Michael Arden

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title: "Michael Arden" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1982-births", "20th-century-american-lgbtq-people", "21st-century-american-lgbtq-people", "21st-century-american-male-actors", "actors-from-midland,-texas", "american-gay-actors", "american-gay-musicians", "american-male-musical-theatre-actors", "american-male-stage-actors", "american-male-television-actors", "american-male-voice-actors", "american-theatre-directors", "interlochen-center-for-the-arts-alumni", "juilliard-school-alumni", "lgbtq-people-from-texas", "living-people", "male-actors-from-texas", "tony-award-winners"] description: "American actor and stage director (born 1982)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Arden" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor and stage director (born 1982) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Michael Arden
image	MichaelArden-byPhilipRomano2.jpg
caption	Arden in 2025
birth_name	Michael Jerrod Moore
birth_date
birth_place	Midland, Texas, U.S.
education	Juilliard School
occupation
years_active	2003–present
spouse
::

| name = Michael Arden | image = MichaelArden-byPhilipRomano2.jpg | caption = Arden in 2025 | birth_name = Michael Jerrod Moore | birth_date = | birth_place = Midland, Texas, U.S. | education = Juilliard School | occupation = | years_active = 2003–present | spouse = Michael Jerrod Moore (born October 6, 1982), known professionally as Michael Arden, is an American actor and theatre director. Arden has received two Tony Awards for Best Direction of a Musical, winning for the revival of the musical Parade in 2023 and Maybe Happy Ending in 2025.

Early life

Arden described his upbringing as "rocky." He was born to a very young mother who struggled with drugs and alcohol and his father died by suicide when Arden was around 2 years old. Arden went on to live with his grandparents, Pat and Jim Moore, in Midland, Texas from the 5th grade onwards. Starting in the 5th grade, he was a student at Trinity School, a college preparatory school in Midland. He was bullied in his youth for being gay.

Arden's interest in acting began when he was four years old and his grandparents took him to see Sesame Street Live. He was active in the Pickwick Players, Midland Community Theatre's youth performing company. He also built theatrical sets in his grandparents' garage. A Presidential Scholar in the arts, he received a scholarship to Interlochen Arts Academy as a theater student, where he graduated in 2001. He was accepted on a full scholarship to the Juilliard School, where he was in the Drama Division's Group 34 (2001–2005). He left Juilliard in 2003 to join the Broadway revival company of the musical Big River.

Career

Theatre

Arden made his Broadway debut as Tom Sawyer in the 2003 Roundabout and Deaf West revival of Big River. He also starred opposite John Hill in the 2004 off-Broadway show Bare, a Pop Opera. In summer 2005, he played Nick, a sexually promiscuous gay man in love with a shark, in Adam Bock's surreal play Swimming in the Shallows at New York's Second Stage Theatre. He played the title character in Pippin for the World AIDS Day Broadway benefit concert in November 2004. He starred in the Twyla Tharp musical The Times They Are A-Changin', based on the music of Bob Dylan, which ran January 25 to March 5, 2006, at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California, and then on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre from October 26 to November 19, 2006.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Arden,Michael(2006).jpg" caption="Broadway on Broadway]] concert."] ::

In 2007 he starred as John Robert in Ace at the Old Globe Theatre from January 13 to February 18. In the summer of 2007, he toured Europe with Barbra Streisand as one of her "Broadway Boys." From July to September 2010, he played the lead role in a revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Aspects of Love at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London.

Arden's regional theatre credits include Pippin, God of Vengeance, Falsettoland, Tom Jones' Harold and Maude, West Side Story, Songs for a New World, The Common Pursuit, and The Winter's Tale.

Beginning in October 2014, Arden played the role of Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame musical at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse. The production ran from October 26 to December 7, 2014, and at Paper Mill Playhouse from March 4 to April 5, 2015.

Arden directed Deaf West Theatre's acclaimed Broadway revival of Spring Awakening. The production featured a cast made up of both deaf and hearing actors, performed simultaneously in American Sign Language and English. The production began in at Inner City Arts in Los Angeles in September 2014, transferred to the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills in May 2015, and finally transferred to Broadway, where it began previews September 8, 2015, and opened on September 27, 2015, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. On May 3, 2016, Arden received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for his work on the Spring Awakening revival.

