Actor Tyler Joseph Ellis who is known for his humor, heart, and bringing authentic queer representation to the stage explains his journey going from the Alan Harvey theater to Broadway.
Musical Theater teacher Amy Moorhead said Ellis was a standout student from the moment he joined the class.
“Tyler made a really strong impression as a freshman,” Moorhead said. “He was super enthusiastic and positive about all things musical theater, friendly, confident, a total showman.”
Ellis said he started his acting career freshman year performing in the musical Oklahoma.
“It became very apparent to me then, [that] this is the thing I need to do all the time or, I’ll die,” he said.
In his sophomore year, Ellis performed in Anything Goes which opened doors for new experiences, and made him fall in love with acting even more.
“That was the first time I made the whole audience laugh. I was like, ‘Oh, okay, I love this,’” he said.
In his junior year, Ellis played the male lead, Ren, in Footloose.
“Being Ren in Footloose taught me my taste was better than my talent; and I knew it. That’s when I decided to get better,” he said. “I did well enough for the Piedmont High School musical, well enough for my parents to say ‘great’ but I knew I wasn’t great yet. I was outside of myself, thinking, okay, I’m going to need to get better at this.”
Moorhead said Ellis’s determination and confidence was clear even in high school.
“What’s special about Tyler is that he puts himself out there,” she said. “He’s assertive, a real go-getter. You can’t sit back and wait for people to come to you in this business, and he never did.”
Ellis said he enjoyed the small traditions that brought the Alan Harvey theater community together. Bundt Cake Tuesdays were the memories Ellis carried away from his time at PHS.
“Bundt Cake Tuesdays started small, but got so big [someone’s] mom had to bake three cakes,” Ellis said. “She would bake a different flavor every week. Her brown butter bundt cake was heaven. Ten out of ten, no notes.”
After graduating from PHS in 2016, Ellis said he attended the University of Southern California where he earned a BA and minored in marketing at the USC business school. He said however, the best education he received was in student theater.
Outside of performing onstage, Ellis co-wrote an original musical, The (Disaster) Marathon of 1904 which is about the marathon during the United States’s first Olympic Games held in St. Louis.
“We wrote a musical about a real Olympic disaster. It’s a story not many people know, but everyone should,” Ellis said. “The marathon was a true mess, a total disaster but that’s what makes it so human. It’s chaotic, funny and a little heartbreaking. Everything that makes theater so great.”
Ellis said that looking back, he realizes how his queerness and humor has shaped his work and made him shine on stage.
“When I saw the original Broadway cast [for Shucked], I went, ‘I think I can do this.’ I can bring so much of myself, my humor, and my queerness into it. That’s what makes the role better; not less. It’s actually my superpower,” he said.
Ellis has learned the importance of balance when he is not on the stage.
“I need my nasty eight or nine hours of sleep. I don’t party. I don’t smoke. I’m essentially sober on this tour, it’s good for my brain,” Ellis said.
Ellis said he feels like he is entering into a new phase of personal growth after dealing with anxiety and panic attacks brought on by his mother’s breast cancer diagnosis.
“I’ve changed a lot. I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’m 27 now, so I’m entering my Saturn Return,” Ellis said, referencing the astrological term associated with significant life changes and personal development.