Jeremiah James
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Age: 29.
Hometown: Macedon, New York, not far from Rochester, where James—the middle of three children and only boy—lived until he was 13. At that point, his father, who worked in the car business, moved the family "from a very, very, very small town" to the "hustle and bustle of Los Angeles." It was there that he attended the Hamilton Academy of Music, which, the performer recalls, "was such an intense program six days a week that we didn't have much time to do professional theater outside the program."
Currently: Making his West End debut as the carnival barker Billy Bigelow in director Lindsay Posner's West End revival of Carousel, which continues at the Savoy Theatre through July 25 (and possibly longer). "It's such a beautiful show; I would love for it to run and run," says James. This latest take on Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1945 classic has been especially heralded for the quality of its voices in a company that includes James's fellow American, Alexandra Silber (Fiddler on the Roof), as Julie Jordan and English opera singer Lesley Garrett as Nettie Fowler. "Some of the sounds that come from our cast are absolutely stunning," says James. "It was very nerve-wracking to come in and sing alongside someone like Lesley Garrett. It's been just incredible listening every day to this cast."
Be Italian! It was an invitation to join Teatro, the all-male London-based vocal quartet that James describes as "theaterland's first super-group," that first took him to England, where he had never previously been. According to James, the agent and impresario Jonathan Shalit initially heard about the performer while he was playing Curly on tour in the U.S. in the Cameron Mackintosh-produced Oklahoma! "I sang for [Shalit] in New York City, and he said, ‘I love what you did. How do you feel about coming to London for a couple of days on me and singing with a few gentlemen in London?' So from there, I flew out and sang with them—there were about 10 or 11 of us—and it was about who blended well with who and who had what they wanted looks-wise. They kept whittling it down," and eventually the gig was his. Teatro released its first album in November 2007, and is currently planning a second one. In the meantime, it's been good for the group's members to diversify into musical theater: Teatro colleague Simon Bailey is now appearing on the West End in The Phantom of the Opera....