Corey Brunish

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Corey Frederick Brunish
Corey Brunish in January 2017
Born (1955-07-07) July 7, 1955 (age 68)}[1]
Occupations
Known for
SpouseJessica Rose Brunish
Children1 daughter
Parents
  • Robert Brunish[2][3] (father)
  • Virginia Hughes[4] (mother)
Relatives
  • Bonnie Brunish (sister)
  • Wendee Brunish (sister)
Musical career
Genres
Websitehttps://www.brunishfamily.com/Corey/Corey.html

Corey Frederick Brunish born (1955-07-07) 7 July 1955 (age 68),[5][1] in Los Angeles, California to Robert Brunish, is a singer, actor, director, writer and multiple Tony Award-winning producer who is based in Portland, Oregon and New York City.

Background[edit]

After spending his early years in Belgium and Copenhagen, he attended Beverly Hills High School, where he first discovered his love of music while listening to the cast recordings of Broadway shows. In 1977 Brunish received a BA in Theatre Arts from Occidental College cum laude.[6][7] It was there he began his acting career doing up to six shows in repertory at the Remsen Bird Theatre.[8]

He moved to Oregon shortly thereafter and worked as a property developer while appearing in numerous theatre productions, indie movies, TV shows and feature films. He also recorded over 500 songs.[8] He has released more than a dozen CDs featuring mostly covers of standards and show tunes. CDs featuring his voice include Broadway Records' recording of "Jekyll and Hyde", which was released in September 2012. His first foray into producing a cast recording was the musical Bonnie & Clyde. The show was nominated for two Tony Awards for Best Score (Frank Wildhorn and Don Black) and Best Actress (Laura Osnes).[9]

In February 2015, he appeared on the NBC series Grimm as Laszlo Kurlon, the fortune telling Fuchsbau (episode 4-12).[10]

In February 2017, Brunish released his debut, solo album on Broadway Records: #ThrowbackThursday. His follow-up CD Just The Three Of Us dedicated to his wife Jessica and daughter was released in December 2020.[11]

Directorial debut[edit]

Brunish made his debut as director with "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."[12] He directed Stephen Sondheim's "Company" in 2009.[13]

Mentored by Jeff Calhoun, Brunish started producing in 2011.[8] He came to New York as assistant director and producer of the Broadway musical "Bonnie and Clyde".[14] After the show closed, he largely funded the recording the show's cast album.[15]

Amid his other projects, Brunish directed Sherlock Holmes & the Case of The Jersey Lily and "Dracula" at the Temple Theatre in Sanford, NC. More recently, Brunish directed It's A Wonderful Life, Shrek and Hedwig and the Angry Inch in Portland, Oregon.

Tony Awards[edit]

Of the productions Brunish has been involved with as an investor, the shows have garnered 110 Tony Nominations and 45 Tony Awards.[citation needed] As a producer, that number is 132 nominations and 34 wins, while personally Brunish has received 15 consecutive nominations in 11 seasons and five Tony Awards.[16] He received a Tony as producer when Porgy and Bess won for Best Musical Revival in 2012.[17] In 2013 Brunish received a second Tony Award as a producer of the revival of Pippin.[18] He also was the recipient of the 2013 Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award and the Outer Critic's Circle Award for the same show and a Tony awards for Come From Away in 2017. In 2018 Brunish received his ninth consecutive nomination and third Tony award for Once on This Island. In 2020, he garnered his 11th consecutive Tony Nomination for Slave Play with a producing credit, with the show also holding the record for most Tony Award nominations in history for a play with 12.[19]

As of February 2020, Brunish has 2 shows as producer among the top 25 most popular musicals of all time, with an additional 2 shows as an investor being among the top 25 most popular in Broadway history (those shows include Beautiful The Carole King Musical and Come From Away as producer and Matilda and Dear Evan Hansen as investor.)

An investor in It's Only A Play and Angels in America, and a producer of The Play That Goes Wrong, he is associated with three of the top 12 non-musical plays of all time.

In 2022 Brunish scored his fourth Tony for Company by Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim passed before the show opened. Brunish appeared on stage at the Tonys to accept the award with his co-producers, holding a portrait of Sondheim for the duration.

An early investor in the cabaret space 54 Below, the venue won a special Tony Award for its contribution to the Broadway musical scene.[20]

Brunish helped to produce the soundtrack for Nice Work If you Can Get It where the CD was nominated for a Grammy Award.[8]

His most notable producing credit is Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, one of the longest running shows on Broadway and for which the Cast CD won the Grammy Award. The show ranks in the top 3% longest running musicals in Broadway history. Later, he helped produce the cast recording of The Color Purple, which won the Grammy Award.[citation needed]

He is also the recipient of 2 Audience Choice Awards, 3 Broadway.com Awards and an Olivier Award, England's equivalent of the Tony Award.

On June 11, 2023, Brunish won his fifth Tony Award for producing Parade. It was voted the Best Revival Musical of the season.