Arden went on to direct the musical My Fair Lady at the Bay Street Theater in Southampton, New York in August 2016. He then returned as the first artist-in-residence at the Wallis Annenberg Center, where he directed productions of The Pride and Merrily We Roll Along, the latter of which earned him a 2017 Ovation Awards nomination for Best Director of a Musical.

Arden directed the first Broadway revival of Once on This Island, which began previews on November 9, 2017, and opened on December 3 at the Circle in the Square Theatre, where it ran until January 6, 2019. The acclaimed revival was nominated for seven Drama Desk Awards and eight Tony Awards, including a second Best Director Tony nomination for Arden.

Arden directed Annie at the Hollywood Bowl in July 2018 for the venue's annual summer musical production. Following this, Arden was directed Jefferson Mays in his one-man adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol at Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse beginning October 2018. Arden directed the American premiere of Maybe Happy Ending at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in January 2020. In November 2022, Arden directed a production of Jason Robert Brown's Parade for New York City Center's 2022 gala. The production transferred to Broadway in March 2023. This production won Arden the 2023 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. Arden directed the Broadway premiere of Maybe Happy Ending, which opened in fall 2024 at the Belasco Theatre. He won a Tony Award for Best Director for the show.

Television

He has appeared on ABC's Grey's Anatomy (in the episode "17 Seconds" as Neal Hannigan) and in NUMB3RS for CBS. He was cast in the Fox show The Return of Jezebel James, which cancelled after three episodes in the spring of 2008. Arden had a recurring role in the NBC series Kings as Joseph. He also guest starred in an episode of The Closer as well as guest starring in an episode of Bones. In August 2011, Arden was cast in a recurring role on The Good Wife. He had a regular role in the FX series Anger Management.

Film

Arden featured in Colin Spoelman's independent film The Cave Movie (2009). He also acted in the 2011 movie Source Code, and appeared as Kevin in the film Bride Wars.

Composing and writing

As a composer, Arden has written several works, including Easter Rising, As You Like It, and Ripley.

Personal life

Arden is gay. He got engaged to fellow actor Andy Mientus on June 23, 2014. He and Mientus had both planned proposals to each other the same day without the other knowing. They married on August 18, 2016, at Babington House, Somerset, England. They have been together since 2010. The two first met in 2006 during the opening night party of the Broadway show The Times They Are-a-Changin', in which Arden was a performer.

Theater credits

::data[format=table title="'''Acting'''"]

Year	Production	Role	Category
2003	Big River	Tom Sawyer	Broadway
2004	Bare	Peter	Off-Broadway
Pippin	Pippin	New York (concert)
2005	Regional (concert)
Swimming in the Shallows	Nick	Off-Broadway
The Secret Garden	Dickon	New York (concert)
2006	The Times They Are A-Changin'	Coyote	Regional
Broadway
2007	Ace	John Robert	Regional
2010	Aspects of Love	Alex Dillingham	Off-West End
2013	Ragtime	Younger Brother	New York (concert)
2014–2015	The Hunchback of Notre Dame	Quasimodo	Regional
2019	King Lear	Aide to Cornwall	Broadway
::

::data[format=table title="'''Production'''"]

Year	Production	Credit	Category
2008	A Tale of Two Cities	Assistant Director	Broadway
2014–2015	Spring Awakening	Director	Deaf West Theatre, Los Angeles
2015–2016	Broadway
2016	My Fair Lady	Bay Street Theatre
Merrily We Roll Along	Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Los Angeles
2017	The Pride
2017–2019	Once on This Island	Broadway
2018	Annie	Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles
A Christmas Carol	Director & Adaptor	Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles
2019-2020	Once on This Island	Director	US Tour
2020	Maybe Happy Ending	Alliance Theatre, Atlanta
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat	David Geffen Hall
2022	Guys and Dolls	Tokyo, Japan
Parade	New York City Center
2022–2023	A Christmas Carol	Director & Adaptor	Broadway
2023	Parade	Director & Producer
2024	The Queen of Versailles	Director	Emerson Colonial Theatre, Boston
The Roommate	Co-Producer	Broadway
2024-2025	Sunset Boulevard
Maybe Happy Ending	Director & Co-Producer
2025	Parade	Director	US Tour
The Queen of Versailles	Broadway
::

