Broadway Performer Rory O’Malley Takes to the Westminster Stage

Rory O’Malley, a film, television and musical theater actor, best known for his Tony Award-nominated performance as Elder McKinley in the Broadway hit “The Book of Mormon” gave a presentation at Westminster April 26 about his career that included singing “Twirler Girl,” “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” and “Wheels of a Dream.”
 

He described how he knew at 8 years old that he wanted to be an actor. “I had that ambition to follow my dream,” he said. “Having a dream is a gift. Lots of people go through life and don’t know their interests. I was lucky to be put on the stage at 8.”
 

Rory was completely focused on acting growing up, and while a student at Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio, he performed as much as he could including in community theater. He then attended the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University where he graduated in 2003 with a B.A. in drama. He said he wished he had taken classes other than those in drama in college. “It is really important to stray from your dream for a time,” he emphasized.
 

After graduating from Carnegie Mellon, he went to New York City to audition for roles and said he was “devastated” when they did not materialize. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he met Garry Marshall and auditioned for “Dream Girls” and was given a part. He also starred as Charlie Brown in “Snoopy! The Musical.”
 

Rory eventually returned to New York City and had his Broadway debut in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” “I finally had that next step on my ladder,” he said.
 

Regionally, Rory created the role of Richie Cunningham in Garry Marshall’s “Happy Days The Musical” for the Goodspeed Opera House and the Paper Mill Playhouse, and recorded the original cast album. He also has appeared in episodes of “Nurse Jackie,” “Law and Order: SVU” and “1600 Penn.”
 

Deciding he needed something else in his life, he went home to Cleveland for awhile to volunteer for the Barack Obama campaign, where he did such things as run phone banks and perform crowd security. “I wanted to make a difference,” he explained. “It changed my life forever.”
 

Rory eventually co-founded Broadway Impact, an organization that mobilizes the theater community to take action on fighting for marriage equality. Currently Broadway Impact is producing the play “8,” conceived by Rory and edited by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black. “8” uses the original transcript of the trial that overturned Prop 8 in California and puts it on a stage for theaters all across the country to perform and hold talkbacks.
 

“If you have something else that is not your No. 1 goal, don’t push away from it,” explained Rory. “What I learned; it blew open my world in a different way. I was able to get in doors, I never dreamed of. That fear from straying from a dream made it even stronger. It is important to open yourself to all this universe offers you. … Make sure determination doesn’t stray from living.”
 

An original cast member of “The Book of Mormon,” Rory announced in January his departure from the smash hit musical. “The Book of Mormon” received 14 Tony Award nominations in 2011; among those was Rory’s first Tony nod for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He was also nominated for the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.
 

Following some questions from the Westminster audience, Rory ended his presentation by saying, “This has been such a wonderful honor. Good luck to all of you. I’m so excited for what the future holds for you.”