Joel Perez
Perez atGalaxyCon Richmond in 2024
Born	Joel Japheth Perez June 12th 1986 (age 38) Boston,Massachusetts
Education	Tufts University(BA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2010–present
Notable credit(s)	Fun Home,Sweet Charity,Tick, Tick… Boom!, andValentino inHazbin Hotel
Website	www.misterjoelperez.com

Joel Perez is an American actor, singer, and dancer known for his work in several theatrical performances and television appearances.

Perez was born inBoston, and grew up inLawrence, Massachusetts. He is ofPuerto Rican descent.^[1] His father is a Pentecostal minister, and he was first introduced to singing at a young age in church.^[2] He graduated fromCentral Catholic High School in Lawrence in 2004.^[3] In eighth grade, Perez starred in the Fellowship Christian Academy's production ofCinderella as The Herald.^[4] He later starred in his high school's production ofBye Bye Birdie as Conrad Birdie.^[5]

Perez attendedTufts University, graduating in 2008. There, he performed in productions ofChildren of Eden andHair. He studied for a semester at theBritish American Drama Academy in London. He also studied at theUpright Citizens Brigade Theatre his junior year of college.^[6]

After graduating from college in 2008, Perez was accepted into theAmerican Theater Wing Program Springboard NYC. During this time, Perez was involved with Stage Source and auditioned forIn the Heights and theWilliamstown Theater Festival. He also received a call-back audition a year and a half later forIn the Heights. After six auditions, Perez joined the play on its national tour.^[7] When he returned to NYC, he acquired his real estate license and began working as an agent, before working a number of other jobs including as a PA for thePBS showHistory Detectives.^[7]

Perez began his career in 2010 with a role in the national tour of theTony Award-winning musicalIn the Heights.^[8][9] While touring forIn the Heights he appeared in the filmBoyBand.^[10]

In 2013, Perez played Mark, Pete, Roy, and Bobby Jeremy, one out of only two parts for men, in the world premierePublic Theateroff-Broadway production ofFun Home. Perez became involved with the work in its earliest stages.^[7] While at the Sundance Theater Lab inJacksonville, Florida, Perez met with Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori, creators of the adaption of Alison Bechdel's work.^[7] At the time, Perez was working onStuck Elevator.^[7] He quickly befriended the two, and they asked him to be in the play.^[7] In April 2015, Perez travelled with the show toBroadway at theCircle in the Square Theatre, where it won five Tony Awards.^[8][11][12]

Most recently, Perez played the roles of Vittorio Vidal, Daddy Brubeck, and Herman in The New Group's off-Broadway revival ofSweet Charity.^[13] Perez also starred in Broadway Sings, an annual concert started in 2011 byCorey Mach that celebrates and reinvents pop icons' music.^[14]

Perez also co-wrote the short filmBeautiful, FL with his husband, Adrian Ferbeyre, forDisney'sLaunchpad series. In addition to co-writing the short, he starred as Copernicus Cruz, the judge in the main protagonist's ice cream competition. The film was directed by Gabriel Ortega and was released onDisney+ on September 29, 2023.^[15]

Perez has been a member of the Broken Box Mime Theater Company in New York since its inception in 2011.^[16][17] Broken Box finds its roots in a student-run mime troupe named HYPE atTufts University.^[18] Perez's work as a mime serves as a "home-base" away from the glitz and glamour of Broadway.^[17] Creating a skit is a collaborative process between actors and not primarily guided by a playwright.^[17] Most of the company's pieces are accompanied by contemporary music, which helps establish a mood for a given performance.^[17] Broken Box won the 2014 New York Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Ensemble.^[19]

Perez was praised by Jay Barmann in his role as Marco inStuck Elevator. Barmann writes in SFist, "Joel Perez deserves praise as well for his role as Guang's coworker Marco, and for adding layers of rap and rhythm to the piece."^[20] He was also well received for his work inFun Home's on-Broadway production. Jesse Green writes forVulture.com, "Joel Perez, with three small roles—including two different young men the father tries to seduce—nails all of them. (He's also a hoot as the bespangled lead singer in aPartridge Family takeoff called 'Raincoat Made of Love'."^[21] Green describedFun Home at the Public Theater in 2013, which Perez acted in as well, as "hilarious and crushing," which also remained true for his viewing of its Broadway production.^[21] In his role inSweet Charity as Vittorio Vidal, Michael Dale describes Perez as "marvelously hot-headed, but gracious in the role and sings the sweeping ballad 'Too Many Tomorrows' with elevated movie star passion."^[22]

Perez won the Goddard Rhetorical Prize in 2008,^[6] and won the 2017Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in Musical for his work inSweet Charity.^[23][24]

Perez has been an out gay man since 2007.^[12] He has been married to his husband, Adrian Ferbeyre, since 2019.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toJoel Perez.

• Official website
• Joel Perez atIMDb
• Working in the Theatre: Before the Show – Joel Perez

• 21st-century American male actors
• American male musical theatre actors
• American male television actors
• Living people
• LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people
• People from Lawrence, Massachusetts

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
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• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
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