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	**	Pinafore Actor
2009	Bride Wars	Kevin
2009	The Cave Movie	Sam
2011	Nurse Jackée	Gabe	Short film
2011	Source Code	Derek Frost
2012	**	Doug Wert
2016	So B. It	Elliot
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Numb3rs	Whitley	Episode: "Backscatter"
2006	Grey's Anatomy	Neal Hannigan	Episode: "17 Seconds"
2008	Cashmere Mafia	Denis	Episode: "Dog Eat Dog"
2008	**	Buddy	3 episodes
2009	Bones	Harold Prescott	Episode: "The Bond in the Boot"
2009	**	James Clark	Episode: "Identity Theft"
2009	Kings	Joseph Lasile	3 episodes
2010	**	James Poole	Episode: "Mama Jane"
2011	The Good Wife	Finn	Episode: "Get a Room"
2011	Off the Map	Pher	2 episodes
2011	Unforgettable	Joe Williams	Episode: "Lost Things"
2012–2014	Anger Management	Patrick	Main cast
2012	GCB	Reverend Steve Stewart	2 episodes
2012	**	Evan Kress	Episode: "War of the Roses"
2012	Nurse Jackie	Gabe	Episode: "Slow Growing Monsters"
2012	Royal Pains	Homer	Episode: "Some Pig"
2019	The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel	Milken Prince	3 episodes
::

Awards and nominations

::data[format=table]

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2015	Ovation Awards	Direction of a Musical	Spring Awakening
2016	Tony Awards	Best Direction of a Musical
Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Director of a Musical
Outer Critics Circle Awards	Outstanding Director of a Musical
2018	Tony Awards	Best Direction of a Musical	Once on This Island
Outer Critics Circle Awards	Outstanding Director of a Musical
2023	Tony Awards	Best Direction of a Musical	Parade
Best Revival Of A Musical
Outer Critics Circle Awards	Outstanding Director of a Musical
Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Revival Of A Musical
2025	Tony Awards	Best Revival Of A Musical	Sunset Boulevard
Best Direction of a Musical	Maybe Happy Ending
Best Musical
Outer Critics Circle Awards	Outstanding Director of a Musical
Drama League Awards	Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Director of a Musical
Outstanding Musical
Outstanding Revival Of A Musical	Sunset Boulevard
::

