Damon Daunno

Damon Daunno was an American musical stage actor and musician who broke out in 2019 when he was nominated for his first Tony award for his leading role in the Broadway revival of the celebrated musical "Oklahoma!" Born and raised in a small town in New Jersey, Daunno always dreamt of making it big in New York. As a teen he would walk to his local 7/11 and take a bus into Manhattan. Within 30 minutes he'd be in Times Square, which he described as a transformative experience, given all the energy of that iconic place. When it came time to attend college Daunno enrolled in New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He studied drama at the school and stayed in the city after graduation to embark on a career in theater. In addition to being a trained dramatic actor, Daunno also knew how to sing and play several instruments. So he began auditioning for musical roles that would allow him to combine all of his talents into a single part. He got his first big break in 2016 when he began starring in the Off-Broadway musical "Hadestown." The musical debuted at the New York Theatre Workshop in May of 2016, and ran through the end of July of that year. The success of "Hadestown" allowed Daunno to pick up roles in other Off-Broadway shows, including "Beardo" and "The Lucky Ones," which ran in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Then in 2018 Daunno was cast in a leading role as McLain in an Off-Broadway production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "Oklahoma!" Daunno received widespread praise for his performance and in 2019 he earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. 2019 was also the year that "Oklahoma!" returned to Broadway, with Daunno reprising his role as Curly. The musical opened on Broadway on April 7, 2019 at the Circle in the Square Theatre.