Alex Brightman

Alexander Michael Brightman (born February 5, 1987) is an American actor and singer, best known for his work in

Brightman grew up in Saratoga, California. He is Jewish.^[1] His father founded Apple's Worldwide Disabilities Solutions Group, and his mother ran a kidney dialysis clinic. He attended Bellarmine College Preparatory, an all-male Jesuit high school in San Jose, California, and graduated in 2005.^[2] In addition, he performed with Children’s Musical Theater San Jose during his youth. In 2007, Brightman performed in "Mrs. Sharp" by Ryan Scott Oliver at N.Y.U. under the direction of Ryan Mekenian with Ali Stroker & Scott Evans also in the cast.

Career

Broadway

Brightman first worked on Broadway in 2008, as an ensemble member and understudy in Glory Days, which closed after only one performance. Brightman never performed in the show. Thereafter, Brightman was cast as the munchkin Boq and made his Broadway debut in Wicked. He stayed with the show for two years. His next Broadway role was in 2012 in Big Fish as an ensemble member and an understudy for a main role. Later in 2013, Brightman was cast as Michael Wormwood in Matilda the Musical.^[3]

In 2014, Brightman joined Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, School of Rock, adapted from the 2003 film of the same name. Initially, Brightman played various roles that were meant to be played by child actors but were performed by adults for the workshops. Brightman was cast in the starring role of Dewey, first, in the show's concert performances, and then, in his first starring role, in the Broadway production. Brightman performed as Dewey Finn at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway.^[4] For this performance, Brightman received a nomination for the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.^[5] Brightman played his final performance as Dewey on November 5, 2016 and returned to reprise the role for a limited run in April 2017.^[6] He returned to Broadway in 2019 to play the title role in Beetlejuice (based on the film of the same name), and reprised the role in 2022. He was again nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical at the 73rd Tony Awards ceremony.

Since 9 January 2024, he’s reprised his role of Sir Lancelot in a Broadway revival of the musical Spamalot.^[7]

Other work

Brightman is a member of the comedy group, The (M)orons, along with fellow Broadway actors/writers, Andrew Kober, F. Michael Haynie, and Drew Gasparini.

Brightman and Gasparini developed The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers in 2016.^[8]

Brightman is currently developing two new musicals entitled