Barrett Foa

Barrett Conrad Foa (42–43 years old)[1] is an American bari-tenor singer, dancer, and actor, with over a decade in Broadway theatre shows.[2] He has played many leading characters in off-Broadway, and regional theatre productions. He has appeared on Broadway hundreds of times including in Mamma Mia!, and as Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q.[3] Since 2009 he has portrayed Eric Beale on the military police procedural NCIS: Los Angeles.[3]

Barrett Foa
Foa in 2015
Born	1977/1978 (age 42–43) Manhattan New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Michigan
Occupation	Actor, Singer, dancer
Years active	2001–present

Early life and education

Barrett Conrad Foa (born in Manhattan 1977/1978 (age 42–43) years old) was raised in Manhattan, New York City.[1][4][5] His father Conrad Foa, an international insurance broker, former musician and Army veteran; and mother Linda Rimanich, an executive in the architecture and design industry, editor and author, were both Manhattan natives, community and civic activists, philanthropists, and organizers in the Democratic party.[6][7][8] His parents were always supportive, but did not push him into musical theatre, that interest developed during his high school years out of state.[9]

Foa attended, for fourteen years, and graduated from The Dalton School, a private prestigious K-12 day, and college preparation school in the city for his elementary and high school life.[9][10][11] He was involved with the arts—especially musical theater—as a hobby, “a fun, non-athletic, after-school activity that kept me busy and helped me get a little attention”.[12] Foa notes that most kids during the summer months were sent to sleep away camps, during four years covering his middle school time, for him it was an all boys sports camp.[9] He considered it a “living nightmare” except for the plays they did and the waterfront.[9]

His view of the performing arts expanded greatly when he attended Interlochen Center for the Arts—a Northern Michigan prestigious school for music, dance, writing, film, visual arts and theater—during his four summers of high school in the 1990s, “It instilled the passion and the drive that I feel toward my craft and my business. Finally, I was surrounded by people who were obsessed with something that no else back home even understood. I got excited and I got voracious. "Other weirdos like me!" I still carry that hunger inside me to this day.”[12][13] Back at Dalton in NYC, the school had an “amazing” modern dance/choreography program for high schoolers, but it was at Interlochen that his work ethic for the performing arts was sparked.[9] He said, “It was there, for the first time, that I realized the arts were more than a fun hobby; they required dedication and work and were worth getting passionate about.”[9] Over many summers he had featured parts in plays, musicals, and operettas.[12] Among other skills he learned to sing in an operatic style for the play "Lend Me a Tenor."[3] As an alumnus, he set up the Barrett Foa Musical Theatre Scholarship to be given annually to a high school camper “studying musical theatre who shows strong potential for growth”.[12]

His first StrawHat audition, in 1995, was “instrumental in moving his career forward”, giving him his first summer stock theatre job.[14] His first paid acting job was at the New London Barn Playhouse in New Hampshire playing an effeminate version of evil Mordred in Camelot.[2][14] He stayed in Michigan for his schooling, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (UMich), earning his bachelor in fine arts (BFA) in Musical Theatre in 1999.[13] They have one of the best theater departments in the country and stoked his performance to move beyond his dancing skills which got him cast in ensembles but not leading roles.[9] He kept doing summer stock through his college years and had earned his Equity card by the time he got his BFA degree.[9] During his junior year he studied acting and William Shakespeare for a semester at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.[9][10] He credits the time with amping up his confidence as well as acting, when he returned to UMass he started getting leads in productions.[9] He graduated in 1999 and returned to New York City after college with friends from school and started looking for more stage work.[1]

Personal life

Foa is openly gay, and as of July 2020, single.[3] In February 2019, Foa publicly came out as gay on social media.[15]

Barrett's older brother by four years, Justin, is the fifth generation owner and CEO of Foa & Son, an international insurance brokerage firm established in 1861; and is married to Christianity scholar and professor Candida Moss.[6][16] Their mother, Linda, an executive in the architecture and design industry, editor and author, was also a Manhattan native, community and civic activist, philanthropist, and organizer in the Democratic Party, who died of breast cancer in June 2016.[6]

In addition to various workshops and readings, Foa donates his time and talents to community causes and non-profit theatre companies and organizations, including Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Actors' Fund.

