Jeffry Denman, BA '92

Triple threat

Who says the song-and-dance man is dead? Certainly not Jeffry Denman, B.A. ’92. He just happens to be one.

Denman is an entertainment triple threat – singer, dancer, actor. His musical journey began in high school. A member of his school’s swing choir, he came to the attention of Lynne Kurdziel-Formato, M.A. ’87 & B.A. ’85, a choreographer who worked with the choir. Kurdziel-Formato also taught at UB and advised Denman that, while his singing was in good form, he could work with her on his dancing if he enrolled at UB. At the same time, she offered, he could work in musical theater in Buffalo to gain experience.

Kurdziel became Denman’s mentor, he says, “helping form me into someone who wanted to be in theater. I had no previous experience with dancing, and she pointed me in the right direction and stayed on me. It wasn’t easy, but she gave me the chutzpah I needed.”

Technique and discipline at UB

At UB, Denman says, he developed technique and discipline from both Kurdziel and jazz instructor Tom Ralabate. “They gave me my cues,” he remembers. “They were so knowledgeable. Because the teachers at UB have to have wide range of knowledge, students do, too.” Denman’s progress became obvious when, as a member of UB’s Zodiaque Dance Company, he was asked to choreograph a piece for the troupe.

Broadway-bound

After graduation, Denman performed on cruise ships, then moved to New York City, “started working right away and didn’t look back.” His first Broadway role came in the classic musical How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying; later he won a part in a show based on Johnny Mercer songs, called Dream. After writing and performing in Buffalo a show about his idol Fred Astaire called Dancing in the Dark and performing at Canada’s famed Shaw Festival in A Foggy Day (based on an Astaire film), Denman went back to New York to do Cats for a year. His next gig was a modest little run of The Producers, which went on to win a record 12 Tony Awards.

“The Producers was amazing,” says Denman. “When you have a hit like that, it’s on a legendary level. The New York media and theater community wanted it to be a success. My theory is that, after so many years of British musicals taking over, they wanted something that was a good old-fashioned Broadway musical, American written, the way we used to do it.” Denman played various roles in the show’s ensemble, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He also understudied star Matthew Broderick and went on for him a number of times, especially in the show’s second year. Denman was so inspired he even wrote a book about his experience called A Year with The Producers (Routledge, 2002).

White Christmas in San Francisco

The end of his run in The Producers led to one of the few lulls in Denman’s career thus far. He’d decided he would try only for lead roles, limiting himself to what he would be up for and what he would take. After 18 dry months, he landed one of the leads in a San Francisco-based production of the old Bing Crosby-Danny Kaye musical, White Christmas. “I knew I could do well with the role,” he says, “so I fought for it.”

Denman plays the role Danny Kaye took in the movie – an “eternal optimist, charismatic womanizer, song-and-dance man.” Rehearsals began last September, with the show opening in San Francisco’s Curran Theater in November and extending through January 2. It “went like gangbusters,” Denman says. “We’re hoping it will be an annual show and go to other cities.” White Christmas hits all Denman’s sweet spots: “It asks me to do all the things I do best. At the end of the night, I feel like I’ve been properly used. Sometimes you feel there’s so much more that I could do. With this, I feel like I’m hitting on all cylinders.”

What he always wanted to do

Denman’s next steps? He’s performing concerts in tribute to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers with symphonies in Florida, North Carolina, Utah and Ohio. After that, it’s more auditioning, the entertainer’s stock in trade. Denman, however, has a great perspective on the continuing need to prove himself. “Things have developed better than I could have imagined. To win a role, you have to be right for it. When you walk in a room, 50 percent of decision has been made based on whether you look right for the role. Then you have to confirm their positive impression of you.”

Though he felt a bit “shaken” by the 18 months of taking “tiny” roles that meant nothing to him, he gained a useful perspective during that time: “The minute you let go and say, ‘This isn’t who I am and doesn’t define me,’ when you accept that, the things you wanted start to come because you’re not asking for them. My career is what I want to do and always wanted to do.”

Written by Grace Lazzara.
January 2005

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