When walking the red carpet for the 2023 Tony Awards, Brunish was included on the list of Vanity Fair's "Best Styles on the Carpet".[21]

In 2021, the Tony Award winning revival of Company, on which Brunish served as a producer, was also awarded the GLAAD Award for Outstanding Broadway Production at the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards, tied with Thoughts of a Colored Man.[22][23]

Personal life[edit]

Brunish married Jessica Rose Brunish (born Jessica Rosenfeld) on 1 September 2016 in Manhattan, New York.[24][25] Corey and Jessica have a daughter together, Olivia Brunish, born in 2019.[26][27]

Jessica, Olivia, and Corey

Philanthropy[edit]

Brunish is a donor to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. He named the Brunish Theatre in Portland, Oregon (part of Antoinette Hatfield Hall) as a surprise for his mother's 75th birthday.[28] He produced a CD called Portland Sings for Haiti, the proceeds from which went to aid the citizens of Haiti recovering from the earthquake of 2010.[citation needed] In December 2023, Brunish served as a judge for the Red Bucket Follies, a fundraiser for Broadway Cares, which raised over $4.5 million. [29] He is an investor in The Museum of Broadway, recently voted one of the top museums in NYC.[30]

Film and TV producing[edit]

Brunish serves as producer on Broadway: Beyond The Golden Age, and on the filming of the West End production of Gypsy with Imelda Staunton. He has two Emmy nominations (New York Region) as a producer on Due Process. Brunish also funded the taping of the TV special Women of Soul filmed at the Obama White House and aired on Public TV, starring Aretha Franklin, Melissa Etheridge, Patti LaBelle, Janelle Monáe and Ariana Grande. In 2017, Brunish acted in Woodstock or Bust, starring Willow Shields (Hunger Games) and Meg Delacy (The Fosters). Brunish is a producer on a documentary film about the original creators of West Side Story. The film includes interviews with all 20 surviving members (at the time of filming) of the Broadway company including Chita Rivera, Hal Prince, Stephen Sondheim and Carol Lawrence.

In partnership with Spencer Proffer and Russell Miller, Brunish produces documentary films, streaming content and new works for Broadway.[31] Their latest release is American Pie about the beloved song by Don McLean of the same name. In 2022, Brunish appears in the new documentary about the invention of Claymation by Will Vinton, titled Clay Dream.[32]

Theatre[edit]

2016 – 2017[edit]

Brunish was a producer on the musicals Come From Away and The Play That Goes Wrong. He was also an investor in the musicals Dear Evan Hansen and Hello Dolly. On the West End he was an investor in Dreamgirls.

2017 – 2018[edit]

Brunish was a producer on the revival of Once On This Island, and was an investor in the revival of Angels in America, and the new shows 1984 and The Band's Visit. Brunish and his wife Jessica presented a revival of The Rink, in London in 2018.

2018 – 2019[edit]

Brunish and his wife served as producers on the new musical Tootsie. They were also investors in Network starring Bryan Cranston, adapted from the notable film by Paddy Chayefsky.

Under a newly formed partnership with Russell Miller and Spencer Proffer, Brunish is developing new works, including two documentary films. Defying Gravity, the story of Stephen Schwartz and his huge impact on Broadway and Hollywood,[33] and American Pie, the story of Don McLean's classic song of the same name, that was also nominated for an MTV Award.

Off-Broadway[edit]

Brunish has served as a producer or investor on the plays 39 Steps, I and You, City Stories (musical), All Is Calm, and Standard Time (dance musical). He is an investor in Georgie, starring Ed Dixon for which Dixon won the Drama Desk award for best solo show. The show will tour the US. He also helped to launch the cabaret titled "Finding My Voice" a one-woman show starring Kathleen Turner.

New musical book writer[edit]

Brunish has collaborated with Dina and Rosabella Gregory to create a new musical called My Marcello, which was chosen out of 300 musicals to have a reading in London in 2018. A concept album was released on Broadway Records on August 20, 2021.[34] The album stars Laura Osnes, Santino Fontana, Terrence Mann, Derek Klena, Elizabeth Stanley, Robert Cuccioli and Raymond Jaramillo McLeod.

Broadway productions 2019–2020 -- 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons[edit]

Was a producer on Slave Play and Company, the former which was nominated for 12 Tonys and the latter which won five Tony Awards. For the current season Brunish is a producer on Parade and Fat Ham (Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama)and The Sign In Sydney Brustein's Window. He is an investor in New York, New York, KPOP and Peter Pan Goes Wrong. He was nominated for 3 Tony Awards as producer for Parade, Fat Ham and The Sign In Sydney Brustein's Window. For the current season Brunish is a producer on How To Dance In Ohio and Cabaret. On November 28, 2021 Brunish joined a few dozen singers in Times Square to pay tribute to Stephen Sondheim who had passed on November 26.