Career

Foa has played many leading roles in plays and musicals off-Broadway, and in regional theatre.[17] His regional credits include Sweet Charity, The Music Man, Camelot, Pirates! The Musical, The Lady in Question, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Fantasticks.[18] His off-Broadway credits, as of February 2020, include Buyer & Cellar, The Drunken City, Godspell, and Tio Pepe (aka Somewhere).[lower-alpha 1][18]

Foa got his break playing Jesus in the 2000 off-Broadway revival of the musical Godspell for the 30th anniversary.[1][10] He is on the cast album as well.[12][10] His Broadway theatre debut was in 2001 as a cast member in the original production of Mamma Mia!, a musical based on 22 pop songs of ABBA.[9][19] After months with the show, Foa left to accept a three-month job at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, California, where he created the lead role in a musical called Kept with music by Henry Kreiger and lyrics by Bill Russell.[9]

After playing Matt in The Fantasticks at The Muny in St. Louis, Foa was picked to play Claudio in a dual production of Much Ado About Nothing at Hartford Stage and the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. In 2003 Foa was in the Cupid and Psyche-inspired four person, Off-broadway show of the same name which was also an updated Greek mythology and comedy.[9] He was also in the musical Camelot as the evil Mordred portrayed with a thick Scottish burr who is a punk bastard.[2]

Foa has performed on Broadway hundreds of times over a ten-year span; in the mid-2000s as Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q, and then was offered the role of Leaf Coneybear in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.[3][20] He was the first actor cast in Avenue Q who had not been a puppeteer first, “It was a bit of a scary experience going into a room full of puppeteers and saying: ‘I'm going to be your new lead.’ They put me into an intensive two-day course and I proved at the audition I could fit in with everyone else. I got to be the understudy for a year”.[3][19] He took over a lead role in Avenue Q in 2005, and in 2006, a lead in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.[11]

He played his last performance as Frederic in Pirates! an updated version of The Pirates of Penzance, on July 8, 2007, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. He played Karel in The Lady In Question, a play by and starring Charles Busch from August 14 through September 2, 2007.

From March 13 to April 20, 2008, he played Eddie in The Drunken City at Playwrights Horizons. He also played Tu-Ping in a workshop presentation of The Nightingale with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater at the New York Theatre Workshop directed by James Lapine.

In May 2008, he played Jordy in a workshop of Giant, a new musical with music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and book by Sybille Pearson, based on the Edna Ferber novel and the movie with Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean.

He had established himself on Broadway, and then took some friends’ advice and moved to Los Angeles in the late 2000s to pursue television work.[19] He soon picked up cameo and supporting roles in Numb3rs, The Closer, and HBO's Entourage.[19]

Since 2009 Foa has portrayed Eric Beale, a computer, and technology “wizard” on the military police proceedural show about the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, NCIS: Los Angeles.[3][21] It was the first spin-off of NCIS, at the time the second most popular show in the country.[19] The show is a procedural crime drama, but coupled with a “kind of a workplace comedy going on”.[19] He auditioned for a operational psychologist character but the producers wrote the Beale part for him instead.[11] It was his first stable job in his life with a ten-months a year, 9-5p schedule.[11] His recurring role in NCIS: Los Angeles was upgraded to a series regular in the middle of the first season after twelve episodes.[11] In April 2011 his character, in a series first, switched from his station in the operations center—and his casual surf wear—to do field work including using a gun.[22]

Foa continues to do live performing in addition to his television work, “I'm used to having a live connection with an audience on a stage, and also after the show. ... There's more of an immediate personal touch.”[19] In January 2011, Foa headlined the musical stage show Sincerely, John Hughes, a tribute to the films and soundtracks of film director John Hughes.[23] Foa is co-writer, producer and star of "For The Record: John Hughes," a live musical event featuring scenes and songs from the movies of the 1980s film director; it played multiple sold-out runs in LA and NYC.[10][11]

In Summer 2012 he bought a $1.4 million two-bedroom “architectural residence” above the Sunset Strip, he sold it a year later for almost $1.7 million.[4]

In July 2013, Foa played Harold Hill, the lead in the musical The Music Man, staged by the Connecticut Repertory Theatre.[19] From May to August 2014, Foa played the lead in Jonathan Tolins’ one-man off-Broadway comedy Buyer & Cellar about an actor who manages a basement mall in Barbra Streisand’s home.[24][25] Her Malibu home's basement has a mall of quaint shops, “purely for her own amusement” built to house her extensive collections.[11][26]

For NCIS: Los Angeles’ seventh season (2015-6), Foa's character, usually seen at headquarters, is trained for field work, including weapons handling.[21] In May 2016 Foa bought a three-story, two-bedroom contemporary home in Silver Lake for $1.35 million.[4][27]

In early 2019, Foa did a guest-arc cameo on Will & Grace as Will's love interest—and fellow teacher.[20] In May 2019 he bought a $2.1 million 1950s three-bedroom ranch-style home in the foothills above Beachwood Canyon.[4]

In 2019 he was given a leave of absence from NCIS so he did not have to commute from St. Louis, Missouri where he was playing Prior Walter, the lead in Tony Kushner’s two-act, seven-hour play Angels in America.[28][29] In February 2020 Foa led a cabaret benefit night, “Barrett Foa Has Friends!”, for the LA-based PAWS which aids people with chronic diseases care for their pets.[18]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Six Degrees	Dylan	Episode: "Get a Room"
2008	Prop 8: The Musical	California Gays and The People That Love Them	Short Film
2009	Schoolhouse Rock!	Vocals	01 Episode
2009	Numbers	Andrew Gibbons	Episode: "First Law"
	The Closer	Travis Myers	Episode: "Walking Back the Cat"
	NCIS	Eric Beale	2 pilot episodes: "Legend"
2009–present	NCIS: Los Angeles		Main cast
2009, 2010	Entourage	Matt Wolpert	2 episodes
2011	Submissions Only	Gil Bure	Web series; episode: "Yore So Bad"
2013	My Synthesized Life	Craig Carter	Web series; 2 episodes
2019	Will & Grace	Paul	Guest role

