Having taken his first Broadway bow at nineteen, Matthew Morrison created the role of Link Larkin for Hairspray in 2002 and portrayed Fabrizio Naccarelli in The Light in the Piazza five years later. A Tony Award nomination arrived for the latter performance, yet his profile expanded dramatically on television once he stepped into the part of Mr. Shuester, the earnest choir director and adult lead of Glee, in 2009. The series demanded both vocal and choreographic precision, abilities Morrison had already refined through years of stage work. His solo recording career commenced with the self-titled debut album issued in 2011. Blending adult-contemporary pop with both covers and original material, the project featured appearances by Elton John, Sting, and Gwyneth Paltrow. After Glee concluded its six-season run in 2015, Morrison returned to Broadway that same year to headline Finding Neverland. Subsequent recurring parts on The Good Wife and American Horror Story preceded the release of his third solo collection, Disney Dreamin' with Matthew Morrison, which Walt Disney Records issued in 2020.
A native of California, Matthew James Morrison first performed in school productions and theater-camp shows before moving to New York and enrolling at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Following a short tenure with the boy band LMNT, he refocused on acting and secured a role in the Broadway staging of Footloose. Additional stage credits soon accumulated, among them the original Broadway run of John Waters’ Hairspray. That production’s soundtrack earned a Grammy Award in 2003, while Morrison himself received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for originating Link Larkin. His initial Tony recognition followed in 2005 as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his work as Fabrizio in Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza. Growing acclaim also brought opportunities in film and television.
In 2008 Morrison joined fellow Broadway performers Lea Michele and Jenna Ushkowitz in the ensemble of Glee. The Fox series premiered its early episodes the next year and quickly became a hit, prompting an extension of the first season through mid-2010. That year brought Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of Will Shuester, along with a recording contract from Mercury. While Glee entered its second season, he prepared his debut solo album, securing collaborations with Elton John and occasional co-star Gwyneth Paltrow. Titled simply Matthew Morrison, the record appeared in May 2011 and entered the Billboard 200 at number 24. Two years later he revisited Broadway repertoire with Where It All Began, a set of twelve standards produced by Phil Ramone. Issued by 222 Records in June 2013, the album reached number 95 on the Billboard 200. Later that year the same label released the EP A Christmas Classic.
Once Glee broadcast its final episode in March 2015, Morrison made his first Broadway appearance since 2008, starring as J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland, which opened the following April. He exited the production in early 2016 and thereafter took recurring roles on CBS’s The Good Wife, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, and FX’s American Horror Story. March 2020 saw the arrival of his third solo album, Disney Dreamin' with Matthew Morrison, on Walt Disney Records; the collection contained his interpretations of songs from Pinocchio, Aladdin, Toy Story, and additional Disney titles.
