Brian Stokes Mitchell's Honorary Doctorate Speech from the 2024 Manhattan School of Music Commencement Ceremony.
Brian Stokes Mitchell is an American actor and singer. A powerful baritone, he has been one of the central leading men of the Broadway theater since the 1990s.[1] He has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and a nomination for a Grammy Award. In 2016 he received the Isabelle Stevenson Award.
Mitchell won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Fred Graham / Petruchio in the Broadway revival of Kiss Me, Kate (2000). His other Tony-nominated performances were in Ragtime (1998), King Hedley II (2001), and Man of La Mancha (2003). Mitchell's other notable roles include in Oh, Kay! (1991), Jelly's Last Jam (1992), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2002), South Pacific (2005), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010), Camelot (2014), and Shuffle Along (2016).
He is also known for his roles on television including as Dr. Justin Jackson in the CBS medical drama Trapper John, M.D. (1979 to 1986). Mitchell also had recurring roles on shows such as Frasier, Glee, Mr. Robot, The Path, Billions, and The Good Fight. He took the role of Walt in the CBS sitcom Fam (2019). He received a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album nomination for The Complete Shakespeare Sonnets in 2001.