musical profile -
sam underwood
Sam Underwood is a British actor, currently living and working in the USA. Among his favorite projects, Sam workshopped a new musical, ‘American Soldier’ by James Rado, the creator of 'Hair', and served as Assistant Director to Lynne Taylor-Corbett and understudied Shonn Wiley in the Off-Broadway musical, ‘My Vaudeville Man’. Last year he worked with Dana Moore on 'Gotta Dance', a Song and Dance review, where he got to revive the choreography of his heroes Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, amongst others. Off-Broadway, Touring, Regional and UK credits include; Les Miserables (Marius), Anything Goes (Billy), No No Nanette (Tom), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Jimmy), Singin' in the Rain (Cosmo), A Chorus Line (Don), Jekyll and Hyde (Jekyll/Hyde), Oklahoma (Will), Gypsy (Tulsa) and West Side Story (Baby John). Proud AMDA graduate.
questions and answers with
sam underwood
What got you interested in musical theatre?
SAM:
I was always dancing and singing around the house as a young child, so my parents put me into dance school when I was four years old. The dance school that I went to also had a theater company, and my mum and I started doing the shows they put on.
Tell us about your first performance.
SAM:
My first show was 'King and I', and I played one of the Kings sons! Yes... I played an Asian as a 6 year old - versatile from the get go! To be honest, all I remember about it was that I was hearded about in a group like cattle. But it was great fun!
What's your favourite show? And what's the first one you saw?
SAM:
Favorite musical - For singing and dancing, 'Singin' in the Rain' cant be beat as a movie musical, but 'Crazy For You' is the next best thing for onstage - incredible orchestrations of the Gershwins best music. As a more contemporary piece, I love 'Rent' and what it represents; "today", as seen through the eyes of an individual; the playwright/composer, dealing with hard hitting issues of that time period - opening the door for pieces such as 'Next to Normal' and 'In the Heights'. 'Blood Brothers' also is a fantastic piece of theater; a British period musical.
The first musical I remember seeing was 'Miss Saigon' - mind blowing!
Any roles in particular you would love to play?
SAM: Roles - Bobby Child in 'Crazy for You', Claude in 'Hair', Mickey in 'Blood Brothers', Burrs in Lippa's 'The Wild Party', Sid in 'The Pajama Game, Bill in 'Me and My Girl', Sidney Falcone in 'Sweet Smell of Success'... to name but a few!
Do you have any hidden talents?
SAM: I can beat-box! Thats right, British boy can bust it out!
When you get to where you want to be, what will you do then?
SAM: Keep working on it!
sam underwood gallery
