Rory O'Malley

Rory James O'Malley (born December 23, 1980) is an American actor, best known for his Tony Award-nominated performance as Elder McKinley in The Book of Mormon. He is a co-founder of the gay rights activist group Broadway Impact.

Rory O'Malley
O'Malley at 13th Annual Broadway Barks Benefit in 2011
Born (1980-12-23) December 23, 1980
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
EducationCarnegie Mellon University (BFA)
OccupationActor
Years active1996–present
Known forThe Book of Mormon, Hamilton
Spouse(s)
Gerold Schroeder
​
(m. 2014)​
Children1
Websiteroryomalley.com

Early life

O'Malley was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was brought up by his single mother, who is of Irish ancestry.[1] He grew up Catholic.[2] He graduated from Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio and Carnegie Mellon University.[3] O'Malley became friends with actors Josh Gad and Leslie Odom Jr. at Carnegie Mellon University and remains good friends with them.

Career

Film and television

O'Malley made a small cameo appearance in On the Run in 2004. His best-known screen appearance was in the 2007 film adaptation of Dreamgirls.[4] O'Malley also performed the song "Cadillac Car" on the soundtrack, Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture.[5]

In 2018, he became a series regular on Lifetime's American Princess.[6]

Theatre

O'Malley starred as Charlie Brown in the 2004 Falcon Theatre production of Snoopy! The Musical, which ran from June 24 to July 18, 2004, in Los Angeles.[7] He also starred as Richie Cunningham in the 2006 Los Angeles premiere of Happy Days, as well as the 2007 Goodspeed Opera House production.[8][9][10]

In October 2008, he appeared alongside Colin Donnell and Laura Osnes in the then Broadway-bound musical Pride and Prejudice as Charles Bingley, at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York.[11]

O'Malley's first appearance on Broadway was in the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, replacing actors in the roles of Leaf Coneybear, William Barfee, and Douglas Panch.[12] Regionally, he has appeared in Kiss of the Spider Woman as Valentin, a Marxist revolutionary. Other work includes Charley's Aunt as Charley and Santa Claus Is Coming to Motown as Kris Kringle.[13] O'Malley's first appearance Off-Broadway was the 2009 revival of Newsical, directed by Mark Waldrop.[13]

He originated the role of Elder McKinley in the musical The Book of Mormon, which opened on Broadway on March 24, 2011.[14][15][16] The New York Times reviewer wrote, "But allow me to single out my personal favorites. "Turn It Off" is a hilarious chorus-line piece about repression, performed by the (all-male Mormon) missionaries and destined to make a star of its lead singer and dancer, Rory O'Malley (whose character is repressed in his own special way)."[17] For this role, O'Malley was nominated for the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical,[18] and was also nominated for a Tony Award.[19]

On July 18, 2011, O'Malley participated in a reading of George Bernard Shaw's play, Fanny's First Play, a satire of theater critics, at the Players Club in Manhattan, New York City.[20]

He appeared as Frank Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine at the Off-Broadway Second Stage Theatre from October 2013 to December 2013.[21]

O'Malley also participated in the Dustin Lance Black play, 8, a chronicle reenactment of the federal case that overturned California's Proposition 8.[22]

He assumed the role of King George III from Jonathan Groff in the original Broadway production of Hamilton on April 11, 2016. O'Malley ended his run on January 16, 2017,[23] performing the role on the national tour, following his nine-month tenure on Broadway.

Podcasts

O’Malley is the creator and host of the podcast Living the Dream with Rory O’Malley, where he talks to fellow industry people about the reality of being an actor. He created it after joining the cast of Hamilton and realizing that young fans of the show were seeing an unrealistic and cultivated depiction of the life of a Broadway actor. The podcast is currently on an indefinite hold, but O’Malley has expressed plans to resume making it.

O’Malley is also the host of The Geffen Playhouse’s Unscripted.

