Adam Pascal was born on October 25, 1970 in the Bronx, but spent the majority of his life in Syosset, Long Island, where he had moved to when he was ten years old. He discovered his passion for music and his natural ability to sing when he was twelve years old, describing himself as a "total metal head" as a teenager. He was engrossed with Queensryche, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, although he also cites The Beatles, Elton John, and Billy Joel as major influences in his music. Adam's first live performance also came at the age of twelve when he played his first real "rock and roll gig" at his hometown's junior high school, covering heavy metal bands like Ozzy Osbourne and D.O. He had gotten his first taste of live music; it went from there and never stopped. He formed a band named Mute and they played throughout Adam's high school and college years. However, in what he considered "his first career decision in the music business," he left the band to go it alone. As he had been in this band for nearly fifteen years, Adam was in a situation of not knowing what to do next. Then came the fateful day when a friend of his referred him to an off-Broadway musical that was being workshopped at the New York Theatre Workshop. The musical was RENT. After a rigorous auditioning process, over the course of which he was called back three times and had to learn two songs overnight, he won the role of Roger Davis, an aspiring singer-songwriter living with AIDS. RENT went on to become the most successful musical in a decade after moving to Broadway and the Nederlander Theatre, and much of that success, at least by many people's standpoints, was because of Adam. Although he had never acted before the play, he was called "the meditative soul of the play" by The New York Times, and praised by critics and fans alike for his amazingly soulful voice and outstanding acting. In 1996, Adam received two prestigious nominations in the forms of the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Actor in a Musical, and won in that very category for the Obie and Theatre World Awards. In the months that followed after the success of the play, Adam became discouraged from the role because of the commercialization of the play, and left quite suddenly to play Eddie in the Sony Pictures Classics release SLC Punk! Fortunately for English audiences, he traveled to London with many of the original Broadway cast members of RENT for the unveiling of the show there. Unfortunately for American audiences, during his time with RENT, he had also formed a self-titled group called the Adam Pascal Band. However, as soon as he was called to leave for London, he also had to leave the band. After his time with RENT had wound down, Adam was approached by director Bob Falls for Aida, a new Broadway musical created by Elton John and Tim Rice, the same powerhouse duo that had brought The Lion King such accolade. It was a dream come true for Adam: Elton had been an inspiration of his for so many years. During his time as Radames, Adam was also asked to participate with a select few Broadway stars, including his Aida co-star, Heather Headley, in the televised concert My Favorite Broadway: The Love Songs. It was during his tenure at Aida when he released his first solo effort called Model Prisoner, literally recording his vocals while blocking lights during the show's pre-production. Unlike many of his colleagues, Adam decided on a small independent Internet label to record his music, and went back to his first love, rock and roll. A deeply personal album, it was written to express his feelings on life and love. He has said that he would love to tour with this album and promote it, never having done an "actual full-fledged, straight-up tour." On September 22, 2003, Adam performed in the Actors' Fund of America benefit concert of Chess, and in December of the same year, it was announced that he had joined the cast of Tarzan, the upcoming Disney musical workshop based on the music of Phil Collins, as the storyteller. Adam also appeared in two motion pictures in 2003: as Theo in the hugely successful comedy School of Rock starring comedian Jack Black, and as Nicholi in the independent rock musical Temptation with another RENT and Roger alumnus, Manley Pope. Since then Adam has been splitting his time between his own music, the stage, and the silver screen. In 2004, he released his second CD, Civilian. He cites 9/11 and the birth of his first child, Lennon Jay, immediately after this horrible tragedy as shaping the paradoxical vision that he had for this album. He explains that, at that time, with the predominance in his life of "two very drastically different ideas," he "struggl[ed] with the idea of raising a child in a world of war." This is reflected in the many songs from Civilian that he has dedicated to his son, especially "Beautiful Song." Nevertheless, even with a new CD under his belt, Adam was ready to tackle another project, this time collaborating with another all-star cast in a production of Hair for the Actors' Fund. Yet, it was his latest career move that has sent his popularity and fame through the roof. With the tenth anniversary of RENT fast approaching, the majority of the original cast reunited to portray the characters they had created almost a decade earlier in a movie version of the tenth longest running show on Broadway. Given the chance to revisit the role that had put his name on the map and the ability to reach a wider audience through this new medium, Adam truly makes his mark both in this film and in the hearts of whom he has touched. Adam currently lives in California with his wife, Cybele; his sons, Lennon Jay and Montgomery Lovell; and his dog, Carly. (This biography was written exclusively for Adam-Pascal.com. Do not use without permission.) BACK • HOME