Thom Warren

Part-Time Faculty
Department of Theatre & Dance

Thom Christopher Warren serves as Part-Time Faculty in the Department of Theatre and Dance and made his Otterbein directorial debut in the spring of 2018 with “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” followed by “Big Fish,” “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” and “Into a Lamplit Room: the Songs of Kurt Weill”. Thom comes to campus directly from the Broadway company of Disney’s “The Lion King” having worked for over fifteen years both onstage (Scar, Zazu, Timon, Pumbaa, and Ed) and off, having toured with the show as Resident Director and serving on the creative team alongside legendary Director Julie Taymor, for the Chinese production in Shanghai. In 1997, Thom made his Broadway debut, working alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in the revival of “Once Upon A Mattress,” directed by two-time TONY Award winner, Gerald Gutierrez. Over the course of a thirty year career as a professional actor, Thom has worked on and off-Broadway, regionally at some of the nation’s leading theatres, including: The Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Hartford Stage Company, George Street Playhouse and many others, as well as touring the country with companies of “The Lion King,” “Into the Woods,” “Godspell,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” (with Otterbein’s very own Lori Kay Harvey!) and Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana.” Thom has had the honor of creating principal roles in world premiers of Barry Manilow’s and Bruce Sussman’s “Harmony,” directed by David Warren and Felicia Needleman and Laurence Holzman’s “Wallenberg,” directed by theatre legend Martin Charnin.

Recently, Thom had the pleasure of working at the Porthouse Theatre in Kent, playing Dan in their production of “Next to Normal,” and Harold Hill in “The Music Man,” as well as Albin/Zaza in Short North Stage Company’s production of  “La Cage Aux Folles,” and Charles/Bertha in “Pippin.” Concert work includes singing alongside Mr. Manilow at Madison Square Garden and at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, as well as singing in the “Sondheim Birthday Concert” with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center, and many evenings featuring the work of Mr. Sondheim at 54 Below in NYC. Having spent the last decade balancing teaching with performing, Thom has been fortunate enough to guest direct at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and has taught and led master classes at Kean University, Yale University, the University of Michigan, the New York Film Academy, Pace University and South Carolina School of the Arts. Thom lives in Clintonville with his husband Adam, and their dog, Hamilton.