1. Michael Arden was born to a very young mother who struggled with drugs and alcohol and his father died by suicide when Arden was around 2 years old.
25 Facts About Michael Arden
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Michael Arden went on to live with his grandparents, Pat and Jim Moore, in Midland, Texas from 5th grade age onwards.
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Michael Arden says he asked his grandparents to let him build theatrical sets in their own garage.
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Michael Arden was accepted on a full scholarship to the Juilliard School, where he was in the Drama Division's Group 34.
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Michael Arden left Juilliard in 2003 to join the Broadway revival company of the musical Big River.
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Michael Arden made his Broadway debut as Tom Sawyer in the 2003 Roundabout and Deaf West revival of Big River.
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Michael Arden starred opposite John Hill in the 2004 off-Broadway show Bare, a Pop Opera.
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Michael Arden played the title character in Pippin for the World AIDS Day Broadway benefit concert in November 2004.
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Michael Arden starred in the new Twyla Tharp musical The Times They Are A-Changin' based on the music of Bob Dylan.
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Michael Arden directed Deaf West Theatre's acclaimed Broadway revival of Spring Awakening.
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On May 3,2016, Michael Arden received a Tony Award nomination in the category Best Direction of a Musical for his work on the Spring Awakening revival.
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Michael Arden went on to direct the musical My Fair Lady at the Bay Street Theater in Southampton, New York in August 2016.
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Michael Arden then returned as the first Artist-in-Residence at the Wallis Annenberg Center, where he directed productions of The Pride and Merrily We Roll Along, for which he earned a 2017 Ovation Awards nomination for Best Director of a Musical.
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Michael Arden directed the first Broadway revival of the musical Once on This Island, which began previews on November 9,2017, and opened on December 3 at the Circle in the Square Theatre, where it ran until January 6,2019.
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Michael Arden directed the American premiere of the musical Maybe Happy Ending at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA in January 2020.
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In November 2022 Michael Arden directed a production of Jason Robert Brown's Parade for New York City Center's 2022 Gala.
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Michael Arden has appeared on ABC's Grey's Anatomy and in Numb3rs for CBS.
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Michael Arden was cast in the Fox show The Return of Jezebel James, which aired and was cancelled after three episodes in the spring of 2008.
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Michael Arden had a recurring role in the NBC series Kings as Joseph, the secret boyfriend of the closeted gay heir to the throne, Prince Jack Benjamin.
20.
Michael Arden guest starred in an episode of The Closer as James Clark, a schizophrenic murder suspect, as well as guest starring in an episode of Bones as Harold Prescott.
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Producers of The Good Wife announced in August 2011 that Michael Arden had been cast in a recurring role as a potential love interest for the recurring character Owen Cavanaugh.
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Michael Arden starred alongside Charlie Sheen in the FX series Anger Management.
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Michael Arden appeared as Kevin in the film Bride Wars.
24.
Michael Arden first came out to his English teacher, though it took longer to tell his Southern Baptist grandparents, who both died in 2014.
25.
Michael Arden got engaged to fellow Broadway and TV actor Andy Mientus on June 23,2014.