Danny Burstein Biography

Danny Burstein (born June 16, 1964) is an American actor of stage and screen, who made his Broadway debut in 1992. He is a six-time Tony Award nominee; for The Drowsy Chaperone (2006), South Pacific (2008), Follies (2012), Golden Boy (2013), Cabaret (2014), and Fiddler on the Roof (2016). He has also won two Drama Desk Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, and received two Grammy Award nominations. His other Broadway credits include The Seagull (1992), Saint Joan (1993), and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010).

Burstein's television work includes a feature-length episode of the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (2002); a Staten Island father in the first season of Louie (2010); he appeared as different characters in six episodes of the original NBC drama series Law & Order (1995-2015), and played the recurring part of Lolly Steinman on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010-11). His film appearances include Transamerica (2005), Deception (2008), The Family Fang (2015), and Indignation (2016).

Early life and education

Burstein was born in Mt. Kisco, New York, and was raised in New York City. Danny's biological parents separated when he was two months old. He was raised by his mother, Virginia (Vega), a painter, and his stepfather, Harvey Burstein, a professor of Greek philosophy. His mother, who is from Costa Rica, is Catholic and of Spanish descent, and his stepfather is Jewish. Burstein attended the High School of the Performing Arts and Queens College in New York City. He received an MFA in Acting from the University of California, San Diego in 1990. Burstein's first acting job was in the chorus of The Music Man at The Muny in St. Louis during college.

Career

On Broadway, Burstein's sixteen appearances, which have garnered him six Tony Award nominations, have included A Little Hotel on the Side (1992), Yakov in The Seagull (1992-93), in Saint Joan and Three Men on a Horse (both in 1993), Paul in Company (1995), 1st Officer William Murdoch in Titanic (1997-99), Aldolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone (2006-07), Luther Billis in South Pacific (2008-10), Taxi Driver in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010-11), Tokio in Golden Boy (2012-2013), Max in the Sharr White play, The Snow Geese (2013), Herr Schultz in the 2014 revival of Cabaret (2014-15) and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (2015-2016).

Burstein's Off-Broadway credits include Rajiv Joseph's Describe the Night at the Atlantic Theater Company; Talley's Folly opposite Sarah Paulson at The Roundabout Theater Company for which he was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama League Award; the world premieres of A. R. Gurney's Mrs. Farnsworth (2004), opposite Sigourney Weaver and John Lithgow, at The Flea Theater and Psych (2001) at Playwrights Horizons. He also starred in I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (1996 and 2002) at the Westside Theatre; as Ru/Floor Monitor/Pianist in Merrily We Roll Along (1994) at the York Theatre at St. Peter's Church; All in the Timing at the Houseman; as Daniel in Alan Menken and David Spencer's Weird Romance at the WPA; as Solomon in The Rothschilds and Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, both at Circle in the Square; The United Way at Ensemble Studio Theater; and A Class Act at Manhattan Theatre Club. He appeared in two concerts at Carnegie Hall: the Ira Gershwin centennial and as Steward in Sail Away, (1999). He appeared in the Encores! (New York City Center) staged concert productions of DuBarry Was a Lady (1996), as Romeo Skragg in Li'l Abner (1998), as Tailor-Merchant in The Boys from Syracuse (1997) and as Mister Mister in The Cradle Will Rock (2013).

He played the role of Buddy Plummer in the Kennedy Center production of Follies, which ran from May 7, 2011 through June 19, 2011 at the Eisenhower Theater, co-starring with Bernadette Peters, Ron Raines, and Jan Maxwell. He reprised that role in the Broadway engagement of Follies at the Marquis Theatre from August 7, 2011 (in previews) through January 22, 2012, and continued with the production in its engagement at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California from May 3, 2012 through June 9, 2012. He won the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and was nominated for the Tony Award, Best Actor in a Musical.

Burstein can be heard on the cast recording of many of these musicals. Among his many recordings is the musical Sweet Little Devil in which he introduced three George Gershwin, Buddy DeSylva songs. The score originally went unrecorded in 1924 and was finally recorded by PS Classics, with Burstein playing the role of Sam in 2012.

Burstein's film roles include Duane Incarnate (2004), Transamerica (2005), Deception (2008), Nor'easter (2013), Trust, Greed, Bullets and Bourbon (2013), American Milkshake (2013), Autumn Whispers (2013), Affluenza (2014), Blackhat (2015), directed by Michael Mann, The Family Fang (2015), opposite Nicole Kidman and directed by Jason Bateman, Construction (2015), Indignation (2016), written and directed by James Schamus, and the upcoming The Sounding, written & directed by Catherine Eaton. His many television credits include guest starring on Elementary (2017), all the Law & Order series, the BBC's Absolutely Fabulous (2002), the FX series Louie (2010), and The Good Wife. He was cast in HBO's Boardwalk Empire after director Martin Scorsese saw him in South Pacific, and after auditioning for three different characters, he landed the part of Lolly Steinman.

Burstein has lent his voice in a number of video games, including Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Manhunt 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Neverwinter Nights 2.

He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Frosch in Die Fledermaus (2013-14 season).

Burstein serves on the Artists Committee of the Kennedy Center Honors and has been a guest lecturer teaching at many universities such as Yale, NYU, Juilliard, UCSD and Queens College.

Burstein played the role of Tevye in the 2015 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof, at the Broadway Theatre, directed by Bartlett Sher. The revival began in previews on November 20, 2015 and officially opened on December 20, 2015 and closed on December 31st, 2016.

In the summer of 2017, he played the role of Nick Bottom in the New York Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Personal life

Burstein is married to actress Rebecca Luker and has two sons, Alexander and Zachary.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2006	Tony Award	Best Featured Actor in a Musical	The Drowsy Chaperone
2008			South Pacific
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical
2012	Tony Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Follies
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical
	Astaire Award	Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway Show
2013	Tony Award	Best Featured Actor in a Play	Golden Boy
2014		Best Featured Actor in a Musical	Cabaret
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
2016	Tony Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Fiddler on the Roof
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical
	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical
2017	Grammy Award	Best Musical Theater Album