I was born in a small town in northwest Missouri (Bethany, MO) in 1963. We moved to Prairie Village, KS (suburb of Kansas City), a couple years later. My debut into show biz was playing the titular role of George Washington in Ridgeview Elementary School's musical of the same name, in which I belted out my solo song, "Cherry Tree Chop" on the cafetorium stage.
We moved to Florida when I was in Jr. High School and I continued my love for acting, singing and dancing on high school stages all over the state (we moved a lot).
After graduating High School, I went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Florida State University and subsequently spent a year in Jupiter, Florida at the Burt Reynolds Institute for Theatre Training where I earned my Actors Equity Card. After my year in Jupiter, I moved to NYC and embarked on my career as an actor making my living “on the boards” traveling all over the country doing stock, regional and dinner theatre. I received the Carbonell Award in Florida for playing “Bill Snibson” in Me and My Girl and was also nominated for playing “Rooster” in Annie.
After a decade of performing on stages around the country I jumped into sketch, improv and stand-up comedy in NYC. I spent time studying and performing with Gotham City Improv, Upright Citizens Brigade and was a member of the award winning four man comedy a capella group “Minimum Wage” (Backstage Bistro Award for Best Musical Comedy Group).
In 1999 I moved to LA and while pursuing a career in TV and Film, I continued doing sketch comedy and improv performing with Improv Olympic West and taking classes at The Groundlings. During the early 2000s, I wrote and performed a solo autobiographical show entitled Good News, (“Rising well above the glut of mediocre solo shows, Brian Chenoweth’s ‘Good News’ is a serious delight. Brian is a deeply engaging performer who draws us right into the personal realities behind the gay rights culture wars. ‘Good News’ is a wonderful night of hilarious, compelling and solidly theatrical personal storytelling.”
-Tony Award winner, Lisa Kron… “Fun Home”, “Well”, “2.5 Minute Ride”, “Five Lesbian Brothers”, www.lisakron.com)
I continue to work in TV, Film and Commercials here in LA. Keep an eye out and you just might catch me on a re-run of something.
