Phillip Boykin (sometimes credited as Phillip Lamar Boykin) (born November 2, 1968) is an American

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nominated actor and

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three ...

singer. He is most well known for portraying

Hades Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...

in the Broadway production of ''Hadestown'' from September 2023 to January 2025 and rejoined the company in April 2025 for a run set through August 2025. He later reprised the role in the West End production, performing alongside the original Broadway stars from February 11 until March 9, 2025.

Early life

One of ten children, Boykin grew up in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

. He started studies in Opera Performance at South Carolina State College before transferring to the North Carolina School of the Arts. He left NCSA in 1990 and moved to the Hartt School of the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. It enrolled approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students as ...

where he received his

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

in Vocal Performance in 1995. He later studied toward a Master's degree in Opera and Jazz Vocals from

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

. He received the 2015 Hartt Alumni Award from The Hartt School.

Career

Boykin portrayed Joe in the 1999 to 2001 non-equity tour of ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 Show Boat (novel), novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the per ...

''. He reprised the role in the 2008 North Shore Music Theatre production (which won him an IRNE Award), the 2009 Media Theatre production, and the 2013

Wells Fargo Pavilion The UC Davis Health Pavilion is a theatre venue, located in Sacramento, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to th ...

production. He also played

Caiaphas Joseph ben Caiaphas (; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD) was the High Priest of Israel during the first century. In the New Testament, the Gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John indicate he was an organizer of ...

in the North Shore Music Theatre production of ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

'' in 2006. He was nominated for the

, as well as the Drama Desk and

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town news ...

for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for his role as Crown in the Broadway revival of ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...

'' (2012). He was awarded the Theater World Award for his Outstanding Broadway debut. He reprised the role in 2014 at

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is an open-air theatre in Regent's Park in central London, established in 1932. Originally known for its Shakespearean productions, the theatre now features a wide variety of performances, including musicals, ope ...

. Boykin portrayed Booker T. Washington in ''Ragtime'' at

Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designed by Max Abramovitz, was o ...

in 2013. He was also featured in '' On the Town'' which ran on Broadway at the Lyric Theatre in 2014-2015. In 2015, he starred as the Pirate King in

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama, and the New York City Center 55th Street Theater) is a performing arts center at 131 West 55th Street (Manhattan), 55th Street between Sixth Avenue, Six ...

’s ''

The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 3 ...

''. In 2017 he was featured in the Broadway revival of ''

Sunday in the Park with George ''Sunday in the Park with George'' is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La G ...

''. He made Broadway history as the first African-American Boatman/Lee Randolph in the production, which reopened Broadway's newest and oldest theater at the time, the Hudson Theatre, which played its last Broadway show in 1968. Boykin played the role of Tonton Julian in the Revival of '' Once on This Island'', which opened on Broadway at the

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, within the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The current Broadway theater, completed in 1972, i ...

on December 3, 2017 and closed on January 6, 2019. In 2022, he was featured in the Hugh Jackman led Broadway 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 ...

'' as Olin Britt and a Traveling Salesman. He is the founder and director of "The NYGospel Brothers", a gospel quartet that travels around the world spreading the good news. He was seen in the films ''

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

'' (2014) starring Cuba Gooding Jr., '' Top Five'' (2014) starring Chris Rock, and ''Easter Mysteries'' an oratorio-musical written by John O’Boyle. In 2019, he was inducted into the South Carolina Theatre Association Hall of Fame following a performance of the ''Once on this Island'' tour in his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina. In September 2023, he started starring in the Broadway production of ''Hadestown'' as Hades.Betty Who and Phillip Boykin to Join Hadestown on Broadway
/ref> He performed his final Broadway performance on January 12, 2025 opposite

Jordan Fisher Jordan William Fisher (born April 24, 1994) is an American actor, singer, and dancer. He began his career with recurring roles on several television series, including '' The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' in 2012 and '' Liv and Maddie'' ...

as Orpheus. Not long after he left the Broadway production, Phillip made his West End debut after he joined the cast of the West End production in February 2025 to fill in for Patrick Page, after he got injured during rehearsals. Phillip only got three days notice before performing his first performance in London. After Phillip was originally slated to play Hades for at least a week, it was later announced that due to Page’s achilles injury, Phillip would be performing in all shows (except the filming dates, where Page would be performing) until March 9, 2025. Boykin rejoined the Broadway cast on April 22 for a limited engagement through August 31, 2025.TheArtsShel
Phillip Boykin and KC Dela Cruz Step Into ‘Hadestown’ on Broadway Tonight
April 22, 2025

Stage credits

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boykin, Phillip American male musical theatre actors Living people University of Hartford alumni University of Hartford Hartt School alumni Theatre World Award winners 1968 births