Notes

1. Tio Pepe is a stage play by Matthew Lopez, directed by Caitlin Moon, enacted at the 2008 Summer Play Festival.

References

1. Harvey, Kerry (April 3, 2019). "NCIS: Los Angeles stars find love after nine years". Stuff. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
2. Portantiere, Michael (March 31, 2003). "The Men of Camelot". TheaterMania. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
3. Sewell, Amanda (July 9, 2020). "From puppeteering to dancing in flippers, Barrett Foa has many special skills". Interlochen Public Radio. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
4. David, Mark (May 30, 2019). "'NCIS' Star Barrett Foa Picks Up Beachwood Canyon Home". Variety. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
5. "President's Club". Interlochen Center for the Arts. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
6. "Linda Foa, Manhattan Design Industry Luminary, Died on June 17, 2016 – officeinsight". Office Insight. June 19, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
7. "Fathers Know Best: A Real-Talk Roundtable on Fatherhood". InsideHook. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
8. Maloney, Carolyn B. (January 6, 2011). "Congressional Record Extensions of Remarks Articles". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
9. Brockman, Craig (February 22, 2004). "Barrett Foa - from Dalton to Avenue Q". Broadway World. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
10. Barrett Foa - NCIS: Los Angeles Cast Member, retrieved 2020-07-22
11. Carlin, Marilou (August 6, 2014). "Securely Talented". Michigan Muse. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
12. "Actor and Camp Alumnus Barrett Foa Establishes Camp Scholarship". Interlochen Center for the Arts. February 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
13. Serba, John (August 6, 2017). "All these famous people attended the same small Northern Michigan arts camp". M-Live. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
14. Wood, Mark Dundas (December 29, 2010). "60 Seconds to Impress". Backstage. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
15. Foa, Barrett (February 21, 2019). "Barrett Foa on Instagram: "Tonight I will guest star on one of my favorite shows of all time. Tonight I will kiss a man on national broadcast television and not be…"". Instagram. Retrieved February 23, 2019. Tonight I will kiss a man on national broadcast television and not be embarrassed or scared or ashamed in a way that my younger, dumber, more inner-homophobic self would have been. Tonight I am an out, proud gay man playing an out, proud gay man.
16. "Candida Moss, Justin Foa". The New York Times. 2018-04-08. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
17. "Actor and Camp Alumnus Barrett Foa Establishes Camp Scholarship". Interlochen Center for the Arts. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
18. "Barrett Foa Has Friends! Comes To Catalina Jazz Club In Hollywood". Broadway World. February 8, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
19. Best, Kenneth (July 12, 2013). "'NCIS: LA' Star Leads 'The Music Man' in Nutmeg Summer Series". UConn Today. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
20. Ausiello, Michael (December 10, 2018). "NCIS: LA's Barrett Foa Is Teacher's Pet on Will & Grace — 2019 FIRST LOOK". TVLine. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
21. Dongines, Arvin (August 18, 2015). "'NCIS: LA' Cast News, Update: Barrett Foa's Eric Beale to Start Training With A Weapon in Season 7". Christian Post. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
22. Bierly, Mandi (April 12, 2011). "'NCIS: Los Angeles': Barrett Foa talks Eric's first undercover mission". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
23. Cassell, Amber (January 29, 2011). "Show at Barre's Sincerely, John Hughes, starring Barrett Foa". Broadway World. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
24. "Barrett Foa Begins Performances in Off-Broadway's Buyer & Cellar". Theater Mania. May 28, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
25. "Barrett Foa keeps busy amid 'NCIS: LA' hiatus | The Spokesman-Review". The Spokesman Review. May 24, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
26. Shukert, Rachel (May 30, 2014). "Barbra Streisand's Private Mall Gets a New Shopkeeper in 'Buyer and Cellar'". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
27. "'NCIS: Los Angeles' actor Barrett Foa snags a modern home in Silver Lake". Los Angeles Times. May 12, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
28. Joest, Mick (November 24, 2019). "Barrett Foa's Break From NCIS: LA Made Him Love Eric Beale Even More". CinemaBlend. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
29. Hetrick, Adam (July 11, 2019). "Barrett Foa and Meredith Baxter to Star in Angels in America at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis". Playbill. Retrieved July 20, 2020.

External links

• Barrett Foa on IMDb
• Barrett Foa at the Internet Broadway Database
• Barrett Foa at the Internet Off-Broadway Database