Oklahoma!

Background:

American actor and singer Shuler Hensley is best known for his Tony Award winning portrayal of Jud Fry in a Broadway revival of “Oklahoma” (2002-2003). In addition, his performance earned a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award, a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award. His theater credits also include “Les Misérables” (2000), “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” (2005), “Tarzan” (2006) and “Young Frankenstein” (2007). On the big screen, Hensley is perhaps best known for playing Frankenstein's monster in the box office hit “Van Helsing” (2004). He also appeared in “The Bread, My Sweet” (2001), “Someone Like You...” (2001), “The Legend of Zorro” (2005) and “After Life” (2009). On television, he has appeared in the series “Ed,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” As a singer, Hensley has performed in various programs and operas and as a guest soloist in a number of concerts.

The Nutcracker

Childhood and Family:

Shuler Paul Hensley was born on March 6, 1967, in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the youngest of three children to Sam P. Hensley, Jr. and Iris Antley Hensley. His father is a former All-American football player for Georgia Tech, retired civil engineer and former state senator, while her mother was a ballerina and the Founder and Artistic Director of the Georgia Ballet. At age 4, he received his first taste of performing in a production of “The Nutcracker,” which was directed by his mother. He joined the renowned The Atlanta Boys' Choir at age 9. After graduating from The Westminster Schools, Shuler received a baseball scholarship to the University of Georgia. During his stint at the university, he served as a pitcher for the school's baseball team and also performed with the school's choir and glee club. It was not until after he landed the role of Judge Turpin in a college production of “Sweeney Todd” that he decided to focus on acting. He then left college and moved to New York to pursue his dreams. In New York, he attended The Manhattan School of Music as an opera major and graduated in 1989. He earned his Master's Degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, in Philadelphia, in 1993.

Shuler lives with his wife Paula DeRosa in New York City. The couple has two kids.

Van Helsing

Career:

Shuler Hensley kicked off his stage career in the early 1990s when he played Patkin in the musical “On the Town,” Joe in Frank Loesser's “The Most Happy Fella” and Miles in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” He also received a lead role in the operas “Don Giovanni,” “La Boheme” and “The Magic Flute” and sang in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance” and “Patience.” In 1996, Hensley went to Germany to star as The Phantom in “The Phantom of the Opera,” a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber that was based on the French novel “Le Fantôme de l'Opéra” by Gaston Leroux.

Hensley's big break arrived when he landed the role of Jud Fry in “Oklahoma,” a musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The actor first played the role in London's National Theatre production of the play in 1998. The revival was a massive success and Hensley won a 1999 Laurence Olivier Theatre in the category of Best Supporting Performance for his acting. He went on to reprise the role when the show was transferred to the Lyceum Theatre in the West End in 1999, making him the only American in the cast, and then to Broadway, which ran for 388 performances from March 2002 to February 2003. He received a 2002 Tony in the category of Best Actor (Featured Role - Musical) for his performance. The role also brought Hensley a Drama Desk for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

Meanwhile, in October 2000, Hensley made his Broadway debut as Javert in the long running musical “Les Misérables.” The next year, he hit the big screen with the supporting role of Pino in the American drama “The Bread, My Sweet,” which was written and directed by Melissa Martin and starred Scott Baio, John Seitz and Kim Martin. He followed it up with a small role in Tony Goldwin's “Someone Like You...” (2001), which starred Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear and Hugh Jackman. Hensley also appeared in two episodes of “Ed” called “Just Friends” (2000) and “Small Town Guys” (2002), portrayed Keith Jackson in the TV film “Monday Night Mayhem” (2002, starred John Turturro, John Heard and Kevin Anderson) and appeared as Jeff Richter in an episode of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” called “See Me” (2003).

After his success on “Oklahoma,” Hensley was cast as Frankenstein's monster in Stephen Sommers' commercially successful horror movie “Van Helsing” (2004), starring Hugh Jackman as Gabriel Van Helsing and Kate Beckinsale as Anna Valerious. The same year, he also played Matthew Byrnes in the pilot of “The Jury.”

2005 saw Hensley portray Big Mac McLaren in the comedy feature “Opa,” starring Matthew Modine, Richard Griffiths and Agni Scott, and Pike in Martin Campbell's “The Legend of Zorro,” a sequel to the 1998 film “The Mask of Zorro” (both starred Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones). He also guest starred in “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (as Mr. Downey).

Hensley returned to stage starring as Norbert Garstecki in the off-Broadway production of “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” in Dodger Stages, New York. He was on the show from September to December 2005. In May 2006, he revisited Broadway in the musical “Tarzan,” by Phil Collins and David Henry Hwang. In 2007, he was cast as the monster in Mel Brook's “Young Frankenstein” on Broadway. The cast also included Roger Bart, Sutton Foster, Megan Mulally, Christopher Fitzgerald and Andrea Martin.

In 2009, Hensley portrayed Vincent Miller in “After Life,” a supernatural horror film starring Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson and Justin Longa that was directed by Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo from her original screenplay. It received negative reviews and was not a success at the box office.

Hensley has also appeared as a guest soloist in many concerts, including “Happy End by Kurt Weill” at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, “The American Songbook Tribute to Frank Loesser” at the Lincoln Center, and “Julliard’s Richard Rodgers 100th Birthday Celebration,” which featured Julie Andrews, Glenn Close, Bernadette Peters, Christopher Plummer and Elaine Stritch. His discographies include “Oklahoma! 1998 Royal National Theatre Recording” (as Jud Fry), “Frankenstein, The Musical Highlights Concept/Demo Recording” (2001, as the Creature), “The Great American Trailer Park Musical: Off-Broadway Cast Recording” (2006), “Tarzan (musical): Original Broadway Cast Recording” (June 2006), “Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure Volume 9” (2007) and “Young Frankenstein (musical): Original Broadway Cast Recording” (2007, as the Creature).

Awards:

• Tony: Best Actor (Featured Role - Musical), “Oklahoma,” 2002

• Drama Desk: Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, “Oklahoma,” 2002

• Outer Critics Circle: “Oklahoma!”

• Laurence Olivier Theatre: Best Supporting Performance, “Oklahoma,” 1999