The Pandemic and Broadway[edit]

Along with many other Broadway industry regulars, Brunish contributed an essay about the challenges the pandemic has presented, in a book called "When The Lights Are Bright Again."[35] In 2022, Brunish served as Assistant Director on the UK premiere of Bonnie & Clyde. The show received unanimously positive reviews as well as the What's On Stage Award for Best New Musical.

With the release of the CD of the Cast Recording of Music Man with Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman in 2022, Brunish will have written his second set of liner notes for a Broadway Cast Recording, the first being for Bonnie & Clyde in 2012.[36]

He appeared in the reading of a new musical of Brave New World with Justin Henry. The show is currently in development.[37]

In 2021, Brunish garnered a Grammy Nomination as a producer on the theatre album Snapshots by Stephen Schwartz released on Broadway Records.[38]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Corey Brunish () | Playbill". Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  2. ^ "Fred Brunish - Wikipedia". Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  3. ^ "Brunish Family". Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  4. ^ "Wendee Brunish". National Women's History Museum. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  5. ^ "State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Sacramento, CA, USA". ancestryinstitution.wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistic. 2005. Retrieved 2023-11-26. Name: Corey Frederick Brunish; Birth Date: 7 Jul 1955; Gender: Male; Mother's Maiden Name: Hughes; Birth County: Los Angeles
  6. ^ Anderson, Dick (2014-08-15). "Bullish Over Broadway | Occidental College". Oxy.edu. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Corey Brunish - Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  8. ^ a b c d Portland Tribune and Community Newspapers. "Producing winning plays, LO man nominated for 34 Tony awards". Archived from the original on 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
  9. ^ Theater Mania (17 July 2012). "Broadway Records to Release New Jekyll and Hyde Studio Concept Recording".
  10. ^ "Maréchaussée". IMDb.
  11. ^ Broadway Records [1].
  12. ^ Portland Tribune. "Lake Oswego?s Brunish feels at home in Broadway roles".[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ Oregon Music News. "The Complete Corey Story". Archived from the original on 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2012-06-15.
  14. ^ The New York Times (December 1, 2011). "Theater Reviews Armed and Amorous, Committing Cold-Blooded Musical". The New York Times.
  15. ^ Playbill. "Broadway's Bonnie & Clyde Cast Album, Featuring Jeremy Jordan and Laura Osnes, Released April 24".
  16. ^ "Corey Brunish – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
  17. ^ Oregon Movie News (June 11, 2012). "Tony Awards luster shows reflections and connections in Portland". The Oregonian.
  18. ^ Meteor 17, [2] "Brunish is proud to have received a Tony as a producer of the revival of Pippin."
  19. ^ Serena Sonoma, [3] them, October 15, 2020. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  20. ^ "Awards & Press". 54 Below. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  21. ^ "Tony Awards 2023 Fashion: All the Best Red-Carpet Outfits & Looks". Vanity Fair. 2023-06-11. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  22. ^ "Thoughts of a Colored Man & Company Win GLAAD Media Awards". Broadway.com. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  23. ^ "33RD ANNUAL GLAAD MEDIA AWARDS IN NYC RECIPIENTS INCLUDE: POSE, LIL NAS X, TODAY (NBC), POWER RANGERS: DINO FURY, SESAME STREET, LILY ROSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS, JONATHAN CAPEHART, DAWN ENNIS, BROADWAY'S COMPANY, THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN, VICE NEWS AND MORE | GLAAD". glaad.org. 2022-05-07. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  24. ^ "Index to New York City Marriage Licenses, 1996-2017". Reclaim The Records. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  25. ^ "NYC Marriage Index, 1996-2017 - Data File: .CSV". archive.org. 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2023-11-16. {{cite web}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ^ Bob Hicks, [4], Oregon Artswatch, September 30, 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  27. ^ Brunish, Corey (27 March 2021). "Facebook - Corey Brunish". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2023-11-16. Retrieved 2023-11-16. We were both young then. 2019 🙂
  28. ^ Lyndsey Hewitt, "Catching up with Corey Brunish", Portland Tribune, January 19, 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  29. ^ HIGGINS, MOLLY (2023-12-06). "Red Bucket Follies' Return Raises Over $4.5 Million for Broadway Cares | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  30. ^ "Best New Museum (2024) - USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards". 10Best. 2024-01-09. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  31. ^ Bob Hicks, [5]"Corey Brunish, beyond Broadway. The Tony-winning Oregon and Broadway producer looks to streaming and music in a new joint venture." Oregon Artswatch, May 7, 2020. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  32. ^ "Claydream". IMDb.
  33. ^ "Defying Gravity/Stephen Schwartz". IMDb.
  34. ^ Broadway Records [6].
  35. ^ When the Lights are Bright Again [7].
  36. ^ Bob Hicks, [8]Oregon Artswatch, September 24, 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  37. ^ PUTNAM, LEAH (2022-05-23). "Brave New World: The Musical Receives Industry Reading May 23 | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  38. ^ Broadway Records [9].