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CONSTANTINE MAROULIS
JOINS BROADWAY’S THE WEDDING SINGER
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
Popular “American Idol” finalist Constantine Maroulis joins the cast of the hit Broadway show, The Wedding Singer, on Friday, September 8. Mr. Maroulis, who will play the role of Sammy—Robbie Hart’s best friend, will perform in The Wedding Singer for eight weeks only through Sunday, November 5.
With Broadway providing fertile ground for “American Idol” alumni, Maroulis follows in the footsteps of Hairspray’s Diana DeGarmo, Tarzan star Josh Strickland, and Frenchie Davis who is currently starring in Rent.
To the English speaking world and then some, he became a household name by beaming into 30 million households each night via his lengthy appearance on the top rated television show American Idol. There, Constantine Maroulis utilized his personal arsenal of talents to perfection, showing a growing legion of fans that witnessed the fact that this magnetic and charismatic performer was full of surprises and is destined for continued success.
Born in Brooklyn and later raised in the nearby suburbs of New Jersey, Constantine James Maroulis grew up surrounded by an eclectic blend of music. Constantine would take this disparate mix with him and began participating in theater productions as well as singing in various rock bands as soon as he entered high school.
Constantine continued to pursue both acting and music while attending college locally. It was not unusual to see Constantine onstage at a Summer Stock theater production while afterwards heading straight to a nightclub to front a band. There, he gained the invaluable experience of burning both ends of the entertainment candle that would help him nail his audition that garnered his spot to attend the prestigious Boston Conservatory of Music. While completing that program in an impressive three years (1999-2002), Constantine worked consistently to build his impressive resume that included leads in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Jesus Christ Superstar, various Shakespearean productions as well as student films and indie features. During this same period, Constantine also completed his minor in Vocal Performance at the Berklee College of Music. Further, in the summer of 2002 Constantine was selected for an apprenticeship at the famous Williamstown Theater Festival. There he was cast not once but twice on the main stage, most notably appearing in Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies’s God of Vengeance, starring Tony winner Ron Leibman and Diane Venora.
Back in New York City in the fall of 2002, Constantine spent the better part of the next year acting and singing in various projects His hard work began paying off in droves, yet no one could have predicted the next series of events when Constantine landed the role of Roger in the International Touring Company of Rent. For the better part of the next year Constantine received critical raves touring North America and Asia with Rent, electrifying audiences each night and in the process not missing a single performance. Moments after taking his bows each night in Rent, he was off to the local venue to jam with his rock band, aiding them in building a huge fan base across the country.
After the RENT tour, Constantine returned to New York City, keeping himself busy with his band with an audition here and there. On a whim a friend coaxed him into traveling to Washington D.C., to audition with more than 10,000 other hopefuls for the wildly popular television show American Idol. Well, what happened next is the stuff dreams are made of, eventually Constantine became a finalist before a consistent television viewing audience of tens of millions. Constantine was finally voted off the show yet redefined that occurrence by becoming one of the most popular finalists of all time. In the summer of 2005 Constantine toured North America with the other American Idol finalists performing to sold out audiences nightly where he fed his loyal hoard of fans.
The end of that tour simply marked a new beginning, one that witnessed Constantine signing a development deal with ABC and Kelsey Grammers production company, Gramnet, More recently amidst a flourish of press, Constantine was chosen as the Sexiest 30 year old by People Magazine in their touted Sexiest Men issue 2005. A tour de force successful series of solo performances in the Philippines found that even abroad a fan base of 5000 turned out nightly to scream his name. Lastly, an appearance on Jay Lenos Tonight Show in support of his inclusion on Hollywood Records Queen Tribute CD entitled Killer Queen, saw him perform his stellar version of Bohemian Rhapsody. Downloads of the song jumped the moment he performed it on American Idol and it is still referenced as one of the best performances on the shows history.
Constantine has managed to do what no other “American Idol” finalist not in the final two has ever done! He continues to be a hot ticket on the media circuit and has made television appearances on talk shows such as the “Tonight Show,” “Regis and Kelly,” “Fox and Friends” as well as E! Entertainment Channel, TV Guide Television “Fox’s Heartland,” MSNBC, as well as radio shows and red carpet events in both New York and Los Angeles. A recent satellite media tour for a product sponsorship drew in 4.4 million viewers over 25 major US markets. Future plans include a solo album, roles in films and TV and much more.
Just recently, during the finale week of “American Idol,” the most watched show of the 06 season, Constantine continued to prove that he continues to be the most solicited past contestants. He appeared on “Fox ‘N Friends,” Fox National News, over 20 FOX affiliates including feature guest spots on “Good Day LA” and their pre-“Idol” finale, TV Guide’s “Idol Tonight,” over 20 radio stations, MSNBC’s “Rita Crosby Show,” MSNBC “Dayside” and “Joe Scarborough.”
Constantine is currently at work on his solo recording debut with a cd planned for early 2007.
The Wedding Singer plays Tuesday at 7pm; Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm; Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm; and Sunday at 3pm at Broadway’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre, 302 West 45 Street. Tickets are $56.25 – $111.25 and may be purchased by phoning Telecharge at 212 239 6200 or by visiting telecharge.com. For group sales, phone 212 302 7000 or 800 677 1164. For more information about The Wedding Singer, visit www.theweddingsingerthemusical