Broadway singer-actor Brian Stokes Mitchell to perform at Irvine Barclay

Film and television actor and singer Brian Stokes Mitchell will perform “Simply Broadway” on April 19 at Irvine Barclay Theatre.

By Eric Althoff

April 12, 2018 4:10 PM PT

When the New York Times called Brian Stokes Mitchell the “last leading man” in 2002, the star of stage was determined not to let such praise go to his head.

“When people say, ‘I hear you’re the last leading man,’ my usual response is ‘Yeah, until the next one comes along,’” Mitchell said in his signature baritone. “But it seems I’ve been kind of stuck with that for some time.

“It’s fantastic when people say things like that, but you’ve still gotta pay your rent, gotta pay your mortgage, still gotta buy food, still gotta get another job,” said Mitchell, who also appeared in “Kiss Me Kate,” taking home a Tony for his performance. “[The praise] doesn’t help do that except in a very kind of peripheral way.”

Mitchell — who prefers to be called “Stokes” — will bring his presence, his voice and his stage history to the Irvine Barclay Theatre on April 19 for his show “Simply Broadway,” a walk through some of his favorite musical theater selections from shows like “Camelot,” “Porgy and Bess” and “Les Miserables.”

Despite the Broadway catalog, Mitchell said it wasn’t show tunes that informed his musical sensibilities while growing up.

“I listened to Brazilian music, jazz [and] world music — a little bit of everything,” he said. “So when I do a concert, I generally like to mix things up a bit. Of course people [want to hear] the musical theater, [but] then I’ll throw in different surprises that get mixed in with the general arrangements I’m doing.”

“Simply Broadway,” which shares its name with Mitchell’s recent album, also features undiscovered gems such as “The Flag Song,” a Stephen Sondheim tune cut from the musical “Assassins.”

“It’s a patriotic song, but it’s written in the way only Stephen Sondheim could write,” Mitchell said. “It’s a nonpartisan kind of song but also very approachable.”

Born into a Navy family, Mitchell, 60, said his father was a gearhead who would constantly upgrade his home stereo system. His dad’s jazz records alternated on the turntable with his mother’s collection ranging from Harry Belafonte to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Mitchell’s musical education began at age 6 on the piano and organ. He later taught himself the oboe, trumpet, French horn and other instruments.

He studied film composing in UCLA extension classes, which led to some work scoring episodes on the “Mash” spinoff “Trapper John, M.D.”

While tinkering with composition, Mitchell found more work as an actor on stage and screen, with recent recurring roles on “The Blacklist” and “Mr. Robot.”

Due to the fickle nature of the entertainment business, Mitchell says he hasn’t ever felt truly “based” anywhere, even though he has lived in the same New York apartment longer than any previous address.

“We moved schools last year and [my 14-year-old son] was a little freaked out about it. I realized by the time I was his age, I had already been to eight different schools,” Mitchell said.

“It actually prepared me for this life because in the theater, you get together with a cast, you get to know people very, very well, [and] you see them at their worst moments. And you become a very tight family, and then the show’s over and you may or may not ever see those people again.

“That was my childhood: Living on bases I’d get very close to people and then move away. It was good training [for showbiz].”

Mitchell said his goal with “Simply Broadway” is to give his audience a night at the theater and hopefully send people out with more joy than when they entered.