References

References

1. Fung, Lisa. (November 28, 2016). "Michael Arden, man of the moment in L.A. theater, stages a revival of a famously 'troubled' musical".
2. "Michael Arden '01".
3. Stevens, Matt. (June 12, 2023). "Michael Arden Wins Best Direction of a Musical, Drawing Cheers for Calling Out Homophobic Slur". The New York Times.
4. Wong, Wayman. (April 1, 2004). "THE LEADING MEN: Candor and Ebb".
5. "Interview with Deaf West's director for SPRING AWAKENING, Michael Arden".
6. (February 22, 2016). "Interlochen alumni light up Broadway".
7. Harris, Abigail. (December 8, 2018). "Interview with Michael Arden".
8. Temple, Georgia. (October 20, 2010). "Broadway singer, actor comes home for performance". [[Midland Reporter-Telegram]].
9. "September 2007".
10. Nondorf, Tom. (July 2, 2007). "THE LEADING MEN: Streisand's 'Boys' — Arden, Lockyer, McDermott and Panaro".
11. Murray, Matthew. (July 24, 2003). "Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".
12. "History".
13. (June 29, 2005). "Swimming in the Shallows".
14. Lenzi, Linda. (November 30, 2004). "Photos: Pippin World AIDS Day Benefit Concert".
15. Brantley, Ben. (October 27, 2006). "The Times They Are A-Changin' - Theater - Review".
16. (November 30, 2006). "Bob Dylan Musical: The Times They Are A-Endin'".
17. Gans, Andrew. (January 13, 2007). "New Musical Ace, With Michael Arden, Begins Old Globe Run Jan. 13".
18. Blank, Matthew. (August 10, 2010). "PLAYBILL.COM'S CUE & A: Aspects of Love Star Michael Arden".
19. Billington, Michael. (July 16, 2010). "Aspects of Love - Theatre review".
20. (July 19, 2010). "Aspects of Love".
21. McNulty, Charles. (January 26, 2009). "Review: "Pippin" at the Mark Taper Forum".
22. Jones, Kenneth. (July 24, 2004). "Bare's Michael Arden Sings Pop and Theatre Songs in Aug. 15 Concert in NYC".
23. "A First Look at La Jolla Playhouse's Hunchback of Notre Dame, Starring Michael Arden and Patrick Page".
24. Charles McNulty. (November 14, 2014). "'Hunchback of Notre Dame' at La Jolla has identity crisis".
25. Isherwood, Charles. (March 18, 2015). "Review: 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' at Paper Mill Playhouse".
26. (September 22, 2014). "Deaf West Theatre's Immersive Spring Awakening, Directed by Michael Arden, Extends".
27. "Spring Awakening".
28. Ng, David. (May 3, 2016). "'Spring Awakening' and Deaf West's unlikely road to three Tony nominations".
29. (February 26, 2016). "Michael Arden Will Direct My Fair Lady This Summer".
30. (May 11, 2016). "Wallis 2016-17 season to feature Simon McBurney, Peter Brook, plus 'Merrily We Roll Along'". [[Los Angeles Times]].
31. (November 2, 2017). "Michael Arden, Carmen Cusack, Merrily We Roll Along Earn L.A. Ovation Award Nominations".
32. (August 8, 2017). "Lea Salonga, Alex Newell, and More Join Once On This Island on Broadway".
33. (April 26, 2018). "Carousel, SpongeBob SquarePants, Mean Girls Lead 2018 Drama Desk Award Nominations".
34. (May 2018). "Tony Awards 2018: Full List of Nominations". [[The New York Times]].
35. (February 21, 2018). "Michael Arden Will Direct Annie at the Hollywood Bowl".
36. (June 7, 2018). "Michael Arden to Direct Jefferson Mays in One-Man A Christmas Carol".
37. Gans, Andrew. (March 27, 2019). "Jerry Mitchell and Michael Arden Will Helm New Musicals During Alliance Theatre's 51st Season".
38. "Parade".
39. Shaw, Helen. (March 16, 2023). "History Repeats Itself in the Broadway Revival of "Parade"".
40. Huston, Caitlin. (May 14, 2024). "Darren Criss to Star in New Broadway Musical 'Maybe Happy Ending' This Fall".
41. Dziemianowicz, Joe. (June 9, 2025). "'Maybe Happy Ending' wins big at the 2025 Tony Awards".
42. "GREY'S ANATOMY: 17 SECONDS (TV)".
43. (May 5, 2006). "Backscatter". IMDb.
44. "return of jezebel james, the on fox".
45. Gans, Andrew. (March 24, 2009). "Michael Arden Will Make First Appearance on NBC's "Kings" March 29".
46. ""Bones" The Bond in the Boot (TV Episode 2009) - Michael Arden as Harold Prescott". IMDb.
47. ""The Closer" Identity Theft (TV Episode 2009) - Full cast & crew". IMDb.
48. Anderson-Minshall, Diane. (August 17, 2011). "The Good Wifes Gay Gets a Guy".
49. Andreeva, Nellie. (February 14, 2012). "Michael Arden Joins 'Anger Management', Echo Kellum Cast In 'Ben Fox Is My Manny'".
50. "The Cave Movie". IMDb.
51. Simmons, Leslie. (April 13, 2008). "Kristen Johnston cast in 'Bride Wars'".
52. Burr, Ty. (January 9, 2009). "Bride Wars". [[The Boston Globe]].
53. Gans, Andrew. (December 21, 2004). "Easter Rises at Joe's Pub — with Arden, Butler and Pasquale — Dec. 21".
54. Blank, Matthew. (August 10, 2010). "PLAYBILL.COM'S CUE & A: Aspects of Love Star Michael Arden".
55. Lester, Rob. (May 2, 2005). "Michael Arden at Joe's Pub".
56. Wong, Curtis. (August 10, 2012). "Michael Arden Dishes His Upcoming NYC Gig, Charlie Sheen And Barbra Streisand". [[HuffPost]].
57. Steinbach, Jesse. (August 19, 2016). "Love Rings OUT: Michael Arden & Andy Mientus".
58. (August 18, 2016). "And Then They Were One: Andy Mientus & Michael Arden Wed In England".

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