Drew Gehling

Andrew Shearer Gehling (born October 16, 1982)^[2] is an American stage and screen actor, best known for his role as Dr. Pomatter in the Broadway musical Waitress,^[3][4] Garry Marshall's Billy & Ray,^[5] and as the voice of Gord in the 2006 video game Bully from Rockstar Games.

Biography

Gehling grew up in Sedgefield, North Carolina, performing as a child in several shows with the Greensboro Children's Theatre and Livestock Players Youth Theatre. He attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.^[6]

After graduating from Carnegie Mellon, Gehling booked “Snow White - An Enchanting Musical” at the Disneyland Resort.

Gehling made his Broadway debut as Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys and went on to play Warren Smith in the Broadway revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.^[7] He has performed Off-Broadway in A Minister's Wife and^[8] Anne of Green Gables.^[9] In 2016, he originated the role of Jim Pomatter in the musical Waitress on Broadway, where he remained until April 2, 2017.^[10] He returned to star alongside Betsy Wolfe on June 27, 2017.^[11] In May - June 2017, he starred as Joe Bradley in Roman Holiday at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco.^[12]

He began starring in a new musical Dave at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., on July 13, 2018, in the dual roles of Dave Kovic and President Bill Mitchell. The musical has music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Nell Benjamin, and the book by Benjamin and Thomas Meehan.^[13]

Gehling joined the Off-Broadway cast of Little Shop of Horrors as Orin in March 2023.^[14] In June 2024, he was in the Encores! production of Titanic as Edgar Beane.^[15]

Personal life

Gehling was previously married to fellow performer and Carnegie Mellon graduate Sara Jean Ford in 2009. They have one daughter together named Anne Kelly Gehling.^[16][17]

In 2010, Gehling experienced a loss of most of his vocal range due to the formation of callouses on his vocal cords. He partnered with Dr. Hayley Borne to conduct a research study on the vocal health of professional and amateur singers. Gehling interviewed over 100 singers for the study.^[18] Some of the results from Gehling's fieldwork were published in a 2014 article in the Journal of Voice.^[19]

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Stage credits

Bibliography

• Gehling, Drew; Sridharan, Shaum; Fritz, Mark; Friedmann, David R.; Fang, Yixin; Amin, Milan R.; & Branski, Ryan C. (May 2014). "Backstage at Broadway: A Demographic Study." Journal of Voice, 28(3): 311-315.

References