Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Ben Vereen
Benjamin Augustus Vereen (né Middleton; October 10, 1946) is an American actor, dancer, and singer. He gained prominence for his performances in the original Broadway productions of the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar, for which he received a Tony Award nomination, and Pippin, for which he won the 1973 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
Vereen was born October 10, 1946, in Laurinburg, North Carolina. Shortly after his birth, he and his family relocated to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City. He was raised by James Vereen, a paint-factory worker, and Pauline Vereen, who worked as a maid and theatre wardrobe mistress. He was raised Pentecostal. He discovered he was adopted when he applied for a passport at age 25. According to the Vereens, his birth mother had abandoned him, although he later heard from relatives that his birth mother looked for him for years.
During his pre-teen years, he exhibited an innate talent for drama and dance and often performed in local variety shows. At the age of 14, Vereen enrolled at the High School of Performing Arts, where he studied under world-renowned choreographers Martha Graham, George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins. Upon his graduation, he struggled to find suitable stage work and was often forced to take odd jobs to supplement his income.
When Vereen was 18 years old, he made his New York stage bow off-off Broadway in The Prodigal Son at the Greenwich Mews Theater directed by Stella Holt. By the following year, he was in Las Vegas, performing in Bob Fosse's production of Sweet Charity, a show with which he toured in 1967–68. He returned to New York City to play Claude in Hair in the Broadway production, before joining the national touring company.
The following year, he was cast as an ensemble dancer in the film adaptation of Sweet Charity. He is featured prominently in the "Rich Man's Frug" dance number and the song "Rhythm of Life", where he appears as one of three backup dancers for Sammy Davis Jr. After developing a rapport with Davis, Vereen was cast as his understudy in the upcoming production of Golden Boy, which toured England and ended the run at the Palladium Theatre in London's West End.
Vereen was nominated for a Tony Award for his role as Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972 and won a Tony for his appearance in Pippin in 1973. Vereen appeared in the Broadway musical Wicked as the Wizard of Oz in 2005. Vereen has also performed in one-man shows and actively lectures on black history and inspirational topics.
In August 2011, Vereen was named co-artistic director of Tampa's Broadway Theatre Project.
Vereen has also starred in numerous television programs, and is well known for the role of 'Chicken' George Moore in Alex Haley's landmark TV miniseries Roots, for which he received an Emmy nomination in 1977.
Hub AI
Ben Vereen AI simulator
(@Ben Vereen_simulator)
Ben Vereen
Benjamin Augustus Vereen (né Middleton; October 10, 1946) is an American actor, dancer, and singer. He gained prominence for his performances in the original Broadway productions of the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar, for which he received a Tony Award nomination, and Pippin, for which he won the 1973 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
Vereen was born October 10, 1946, in Laurinburg, North Carolina. Shortly after his birth, he and his family relocated to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City. He was raised by James Vereen, a paint-factory worker, and Pauline Vereen, who worked as a maid and theatre wardrobe mistress. He was raised Pentecostal. He discovered he was adopted when he applied for a passport at age 25. According to the Vereens, his birth mother had abandoned him, although he later heard from relatives that his birth mother looked for him for years.
During his pre-teen years, he exhibited an innate talent for drama and dance and often performed in local variety shows. At the age of 14, Vereen enrolled at the High School of Performing Arts, where he studied under world-renowned choreographers Martha Graham, George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins. Upon his graduation, he struggled to find suitable stage work and was often forced to take odd jobs to supplement his income.
When Vereen was 18 years old, he made his New York stage bow off-off Broadway in The Prodigal Son at the Greenwich Mews Theater directed by Stella Holt. By the following year, he was in Las Vegas, performing in Bob Fosse's production of Sweet Charity, a show with which he toured in 1967–68. He returned to New York City to play Claude in Hair in the Broadway production, before joining the national touring company.
The following year, he was cast as an ensemble dancer in the film adaptation of Sweet Charity. He is featured prominently in the "Rich Man's Frug" dance number and the song "Rhythm of Life", where he appears as one of three backup dancers for Sammy Davis Jr. After developing a rapport with Davis, Vereen was cast as his understudy in the upcoming production of Golden Boy, which toured England and ended the run at the Palladium Theatre in London's West End.
Vereen was nominated for a Tony Award for his role as Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972 and won a Tony for his appearance in Pippin in 1973. Vereen appeared in the Broadway musical Wicked as the Wizard of Oz in 2005. Vereen has also performed in one-man shows and actively lectures on black history and inspirational topics.
In August 2011, Vereen was named co-artistic director of Tampa's Broadway Theatre Project.
Vereen has also starred in numerous television programs, and is well known for the role of 'Chicken' George Moore in Alex Haley's landmark TV miniseries Roots, for which he received an Emmy nomination in 1977.