Donell James Foreman - Official Site

     Being a leap year baby, Donell was always a little different. After seeing The Truman Show Donell thought that his life was being taped, but soon learned that was not the case. When he was little he dreamed of going on tour with Janet Jackson and being one of her back-up dancers. While in elementary school he appeared with his fourth grade class in a play about George Washington Carver as George Washington Carver; which at first did not want to do. Thanks to the encouragement of Miss White he appeared is his first play at the age of ten portraying the man responsible for peanut butter (a favorite food of Donell’s).
      At the age of twelve he performed in his first professional productions at Park Playhouse in Albany, NY – THE MUSIC MAN and GREASE (at the same time). Every summer after that Donell could be seen performing in the park or in other local theaters. Being so young, Donell had never taken voice lessons or dance classes. He just relied on his energy and willingness to learn to guide him through the world of musical theater. Throughout his high school days Donell appeared in many local productions in and around Albany, NY. He worked at Cohoes Music Hall, Schenectady Light Opera Company, and The New York State Theatre Institute. Between the age of twelve and eighteen Donell appeared in various productions including THE WIZ, 1776, and SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD. At the end of his high school years he knew that he wanted to do theater for the rest of his life. He began looking into colleges that he would want to attend to further his love for theater.
      Donell was accepted into the up and coming Musical Theater program at Pace University in New York City. The summer before his freshman year began he participated in Broadway Artists Alliance’s program and met Bob Cline and Brad Ross, both of whom he would work with in the future. Due to the small size of the department at Pace University he got the attention he needed and began taking voice lessons and dance classes. Being in New York City allowed Donell to audition whenever he wanted to and spend too much money seeing Broadway shows. While at Pace University Donell made amazing connections with people in New York City and got the wheels turning for future projects. While at Pace he performed in such productions as LUCK!, RAGTIME, and FALSETTOS.
      Halfway through his sophomore year at Pace University, after more than six callbacks Donell landed the role of Seaweed J. Stubbs in the national touring company of HAIRSPRAY. He was ecstatic to be playing his dream role in a show that he loved. At the age of nineteen Donell took a leave of absence from Pace University, packed his bags, and headed out to the road. Donell spent seven months touring all over the US and China with HAIRSPRAY and saw lots of amazing things and met great people.
      Two weeks after being back from HAIRSPRAY and getting ready to head back to Pace University, Donell landed a spot in the ensemble of the national touring company of MAMMA MIA! Donell repacked, registered for online classes, accepted his Equity card, and hit the road again. He can currently been seen all over the US shaking and gyrating to the amazing music of ABBA in MAMMA MIA!