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Larry Owens (actor)

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Larry Owens
Born
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • writer
  • singer
  • comedian
Years active2015–present
Known forA Strange Loop

Larry Owens is an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer. He received a Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama Desk Award for his leading performance in the off-Broadway musical A Strange Loop. He has acted on television shows including Search Party, High Maintenance, Modern Love and Abbott Elementary.

Early life and education

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Owens was born and raised in East Baltimore, Maryland.[1] He named Hairspray as a musical he saw growing up that helped him see musical theater as a career path.[1] He loved the work of Stephen Sondheim and nurtured his interest at the performing arts camp Stagedoor Manor.[2]

He trained in acting and improvisational theater at the School at Steppenwolf, where Tarell Alvin McCraney, Amy Morton and K. Todd Freeman were some of his instructors.[3][4]

Owens moved to New York in 2015 to pursue a professional career in the performance arts.[2] He was a volunteer at the Musical Theatre Factory and there connected with playwright Michael R. Jackson, who wrote A Strange Loop.[2]

Career

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Theatre

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Owens performed in the musical theater productions Spamilton and Gigantic.[5] He also performed for Catherine Cohen's Cabernet Cabaret and hosted his own monthly show Decolonize Your Mind with Karen Chee.[6]

In 2019 he received critical acclaim for his performance in Michael R. Jackson's A Strange Loop, performed off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons and directed by Stephen Brackett.[5][3] Vinson Cunningham write in The New Yorker: "Owens... performs Jackson’s songs with power, humor, and pathos, filling in the textual gaps in Usher’s characterization with an entire life’s worth of mannerism and style."[7] For his performance he won a Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, among other accolades.[8][9]

In July 2021 he starred in the original solo show Sondheimia, performed at Feinstein's/54 Below.[5]

Television

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Owens was a staff writer for the truTV game show Paid Off.[10] He acted on season four of High Maintenance as well as the television shows Search Party, Abbott Elementary, Dash & Lily, Life & Beth, and Modern Love.[1][11][12][13] He is a voice actor in the Amazon animated series Fairfax.[14]

Personal life

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Owens is gay.[6]

Filmography

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Stage

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Year Title Role Location Notes Ref
2012 Fat Camp Darnell American Theatre of Actors Off-Broadway [15]
2014 Grease Roger The Muny [16]
2014 Dreamgirls Tiny Joe Dixon / TV Stage Manager / The Five Tuxedos / Film Executive / Security Guard / Ensemble Gerding Theater at the Armory [16]
2015 Gigantic Darnell Vineyard Theatre Off-Broadway [15]
2016–2017 Spamilton Sondheim / Little Orphan Annie Triad Theatre Off-Broadway [17]
2017–2018 Puerto Rican Traveling Theater Off-Broadway [18]
2019 A Strange Loop Usher Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway [2]
2021 Sondheimia Protagonist Feinstein's/54 Below Solo show; also writer. [19]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2020 Betty Devereaux 1 episode [5]
2020 High Maintenance Arnold 1 episode [2]
2020 The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America Belize Television movie [20]
2020 Helpsters Billy Bug 1 episode [21]
2020 Dash & Lily Artsy Guide 1 episode [5]
2021 Modern Love Toby Dooley Episode: "How Do You Remember Me?" [13]
2021–2022 Fairfax Jules (voice) Recurring role [14]
2021–2022 Search Party Idiot / Ritchie Recurring role [12]
2022 Life & Beth Clark Recurring role [22]
2022 Ziwe Pastor Episode: "Critical Race Theory"
2022–2023 Abbott Elementary Zach 4 episodes [11]
2022 Harley Quinn Music Meister (voice) Episode: "It's a Swamp Thing"

Film

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2018 To Dust Stanley [23]
2018 A Chest of Drawers Barnaby Cromwell Short film [24]
2019 Last Ferry Shane [23]
2021 Puppet Me Host Short film [25]
2023 Problemista Craigslist [26]
2023 Dumb Money Chris
2023 Urkel Saves Santa: the Movie Santa (voice) Direct-to-Video
TBA Silent Retreat Eric Post-production [27]

