James Nathan Hopkins

James Nathan Hopkins is a musician, actor, and entertainer based in New York City. He has most recently been seen originating the role of Jimmy Campbell in the Tony-winning Broadway production of Bandstand: The New American Musical.

James began playing piano at age four and saxophone at age ten, competing in music competitions and playing throughout the US and Europe before attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. He gained acclaim as a multi-instrumentalist and singer, performing with local ensembles Freestyle and The Soul of a Man and touring the country as a musician and entertainer. In 2013 he moved to New York for his off-Broadway debut in the Burt Bacharach revue "What's It All About: Bacharach Reimagined", and later went on to perform in and assistant music direct multiple off-Broadway and regional shows. In 2015 he assumed the role of entertainment director and regular performer for Howl at the Moon NYC, a dueling piano show in the heart of Times Square.

In 2014 James originated the role of Jimmy Campbell for the first developmental lab of "Bandstand: A New Musical" at Lincoln Center. A year later he resumed the role for the show's regional production at Paper Mill Playhouse, and continued for the entirety of its Tony-winning Broadway run. Bandstand was called "the best new show of the 2016-2017 season" by the Huffington Post, and went on to win multiple Drama Desk awards as well as the 2017 Tony Award for Best Choreography. Bandstand concluded its run on September 17th, 2017.