Tam originated the role of Paul in the 2006 Broadway revival of A Chorus Line.
Other theatre credits and workshops include Les Misérables, Nobody Loves You, Allegiance, The Distant Bells, The Last Goodbye, US, Clueless, The Black Suits, The Nightingale and The Yellow Wood.
He has appeared on screen as Markko on "One Life to Live," Shoe in "Beyond the Break" and himself in the documentary "Every Little Step."
| Full given name: | Jason Woodward Kalei'ihauola Tam |
| Where you were born/where you were raised: | Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Zodiac Sign: | Cancer |
| What your parents did/do for a living: | Dad's a lawyer and Mom was a teacher and then a full-time mom. |
| Current audition song/monologue: | "Sometimes A Day Goes By" |
| Special skills: | Arm pit farts, hand farts AND the lesser-known knee farts. |
| Something you're REALLY bad at: | Answering emails. |
| First Broadway show you ever saw: | Phantom of the Opera |
| If you could go back in time and catch any performance, what would it be? | The original A Chorus Line. But I wouldn't want to travel back in time to watch it. I'd want to have been born in that era. |
| Current show you have been recommending to friends: | Venus in Fur |
| Favorite showtune(s) of all time: | "Riddle Song" "The Miller's Son" "Love Who You Love" |
| Some favorite musicals: | Guys and Dolls The Black Suits Gypsy Anything Rodgers and Hammerstein. Except State Fair. |
| Stage or screen stars of the past you would most have loved to perform with: | Gene Kelly |
| Your personal acting idols, living or dead: | Mark Rylance, Cate Blanchett, Norbert Leo Butz |
| The one performance – attended - that you will never forget: | Coram Boy |
| Music that makes you cry, any genre: | Literally any music montage at the end of a "Parenthood" episode. |
| MAC or PC? | iConvert |
| Most played song on your iPod: | Arcade Fire's "Keep the Car Running" |
| Most-visited website: | IGN.com - I love video games |
| Favorite Tweeters: | @SarahKSilverman |
| Last book you read: | "The Magician King" by Lev Grossman |
| Must-see TV shows: | "Parenthood" "Community" "SNL" "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" "SYTYCD" |
| Last good movie you saw: | The filmed performance of Memphis |
| Some films you consider classics: | "Star Wars" (episodes IV, V and VI) "The Abyss" "Contact" I'm a sucker for Sci-Fi. "Labyrinth" I'm also a child of the 80's. |
| Performer you would drop everything to go see: | Mark Rylance |
| Pop culture guilty pleasure: | Angry Birds |
| Favorite cities: | NYC, Honolulu, Tokyo. |
| Favorite sport/team/player: | University of Hawaii Volleyball. And The Olympics. All of it. |
| First CD/Tape/LP you owned: | The single of "Loser" by Beck. |
| Favorite non-theatre musicians/bands/groups: | Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, The Canyons (lead by the brilliant Alisan Porter) |
| First stage kiss: | In high school, the Beatrice/Benedick smooch in Much Ado About Nothing. |
| Favorite or most memorable onstage role as a child/teenager: | Sky Masterson in 8th grade. |
| Moment you knew you wanted to perform for a living: | Watching my sister tear it up in And the World Goes Round at Carnegie Mellon University. |
| How you got your Equity card: | Playing Gavroche in the touring company of Les Miserables. |
| Your experience with basketball prior to this show: | One season of little league in 5th grade. Go Sonics! |
| Favorite pre-/post- show meal: | Pre: sushi at Aoki Post: cereal, PB&J and lots of water |
| Favorite liquid refreshment: | Blue Moon |
| Pre-show rituals or warm-ups: | My personal warm up is different for each show. But a current Lysistrata Jones cast ritual is while we're waiting for the show to start in the stage left alcove, we all put our hands in and whisper-yell [insert ridiculous phrase] on three, like a team. |
| Most challenging role you have ever played: | Paul in A Chorus Line |
| Worst flubbed line/missed cue/onstage mishap: | In She Loves Me at the Guthrie my pants almost came completely off when I was holding out my final note in "Try Me" while cartwheeling over Mr. Maraczek's hospital bed. I wish I could say it was due to a wardrobe malfunction, but I literally just forgot to button my pants. |
| Worst costume ever: | The Lederhosen in The Sound of Music were everything that terrified me as a 4th grader. Suspenders? High waisted shorts... that ended ABOVE the knee?!!? |
| Worst job you have ever had: | Tele-market fundraising for nonprofit performance companies. Lasted half a day. |
| Some favorite screen or commercial gigs: | A Hawaii Pizza Hut commercial. In fact, learning I could get paid to stuff my face with free food, THAT might have been the moment I decided to do this professionally! |
| Leading man role you've been dying to play: | Romeo |
| Leading lady role you wish you could play: | Juliet |
| Something about you that surprises people: | I devour Physics books about General Relativity and Quantum Physics. I actually, physically eat them. |
| Something you are incredibly proud of: | My dental hygiene |
| Something you're embarrassed to admit: | I've yet to watch "The Godfather." |
| Career you would want if not a performer: | Marine Biologist |
| Three things you can't live without: | My memory foam mattress, Xbox 360, sunlight |
| "I'll never understand why…" | ... I wasn't born with super powers. |
| Words of advice for aspiring performers: | Read "Actors at Work" for some inspiration and insight into the process of some of the most intelligent actors working today. |
