Austin Miller
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| Austin Miller | |
 Austin Miller |
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| Birth name | John P. Miller |
| Born | June 7, 1976 Alvin, Texas |
| Official site | http://www.austinmillerfromgrease.com |
| Notable roles | Hawk in Days of Our Lives, Link in Hairspray, Hot Danny in Grease: You're the One that I Want! |
Austin Miller (born June 7, 1976) is an American actor, dancer, and singer, known for television and stage performances. He played the part of Hawk in the soap opera Days of Our Lives, performed as the lead in the Hairspray musical in both a national tour and a Las Vegas production, and in 2007 was a second place finalist on the televised competition Grease: You're the One that I Want!.
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[edit] Biography
Miller was born as John P. Miller in the small town of Alvin, Texas (population 21,000), to a conservative Catholic family.[1] His father is Pat Miller,[2] and Austin's mother, Sharon Taylor, was a musical director. Miller started performing at the age of 8, graduating from Alvin High School in 1994. He studied dance in Houston, and then briefly attended Texas's Baylor University on a vocal scholarship, where he joined Delta Tau Delta fraternity. But he dropped out to join a Las Vegas show, Starlight Express, later performing in Enter the Night at the Stardust Hotel. Within six weeks he had been promoted to a principal role, which he played until 1999.
The 19-year-old Miller then went on a national tour with the Grease musical, playing the character of Kenickie (Rizzo's boyfriend, played by Jeff Conaway in the film). He also performed in Smokey Joe's Cafe, playing the character of Michael.
After various musical theatre roles, he moved to Los Angeles, obtaining a part as a minor character, Hawk, on the popular soap opera Days of Our Lives, and also being cast in some small movie roles. He then auditioned for and won a principal role in a nationally touring production of Hairspray. He also took on the same role in the short-lived Las Vegas production of Hairspray, which ran from February-June 2006 at the Luxor Hotel.[3]
In 2003, Miller formed his own production company, Gimme Sugar Inc.[4]
[edit] Grease
Though he had performed in the national tour of Grease, when he auditioned for the same role on Broadway, he was turned down as not "blue collar" enough. At the audition, however, he heard of and applied for the upcoming televised competition, Grease: You're the One that I Want! whose winners were to be cast in the lead roles of Danny and Sandy in the next Broadway production.[5] Thousands of applicants were considered, with a few dozen then chosen to go to a "Grease Academy" bootcamp for one week. Miller proceeded through that step as well, and in 2007 was chosen to be one of the 12 contestants to go on to the live show, where call-in votes by the viewing audience were combined with judges' opinions to eliminate a different contestant each week. Miller had the nickname of "Hot Danny" on the show, and was often referred to as one of the veterans, since he has extensive stage experience but was competing against other contestants with much less. On both the February 11, 2007 and February 18, 2007 broadcasts one of the judges, influential producer David Ian, chose Miller as the "best Danny of the night."[6][7] On March 18, 2007, Miller was named as one of the two finalists in the competition, and was told that there was only a 1% difference in voter opinion between him and the other finalist, "Slacker Danny" Max Crumm. On March 25, 2007, Crumm was declared the final winner.[8]
According to a March 29, 2007 interview in the Houston Chronicle, Miller is currently in negotiation for his next project, which may be a television drama series.[8]
[edit] Performances
[edit] Stage
- Smokey Joe's Cafe (Michael)
- Grease (Kenickie)
- Hairspray (Link)
[edit] Television
- Days of Our Lives ("Hawk," 2001-2002)
- Grease: You're the One that I Want! ("Hot Danny," 2007)
[edit] Film
- Puerto Vallarta Squeeze (surfer) 2004
- America's Sweethearts (dancer) 2001
[edit] Trivia
- Miller's hometown of Alvin, Texas, celebrated March 5, 2007 as "Austin Miller Day."[1][9]
- Miller's sister, Katie Miller, is a teacher at Alvin's Walt Disney Elementary school, and his aunt, Marcie Miglicco, is an assistant principal. Miller's grandmother, Mary Leah Miller, appeared on the March 11, 2007 broadcast, during a segment which showed how the entire town of Alvin was supporting Miller, with signs and banners throughout the town, and nearly everyone wearing red, his contestant color during the competition.
- Miller's partner is Broadway performer Troy Britton Johnson who originated the role of Robert Martin in the musical The Drowsy Chaperone.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b "Former student makes it big", The Baylor Lariat, March 9, 2007
- ^ Grease: You're the One that I Want!, "Another Danny must leave", March 11, 2007
- ^ "Let Us 'Spray'", February 10, 2006, Las Vegas Review-Journal
- ^ Austin Miller's bio
- ^ Grease: You're the One that I Want!, "The casting search continues", January 14, 2007
- ^ Grease: You're the One that I Want!, "One Danny and one Sandy must leave," February 11, 2007
- ^ Grease: You're the One that I Want!, "The remaining contestants perform," February 18, 2007
- ^ a b "Winning Grease Isn't Everything", Houston Chronicle, March 29, 2007
- ^ thefacts.com, March 8, 2007, Brazoria County news
[edit] References
- Official website
- "Interview with Austin Miller" from TalkinBroadway.com
- Austin Miller at the Internet Movie Database
- Broadwayworld.com profile
- Photo, video, and profile at lenztalent.com
