Tituss Burgess

Born and raised in Athens, Georgia, Burgess attended Cedar Shoals High School where he was active in the theatre program. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Art degree in music.[2][3] He is gay.[4]

Burgess made his Broadway debut in the musical Good Vibrations as Eddie in 2005, and then appeared in Jersey Boys in 2005 as Hal Miller. He originated the role of Sebastian the Crab in the musical The Little Mermaid in 2007 and portrayed Nicely-Nicely Johnson, traditionally played by a white actor, in the revival of Guys and Dolls in 2009. He has also performed in several regional theater productions, including The Wiz and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Burgess performed at the "Broadway for Obama" benefit concert at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Easton, Pennsylvania on October 20, 2008.[5] He performed at the "Broadway After Dark" benefit concert on October 26, 2008, in New York City,[6] and in a solo concert at Birdland in New York City on July 27, 2009.[7]

In July 2009, he was a performer on the R Family Vacations Summer Cruise.[8] Three months later, he was featured on an episode of the popular web show The Battery's Down. He appeared in Season 5 of 30 Rock as D'Fwan, a member of Tracy Jordan's wife's entourage. He reprised the role in Season 6. He was cast as The Caterpillar in the 2011 Broadway musical Wonderland in October 2010. A month later he dropped out of the project.[9]

In March 2013, Burgess performed "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from the Broadway musical Dreamgirls at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS fundraising concert Broadway Backwards.[10] He was cast as The Witch, a role traditionally played by a female, in Into the Woods in a 2015 production by DreamCatcher Theatre, presented in Miami's Carnival Studio Theater at the Adrienne Arsht Center.[11]

On March 6, 2015, Netflix released the first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt which stars Burgess in a main role as Titus Andromedon, Kimmy's roommate. He received universal acclaim for his performance, with The New York Times saying the role was "tailor-made" for him.[12][13] For his performance in the first season, he received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 2015 Critics' Choice Television Awards and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 2015 ceremony.

In June 2016, Burgess reprised his role of Sebastian the Crab in the Hollywood Bowl concert event of The Little Mermaid.[14] Since May 2020, he has starred in the musical cartoon series Central Park as Cole Tillerman, with Leslie Odom Jr., Kristen Bell, Daveed Diggs, Josh Gad, Kathryn Hahn and Stanley Tucci.[15]

On December 28, 2020, it was announced that Burgess would star as Remy in a benefit concert presentation of Ratatouille the Musical, an internet meme that originated on TikTok, inspired by the 2007 Disney/Pixar film. It streamed exclusively on TodayTix on January 1, 2021.[16]

In August 2021, Burgess was cast as Rooster Hannigan in Annie Live!.[17] In 2023, he took on a lead role in "Schmicago" on Apple TV.

• Jersey Boys (2005) Original Cast Recording
• Here's To You (2006) debut solo studio album, available on iTunes
• Disney's The Little Mermaid (2008) Original Cast Recording
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (2018) Audiobook, Narrator
• Saint Tituss (2019)

• Tituss Burgess at the Internet Broadway Database
• Tituss Burgess at IMDb