Charity work

O'Malley is an active supporter of gay rights, establishing the activism group Broadway Impact in 2009 with Gavin Creel and Jenny Kanelos.[24] O'Malley said of the group in late 2010:

"Since its first year, Broadway Impact has held massive rallies for equality in New York City, made thousands of calls through phone banks and even organized 25 buses to Washington, D.C. so that 1,400 people could attend the National Equality March for free. This year we were honored to receive the 2010 Human Rights Campaign Community Award and even participated in the ING New York City Marathon as a charity team. Our team of 12 runners, including myself, raised $38,440 for Broadway Impact!"[25]

On August 15, 2010, O'Malley performed in the benefit concert Sing for the Cure, at Don't Tell Mama in New York City.[26] He was also featured in a Broadway Impact fundraiser on November 2, 2010, hosted by Gavin Creel.[27] Another concert, also benefiting Broadway Impact, had been held prior to that, taking place on July 25, 2010.[28] He also participated in the Broadway Sings for Pride concert in June 2011.[29] On July 9, 2011, O'Malley joined Mary Tyler Moore, Bernadette Peters and others in the 2011 Broadway Barks adopt-a-thon.[30] That same year, O'Malley was named a Givenik Ambassador.[31]

In 2012, O'Malley and his spouse Gerold Schroeder were featured in a GAP ad, cheek to cheek, with the caption "BE ONE." [32]

In October 2020, O'Malley joined many other Broadway stars in a virtual voter education and letter-writing party sponsored by VoteRiders to raise awareness about voter ID requirements.[33]

Personal life

Openly gay, O'Malley came out at the age of 19. On July 21, 2013, O'Malley announced his engagement to boyfriend Gerold Schroeder via Facebook,[34] and they married on September 28, 2014.[35][36] Gerold Schroeder is one of three sons of Peter Schroeder, a partner in the law firm Norris Choplin Schroeder in Indianapolis, Indiana.[37]

Via posts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, O'Malley announced on November 22, 2018 that "after more than two years of paperwork, home studies, joy, heartache, and grace" he and husband Gerold Schroeder had adopted a newborn baby boy whom they named Jimmy O'Malley. Jimmy's adoption was finalized on September 7, 2019.[38]

Filmography
Year Title Role
2006 Dreamgirls Cadillac Car (Reprise)

Theatre credits
Year Title Role Theatre
2006–07 The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Swing Circle in the Square Theatre
2007 Happy Days Richie Cunningham Paper Mill Playhouse
2009–10 Newsical 47th Street Theatre
2011–13 The Book of Mormon Elder McKinley / Moroni Eugene O'Neill Theatre
2011 8 Ryan Kendall Eugene O'Neill Theatre
2013 Nobody Loves You Chazz / Dominic / Evan Second Stage Theatre
2013 Little Miss Sunshine Frank Ginsberg Second Stage Theatre
2016–17 Hamilton King George Richard Rogers Theatre
2017 The Orpheum Theatre
Pantages Theatre

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2017 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Jarl Episode: "Josh's Ex-Girlfriend is Crazy"
2019 American Princess Brian Dooley Main cast, 10 episodes
2020 Central Park Elwood 7 episodes

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Work Result
2011 Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical The Book of Mormon Nominated
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Nominated
2016 Broadway.com Audience Award Favorite Replacement (Male) Hamilton Nominated

