Chuck Wagner is an American actor and singer. He is best known for originating the role of Rapunzel's Prince in Into the Woods, as well as portraying The Beast in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and in Toronto and Javert in Les Miserables on tour and on Broadway. He made his Broadway debut in 1984 as Athos in a short-lived revival of The Three Musketeers. He's also known outside of the stage for portraying Randall Thompson in General Hospital and the title role in the superhero show Automan.
Jekyll & Hyde[]
Wagner met Frank Wildhorn and Steve Cuden in the late 70s when he and Wildhorn were students. He starred in the school's production of Wildhorn's show Chistopher!, which Cuden worked tech on. In 1980, Wagner participated in a reading for Wildhorn and Cuden's new show Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde as the title characters. In 1986, when Wildhorn and Cuden reteamed to redevelop the show as Jekyll & Hyde, Wagner returned as the title characters for a set of Demo Recordings. He then recorded more demos in 1988, reflecting the entire score now featuring Leslie Bricusse's lyrics.
In 1990, Wagner starred in the World Premiere production of Jekyll & Hyde at the Alley theatre. The production was a success, being extended twice. Wagner starred alongside Rebecca Spencer as Lisa Carew and Linda Eder as Lucy Harris.
In 1999, Wagner returned to play the character in the 2nd US Tour of Jekyll & Hyde, The Millennium Tour, which ran into 2000. The tour was originally set to star Broadway alternate Rob Evan, but plans changed when Robert Cuccioli left the Broadway production and Evan took over. Wagner starred with Andrea Rivette as Emma Carew and Sharon Brown as Lucy Harris. Wagner recorded versions of Take Me As I Am, This is the Moment, I Need to Know and Dangerous Game on his own solo album in 1999. Take Me As I Am featured Andrea Rivette and Dangerous Game featured Sharon Brown.
Other Wildhorn Roles[]
Chuck Wagner has since collaborated with Frank Wildhorn on his other musicals. These include Svengali(Playing the title role in both the world premiere and Sarasota productions), The Scarlet Pimpernel(Playing the title role in the 1992 Concept Album and 1996 Pre-Broadway Demo Album), The Civil War(Being part of the "Broadway All-Stars" in the 1996 Concept Album), and Dracula(Playing Van Helsing on the 2000 Demo Album, and being a standby for Dracula, Van Helsing, and Quincey Morris in the Broadway production).