Awards and nominations

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For A Strange Loop

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2019

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2020

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Larry Owens: Sunday In The Park 6 Feet Away From George". NPR. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e Brunner, Jeryl. "He Went From Being Uncastable To Playing The Role Of A Lifetime In 'A Strange Loop'". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  3. ^ a b Ferri, Josh. "Five Burning Questions with A Strange Loop Breakout Star Larry Owens". Broadway Box. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  4. ^ Zinoman, Jason (2019-01-31). "Instead of Killer Punchlines, Killer Choruses". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Gans, Andrew. "Checking In With… A Strange Loop Star Larry Owens". Playbill. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  6. ^ a b Goldberg, David (2019-08-02). "Larry Owens on Broadway's beauty standards as a queer black man of size". Dazed. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  7. ^ Cunningham, Vinson (2019-06-21). "The Ecstatic Doubling of "A Strange Loop"". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  8. ^ "GMTWP Alum Michael R. Jackson Wins Pulitzer". tisch.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  9. ^ Variety Staff (2020-06-14). "'The Inheritance,' 'Strange Loop,' 'Moulin Rouge' Among Drama Desk Award Winners". Variety. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  10. ^ Chee, Karen (2018-03-02). "Larry Owens (@larryowenslive) Is Searching for a Twitter Bae". Vulture. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  11. ^ a b Jones, Marcus (2022-03-29). "'Abbott Elementary' star Chris Perfetti explains how Jacob is 'a total 180' from his usual roles". EW.com. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  12. ^ a b Petski, Denise (2021-10-29). "'Search Party': HBO Max Comedy Adds Seven To Season 5 Cast". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  13. ^ a b Porter, Rick (2021-02-22). "Amazon's 'Modern Love' Sets Star-Packed Cast for Season 2". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  14. ^ a b Zorilla, Monica Marie. "Kiersey Clemons, Jaboukie Young-White to Star in Amazon's Adult Animated Comedy 'Fairfax'". ph.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  15. ^ a b "Larry Owens Theatre Credits, News, Bio and Photos". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  16. ^ a b "Larry Owens theatre profile". www.abouttheartists.com. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  17. ^ "Larry Owens, Performer". www.theatricalindex.com. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  18. ^ Forbes, Harry. "Spamilton (47th Street Theater/The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater)". Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  19. ^ "Larry Owens' Sondheimia in Cabaret at Feinstein's/54 Below 2021". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2022-04-13.
  20. ^ Theater, New York (2020-10-09). "The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America". New York Theater. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  21. ^ "Helpsters returns for more of the adorable same". www.cultofmac.com. 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  22. ^ Oats, A. E. (2022-03-21). "Meet The Cast Of "Life & Beth"". TVOvermind. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  23. ^ a b "Larry Owens". Metacritic. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  24. ^ "A CHEST OF DRAWERS by Maxwell Nalevansky @ Brooklyn Film Festival". Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  25. ^ "Puppet Me". www.siff.net. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  26. ^ Grobar, Matt (November 11, 2021). "Greta Lee, Laith Nakli, Isabella Rossellini, RZA & More Board Julio Torres' Film For A24 And Emma Stone's Fruit Tree". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  27. ^ White, Peter (2022-02-10). "'Pitch Perfect': Todd Strauss-Schulson To Direct & EP Pilot Of Peacock Spinoff Series". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  28. ^ "Larry Owens". www.iobdb.com. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  29. ^ Huston, Caitlin (2020-06-18). "Drama League announces 2020 winners". Broadway News. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  30. ^ "Larry Owens, Christian Borle, and More Win 2020 Lucille Lortel Awards | TheaterMania". www.theatermania.com. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  31. ^ "Everything you need to know about A Strange Loop on Broadway". NewYorkTheatreGuide.com. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
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