See also

References
  1. O'Doherty, Cahir. "How an Irish pub and then some raised Rory O'Malley".
  2. Voss, Brandon. "Missionary Man". Advocate.
  3. "Press Release: Carnegie Mellon Alumnus, Tony Award Nominee Rory O'Malley Returns to Campus for Reading of the Play "8" on Sept. 10". Carnegie Mellon University. August 28, 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  4. Gottfried, Marvin (2007). "Introduction". Dreamgirls: The Movie Musical. New York: Newmarket Press. p.15
  5. Katie Hasty, "'Dreamgirls' Remains No. 1 As Sales Keep Sliding", Billboard.com, January 17, 2006
  6. Andreeva, Nellie (April 24, 2018). "'American Princess': Georgia Flood To Topline Lifetime Series From Jenji Kohan & Jamie Denbo; Lucas Neff & 3 More Cast". Deadline.
  7. "'Peanuts' zestily seasoned in 'Snoopy, the Musical'", latimes.com, June 24, 2004.
  8. "'Happy Days' Listing, 2008" goodspeed.org, accessed January 24, 2011
  9. Gans, Andrew. Casting Complete for Paper Mill's 'Happy Days'" Archived 2012-10-19 at the Wayback Machine. Playbill.com, September 21, 2007
  10. Finkle, David. "Review-'Happy Days – The Musical' at PaperMill". Theatermania.com, October 2, 2007
  11. "Grease's Laura Osnes is Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice" (PDF). Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  12. "'Bee' Spells Farewell January 20, 2008" Broadwayworld.com
  13. "Resume". roryomalley.com. Archived from the original on 8 May 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  14. Gardener, Elysa. "'South Park' duo goes Broadway: 'Mormon' is a 'pro-faith musical'". USA Today, February 21, 2011, accessed February 23, 2011.
  15. Stack, Peggy Fletcher (February 25, 2011). "'Book of Mormon' musical called surprisingly sweet". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  16. "'The Book Of Mormon' to Open at Eugene O'Neill 3/24; Previews 2/24", broadwayworld.com, 2010-09-13
  17. Ben Brantley (24 March 2011). "Missionary Men With Confidence in Sunshine". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  18. Andrew, Gans. "56th Annual Drama Desk Nominations Announced; Book of Mormon Scores 12 Nominations" Archived 2011-09-02 at the Wayback Machine, playbill.com, April 29, 2011
  19. "2011 Tony Nominations Announced! 'The Book Of Mormon' Leads With 14!", broadwayworld.com, May 5, 2011
  20. Gans, Andrew. "Mara Davi, Rory O'Malley, Susan Blackwell, Christine Pedi Set for Reading of 'Fanny's First Play' " Playbill, June 30, 2011
  21. Isherwood, Charles. "Theater Reviews. Fractious Family Indulging the Dream of a Child" The New York Times, November 15, 2013
  22. "Brad Pitt joins star-studded Prop 8 play". CNN.com. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  23. "Rory O'Malley Set to Play Final Performance in Broadway's Hamilton | TheaterMania". www.theatermania.com. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  24. Mellini, Michael (April 21, 2011). "Missionary Man Rory O'Malley On Bottling Up Emotions in The Book of Mormon". Broadway.com. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  25. O'Malley, Rory. "Broadway Impact". Archived from the original on 8 May 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  26. Gans, Andrew (August 6, 2010). "Sing For The Cure: A Benefit to Feature O'Malley, Wilson and Reiber". Playbill. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  27. Hetrick, Adam (October 29, 2010). "Gavin Creel to Lead Broadway Impact Concert Nov. 2". playbill.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  28. Gans, Andrew. "American Idiot's Umphress, Jones, Canonico, Cervantes, Bennett to Sing for Broadway Impact". Archived from the original on 30 August 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  29. http://broadwayworld.com/article/Rory-OMalley-Raymond-J-Lee-et-al-Set-for-BROADWAY-SINGS-FOR-PRIDE-627-20110616
  30. http://broadwayworld.com/article/Kerry-Butler-Patina-Miller-Nick-Adams-et-al-Set-for-2011-BROADWAY-BARKS-79-20110617
  31. Gioia, Michael. "Givenik Ambassador and Mormon Star Rory O'Malley Talks Broadway Impact (Video)". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22.
  32. http://broadwayworld.com/printcolumn.php?id=374510
  33. Desk, BWW News. "Audra McDonald, Will Swenson, Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells & More Host Voter Education Virtual Party". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  34. "Last night, the love of my life Gerold Schroeder asked me to marry him and I said yes". Facebook.
  35. O'Malley, Rory (September 28, 2014). "On Sunday, Gerold Schroeder and I exchanged vows while surrounded by loved ones". Facebook.com. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  36. Gioia, Michael. "Rory O'Malley and Gerold Schroeder Tie the Knot" Playbill, September 30, 2014
  37. Schroeder, Peter. "Partner". www.ncs-law.com. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  38. Instagram. mrroryomalley https://www.instagram.com/p/B2IU6T7Fy1i. Retrieved 21 January 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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