Glen Roven's 100 Stories/100 Words - Greg Jbara 2008/10/17

Glen Roven's 100 Stories/100 Words - Greg Jbara

Friday, October 17, 2008; Posted: 03:10 PM - by Glen Roven

Welcome to a new weekly series on BroadwayWorld.com, where contributor and composer Glen Roven shares stories from legends of Broadway's past, present and future in 100 words.

No one who saw Billy Elliot star, Greg Jbara, in the revival of Damn Yankees could ever forget him. Or the sight of his bare butt. In order to appear authentically naked, he had to stop by the off-stage sound booth, strip off his wireless mike, and then grab his towel to go on stage.

On his last night, as a special going away gift/prank, the entire female ensemble was there to say good-bye. And they were completely naked. This came as quite a shock to Greg; he realized the point of this prank was, shall we say, to get him to show even more of himself on stage. He was completely flummoxed, but he managed to make his cue.

What state was he in? Guess.

Stay tuned for weekly entries!

On Broadway, Mr. Jbara originated the roles of André Thibault in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Drama Desk Nomination), Squash Bernstein in Victor/Victoria and Sohovik in the 1994 revival of Damn Yankees!. In 1997 Mr. Jbara was the second actor to star as Billy Flynn in the Tony Award winning revival of Chicago. LA Theatre credits include: Little Fish, Precious Sons (Garland Award), ...House That Jack Built and First Lady Suite at The Blank Theatre and Felix & Oscar at The Geffen. Upcoming projects include the films Out Of Step and Exit Speed and the faux docu-series "The Other Hef" at Sharenow.com.

Other films include: Project 96b (48 Hour Film Project-LA Winner '07), Enchanted, Ira & Abby, In & Out, Jeffrey, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The First 20 Million..., World Trade Center, Out-Of-Towners. TV recurring roles on "Grounded For Life," "That's Life," "The Drew Carey Show," and "All My Children." TV guest starring roles include "Monk", "The Unit," "Twenty Good Years," "Conviction," "Friends," "Century City," "The West Wing," "Without A Trace," "Touched By An Angel," "Crossing Jordan," "Providence," "Ally McBeal," "Malcolm In The Middle," "Frasier," "Family Guy," "American Dad," "Rocket Power," and "Come On Over." Juilliard graduate. Resides in Los Angeles with wife Julie and sons Zachary and Aidan. www.GregoryJbara.com

Four-time Emmy Winner, Glen Roven, recently made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting his new Violin Concerto, based on THE RUNAWAY BUNNY, with Glenn Close narrating. He recorded the piece with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Brooke Shields narrating which is available Sony/BMY. His musical, NORMAN'S ARK, directed by Peter Schneider just closed in Los Angeles and his new musical THE 5,000 FINGERS of DR. T, written with Maria S. Schlatter and directed by Gary Halvorson opens on Broadway next season. He began his Broadway career as a rehearsal pianist for PIPPIN while still in high school, and at nineteen was the musical director of SUGAR BABIES. He is currently collaborating with Florence Henderson on her one woman show which will debut at Feinstein's November 5, 6, 7, and 8.

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