Claybourne Elder grew up in Utah County as a gay teen who discovered theater. Now, he’s appearing in HBO’s “The Gilded Age” and in a Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company.”
Utah native Claybourne Elder, part of the cast of HBO's "The Gilded Age."In March 2020, things were looking pretty great for Utah native Claybourne Elder. Not only was he in previews for a Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company,” but he’d been cast in a big-budget HBO series from the creator of “Downton Abbey.”“I lost my job on Broadway and my television show job at the same time,” he said.
Elder auditioned for a different role, and didn’t hear back. But “months later, they called back and just offered me this role.” New episodes of “The Gilded Age” air Mondays at 7 p.m. on HBO. All episodes are available on-demand and streaming on HBO Max. “I love studying musical theater, but I also was really interested in theater in general and the history and the concepts,” he said. Cheek O’Donnell became “sort of my mentor. I ended up getting a degree in dramaturgy from the University of Utah, which has been infinitely helpful in my career.”
In 2019, the U.’s College of Fine Arts presented him with its Horizon Award, as a mid-career alum on the rise. “I’m like a proud mama,” Cheek O’Donnell said. “I can’t say enough great things about him.”Elder said he’s “extremely lucky” he grew up with supportive parents. His mother and father remain strong Latter-day Saints — he says he’s long been agnostic — but his parents and siblings support both him and his next-older brother, who are both gay and married.
He started out selling concessions at the Villa Playhouse in Springville, and moved on to working backstage doing lights and sound before he started acting. “I was there every night from 15 to 18.” His 4½-year-old son is named Claybourne Rosen-Elder, and nicknamed Bo. “And, technically, my son is named after my father. I mean, yes, he’s named after me, too, and it’s in our family line. But I think of him as being named after my dad,” Elder said.Elder spent a lot of time at Orem’s Hale Center Theater growing up; one of the other recurring guest stars in “The Gilded Age” is Audra McDonald — who is married to actor Will Swenson, the grandson of Hale Theater founders Nathan and Ruth Hale.
By the way, the title role in that “Sweeney Todd” revival was played by Michael Cerveris, who appears in “The Gilded Age” as the valet to robber baron George Russell. It’s not the first time he’s been on Broadway in his underwear. “There was one time I was in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ when I accidentally didn’t do up my suspenders in a performance,” Elder said.Starring in both a Broadway show and an HBO series is “a singularly crazy accident … that doesn’t happen very often. And it is the culmination of 20 years of work,” Elder said. “I didn’t go to Juilliard” and, he said, nobody thought he would be a “surefire success.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The Best Presidents' Day Mattress Sales in 2022 | Well+GoodNow's your chance to save big on a dreamy new mattress from top-tier retailers like Saatva, Allswell, Nectar, and more.
Read more »
How ‘Skeleton Crew’ Addressed Broadway’s Biggest Challenges During a Difficult Winter SeasonPlaywright Dominique Morisseau, director Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and stars Joshua Boone and Chanté Adams speak to The Hollywood Reporter about how the play — a story about Detroit auto workers — navigated omicron amid striking real-life similarities: 'With all these closures and COVID, Broadway became a skeleton crew of shows.'
Read more »
‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Pushes Broadway Return to April 14The Kevin McCollum-produced musical based on the 1993 movie of the same name was intially slated to reopen after a nine-week hiatus on March 15.
Read more »
‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Delays Broadway Reopening to April“Mrs. Doubtfire” has pushed back its return to the Great White Way. The musical, based on the 1993 Robin Williams family comedy of the same name, is now set to reopen April 14, a month …
Read more »
Meet Emilie Kouatchou, Broadway’s 1st Black Christine in ‘Phantom of the Opera’“Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running show on Broadway, celebrated 34 years last month by debuting its first Black Christine on Broadway, played by Emilie Kouatchou. - NBCBLK
Read more »