frankenstein", which opened on Broadway in  November 2007. For the role he received an Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, and a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Fitzgerald also played Igor in the musical's out-of-town tryouts in Seattle. During rehearsals for the show his wife gave birth to their first child, a boy named Charlie. Fitzgerald played his final performance as Igor in "Young Frankenstein" on November 23, 2008. Fitzgerald played the title role in the world premiere of the burlesque-style musical "Minsky's", in Los Angeles, which played at the Center Theatre in Ahmanson Theatre  from January 21 – March 1, 2009, and also starred his former "Young Frankenstein" co-star Beth Leavel. He played Og in the Broadway revival of "Finian's Rainbow" at the St. James Theatre. For this performance, Fitzgerald won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. He also once more received an Outer Critics Circle Award May 2010 and a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He starred as Pseudolus in an all-male production of Stephen Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" in his tenth season  with the Williamstown Theatre Festival. The sold-out show closed on July 11, 2010. In November 2010 to February 2011 he played Launcelot Gobbo in "The Merchant of Venice" on Broadway. He starred as P.T. Barnum in "Barnum", revived by Cameron Mackintosh, premiering at the Chichester Festival Theatre in Chichester, West Sussex, UK from July 15 through August 31, 2013. He played the role of Amos Hart in the Broadway production of "Chicago", beginning October 28, 2013. At the Williamstown Theatre Festival in July 2014 he played the role of Benny Fox in its production of "June Moon". Christopher played  the archangel Michael in the production of An Act of God starring Jim Parsons from May - August 2015 . In March 2016, he joined the cast of Broadway transfer "Waitress", playing the role of Ogie. Films. Fitzgerald's first film role was a bit part in the movie "Boiler Room" starring Vin Diesel and Ben Affleck. His next part was in the movie "" as Greg. "Personal Velocity" won two awards at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, including Best Cinematography. Fitzgerald starred in 2012's "Girl Most Likely" alongside Kristen Wiig, Annette Bening, Matt Dillon and Darren Criss. Television. On the television  show "Twins" on The WB, Fitzgerald played the character of Neil, beginning in 2005. The show was cancelled on May 18, 2006, following the merger of The WB and UPN that created the new network The CW. He appeared in full costume as an adult Cabbage Patch doll in a Geico insurance commercial. In 2017, Fitzgerald played the role of J.J. Valentine in the Netflix limited series "Godless," and played children's entertainer/child trafficker Sonny Shine in the SyFy fantasy black comedy crime series "Happy!".