Jacob Brent
Before joining academia, Jacob spent 10 years as a Broadway performer, a professional director and choreographer, and a teacher.
Biography
Jacob Brent is best-known for his portrayal of Mr. Mistoffelees in the Broadway, London and video productions of Cats. He is the only performer to have appeared in all three and the only actor to perform in both of the record-breaking performances of the longest-running Broadway and West End shows. Brent also had the privilege of working with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber while in the original cast of Starlight Express in Las Vegas.
As a director and choreographer, his work can be seen off Broadway, regionally and in summer stocks across the country. Brent choreographed the premiere production of We are the Tigers; Rags (off Broadway); The Wiz (Virginia Rep), Newsies (Forestburgh Playhouse); The Little Mermaid, Footloose (Clinton Area Showboat Theater); Xanadu (Watertower Theater); Lysistrada Jones (Pace University); Fiddler on the Roof, A Funny Thing HAppened on the Way to the Forum, Avenue Q (Weston Playhouse); West Side Story, The Sound of Music (Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre); and Guys and Dolls and Hello, Dolly! (Indianapolis Symphony). Brent also served as the choreographer for West Coast regional premiere of The Producers (Diablo Theater Company), and recently directed The Music Man and Hello, Dolly! for Southeastern Summer Theater Institute. Additionally, he is one of the few approved to restage the original production of CATS, which he has done many times around the world.
When not working on professional productions, Brent is highly involved in the Junior Theater Festival and Broadway Jr. productions, inspiring a new generation of young actors. He adapted the high school editions of Chicago and A Chorus Line and has directed the premiere productions of Legally Blonde Jr. and the Rent and Avenue Q school editions.
Experience
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Brent holds a BA in Theater Arts and Dance and an MFA in Musical Theater from San Diego State University, California.
If you practice at being average, you get good at average. But if you practice trying to excel, you're going to excel, at your own pace and in your own way. – Ann Reinking