Daniel Patrick Russell is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles on stage, including the title role in ''

Billy Elliot the Musical ''Billy Elliot: The Musical'' is a Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age stage musical based on the Billy Elliot, 2000 film of the same name. The music is by Elton John, and the book and lyrics are by Lee Hall (playwright), Lee Hall, who wrote th ...

'' in the Australian production and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

tour.

Early life

Russell is from

Umina Beach Umina Beach ( ) is a suburb within the local government area on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Umina Beach is situated north of Sydney and south of Newcastle. Umina Beach is locally known on the Central Coast as being on ' ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. His first role was the titular role in a 2007 community theatre production of ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the W ...

''.

Career

Russell's professional career began starring in ''

''. After submitting a DVD, he was invited to audition in person, before landing the role in the Australian production, debuting on 25 April 2009. He was later flown to the United States to reprise the role on the Broadway Tour, alongside

Faith Prince Faith Prince is an American actress and singer, best known for her work on Broadway in musical theatre. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in ''Guys and Dolls'' in 1992, and received three other Tony nominations. Life and career Prince wa ...

, commencing 14 November 2010. He received positive reviews, with ''The People's Critic'' stating that "Russell shines like some beacon of light" and ''

BroadwayWorld BroadwayWorld is a theatre news website based in New York City, New York. Launched in 2003, the site covers Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, and international theater productions, with sections devoted to particular countries, cities, or regi ...

Reviews'' stating that he was "beyond amazing with a powerful performance ..." While touring, Russell performed a special showcase on ''The Price is Right''. In 2019 it was announced that Russell would play one of the Jets in

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

's film remake of '' West Side Story.'' The film released in theaters on 10 December 2021, after a year-long delay due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 28 October 2021, it was announced that Russell would perform on Broadway in the revival of ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...

'' starring

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian and British actor, singer, and producer. Beginning in theatre and television, Jackman landed his breakthrough role as Wolverine in the ''X-Men'' film franchise and the Marvel Cinem ...

and

Sutton Foster Sutton Lenore Foster (born March 18, 1975) is an American actress. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical seven times, winning in 2002 for her role as ...

, playing at the

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Originally designed by architect William Albert Swasey, it opened in 1911. The Winter Garden's current des ...

, directed by

Jerry Zaks Jerry Zaks (born September 7, 1946) is an American stage and television director, and actor. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Drama Desk Award for directing '' The House of Blue Leaves'' (1986), '' Lend Me a Tenor'' (1989), ...

. On 6 June 2022 Russell was awarded a special

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...

for his performance alongside fellow cast members also making their Broadway debut with the production. Later that same week, Russell and the cast performed live at the ''

75th Tony Awards The 75th Tony Awards were held on June 12, 2022, to recognize achievement in Broadway theatre, Broadway productions during the 2021–22 season. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with Ariana DeBose serving as host ...

''. He appeared on the official cast recording released on 23 September 2022. Russell performed on the International Tour of ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

,'' directed by

Lonny Price Lonny Price (born March 9, 1959) is an American director, actor, and writer, primarily in theatre. He is best known for his New York directing work, including ''Sunset Boulevard'', '' Sweeney Todd'', ''Company'', and ''Sondheim! The Birthday Co ...

. The tour visited countries including Ireland, Japan, India, and Germany, and included a run of 85 performances in Paris seen by 138,385 audience members at the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

from 20 October through 31 December 2023. In 2024, Russell starred as the lead role of Christopher Boone in the

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

premiere of the play ''

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Haddon and ''The Curious Incident'' won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year, the Commonwealth Writers' Pri ...

.'' Over 6000 people submitted auditions for the production, and Russell landed the leading role by submitting tapes while overseas on tour in Europe. He received critical acclaim,

The San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

stating, "Daniel Patrick Russell is flat-out astonishing as Christopher, a role that requires him to be onstage for virtually the entire play and portray extreme levels of emotional and physical trauma, as well as welcome flashes of utter joy." Stage West stated that "His energy, spontaneity and sensitivity to character are off the charts." Russell was awarded the 2024 Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play by the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. He reprised the role in a remount at the

Victoria Gardens Cultural Center The Victoria Gardens Cultural Center (VGCC) is a community library and performance venue attached to the Victoria Gardens lifestyle center in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The building (which links the Lewis Family Playhouse, the Paul A. Biane ...

in 2025. In 2024 Russell played Travis Keating on the television show '' FBI.''

Credits

Stage

Screen

Awards

Personal life

Russell has autism spectrum disorder.

References

External links

Official website
*
Daniel Patrick Russell
at the

Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade asso ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Daniel Patrick Year of birth missing (living people) Australian actors Autistic actors Australian actors with disabilities Living people 21st-century Australian male actors Australian male actors Australian male stage actors Australian male musical theatre actors People from New South Wales Theatre World Award winners