Bruce Dow

Bruce Dow is an American-Canadian actor, best known for his four featured roles on Broadway, his 12 seasons in leading roles at the Stratford Festival, his Dora Mavor Moore Awards-winning performances at Buddies in Bad Times, the world's largest and longest running LGBTQ theatre, his voicing the character of Max for Total Drama Pahkitew Island and his appearances on the Rick Mercer Report and Murdoch Mysteries.

He is also a professional stage director, a produced composer/lyricist and an experienced theatre educator, specializing in Shakespeare and musical theatre, having taught at colleges and universities across Canada and the United States, including The National Theatre School of Canada, the Stratford Festival Department of Professional Theatre Training, SUNY Plattsburgh, Sheridan College and The Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts.

Dow made his Broadway debut in Jane Eyre, and has appeared on Broadway in The Music Man, Anything Goes and most recently as King Herod in the 2012 Tony-nominated revival of Jesus Christ Superstar  which opened in the Avon Theatre in Stratford, Ontario. In the winter of 2011, Jesus Christ Superstar transferred to the La Jolla Playhouse and then to Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre for an opening in March 2012. Dow received many rave reviews for his comedic, yet serious, performance. The show closed July 1, 2012, with Dow still as Herod.

Known for his critically acclaimed, non-traditional interpretations of well-known roles, Dow has appeared as the Emcee in Cabaret, directed by Amanda Dehnert, the Baker in Into the Woods, directed by Peter Hinton and as Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, directed at Stratford by Des McAnuff and later in Washington, D.C., by Alan Paul.

In 2011, appeared as Trinculo in The Tempest, starring Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer. The production debuted at the Stratford Festival, was later filmed by Melbar Entertainment, and has been shown in cinemas across the United States and Canada.

In 2013, he won his first Dora Mavor Moore Award as Best Actor, Musical, for his portrayal of pop-fashion icon Leigh Bowery in Of a Monstrous Child: A Gaga Musical, for which he also received the Toronto Theatre Critics Association Award as Best Actor, Musical. He won his second Dora Mavor Moore Award, for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role – Play, in 2014 for his portrayal of Larry/Harry/Garry/Barry in the world premiere of Tim Luscombe's controversial play, PIG for Buddies in Bad Times.

In 2014 he was also nominated for a Helen Hayes Award, as Best Actor, Resident Musical, for Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, for the Tony Award winning Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. He appeared as Timothy Sweetman in "Dr Silver: A Celebration of Life", a new Canadian musical, presented by Outside The March and The Musical Stage Company in Toronto in 2018.

In 2005, he recorded his debut CD Lucky to Be Me. In 2008, he released a second CD Keepin' Out Of Mischief.

Dow is now the series director for the Intimate Experiences, Cabaret Series, at Buddies in Bad Times theatre in Toronto.

Dow is openly gay and speaks often on issues of sexuality, youth and mental health.