ABOUT
BRANDON WARDELL
A journey that's led all over
IT STARTS WITH
Bringing ingenuity and relationships to productions that inspire...
Brandon Wardell is a native of the Carolinas and grew up as his “Daddy’s roadie” by helping set up hundreds of club shows before he was old enough to even get into the venues as a customer. His professional career began as a teenager and has included theater, film, concerts and television. He has found success as a performer, producer, director, writer, production manager, technician and engineer. Currently performing in “Up on the Roof” at Florida Studio Theatre.
A 5-time Tony and 4-time Grammy Award nominee with one Tony win and a proud member of the Recording Academy, Brandon is equally at home in the spotlight or behind the scenes, and loves creative endeavors in all forms. Brandon specializes in creating shows specific for any event or venue. He’s Performed, Produced and Recorded all over the world at a variety of venues and events including: The Hollywood Bowl, The Merle Watson Festival, Radio City Music Hall, Stephen Sondheim’s Birthday Celebration at Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic, The Whiskey A Go Go, The Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, The Kennedy Center, The Beacon Theatre, Time Square New Year’s Eve Celebration and hundreds of other venues worldwide. Brandon’s musical compositions and voice can also be heard in many films and commercials. He is one of the Producers behind the hit show DELUSION, a live, interactive horror show in Los Angeles (at the time Executive Produced by Neil Patrick Harris), that is now a virtual reality experience by Skybound Entertainment (THE WALKING DEAD). Brandon was also on the production staff and performed in the hit shows Accomplice: New York and Accomplice: LA created by Immersive Theatre mainstay Tom Salamon. He spends most of his time now as Musician and Music Producer. His band, Under the Streetlamp, is based out of Chicago and has 4 PBS Specials that air nationally. The band tours internationally on a perpetual basis.
After attending University of North Carolina School of the Arts and spending and a few months touring around the country performing, Brandon moved to New York City and began working for his Mentor- 6-Time Tony Award winning costume designer and former President of the American Theatre Wing, William Ivey Long- as an assistant in his Studio. This afforded him the opportunity to get to know a bit about almost every job in the Theatre business in New York while on the job himself. He has worked on more than 20 Broadway shows with William so far and still helps out in a pinch. Loyalty is very important to Brandon. Being thrust into the world of Broadway in this way set him on a path to learn about all aspects of the business and would pave the way to work in many capacities on shows and to communicate comfortably with just about anyone about their area of expertise.
Brandon is a proud member of the Broadway Inspirational Voices Choir (who just won a Special Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre) and The Recording Academy. He made his Broadway debut in JAMES JOYCE’S THE DEAD beside Christopher Walken and Marni Nixon (the singing voice behind the biggest stars of film’s Golden era including: Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Woods and Deborah Kerr) who later became his go-to voice teacher. He appeared in the Tony Award winning musical THROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE opposite Sutton Foster. He continued his Broadway performing career in the Tony Award Winning production of ASSASSINS with Denis O’Hare and Neil Patrick Harris, GOOD VIBRATIONS the Beach Boys Musical, and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. He played Scott in the hit Off-Broadway show EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL where he set a new record for onstage deaths by a performer in a week (48 deaths). Brandon was featured in RENT at the Hollywood Bowl, which also starred Wayne Brady, Nichole Scherzinger, Vanessa Hudgens, Aaron Tveit and Rachel Harris. Wardell performed live for an audience of more than a million people, with a television audience of millions more at the Times Square New Year’s Eve Celebration.
Also a prolific Producer, Brandon’s work for the stage has been honored with five Tony Award nominations, with one win * for PORGY AND BESS (Best Revival of a Musical). Other Broadway Producing credits include: Catch Me If You Can, Evita (with Ricky Martin), The Best Man (starring, James Earl Jones and Angela Lansbury), On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (starring Harry Connick Jr.) and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Which opened with Daniel Radcliff and John Larroquette in the leading roles).
In addition to stage productions, Brandon also Produces music. In the recording studio, his work has garnered four Grammy Award nominations including GYPSY starring Patti Lupone, AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ starring Ruben Studdard and Frenchie Davis, How to Succeed…, and FELA! which features the world famous afro-funk phenomenon Antibalas. Other Album Producer Credits include: Annie: 30th Anniversary Cast Recording, Evil Dead the Musical and Rooms: A Rock Romance along with Hip to the Holidays and The Hits: Live! For Under the Streetlamp.
