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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Ethan Slater
Ethan Samuel Slater (born June 2, 1992) is an American actor, singer, writer, and composer known for his role as SpongeBob SquarePants in the musical of the same name, for which he received a Tony Award nomination and won a Drama Desk Award in 2018. During his career he has also acted in musicals directed by Kathleen Marshall, Barry Levinson, John Tartaglia, Bartlett Sher, and John Doyle.

He most recently played the Historian, Prince Herbert, and others in the 2023 Broadway revival of Spamalot at the St. James Theatre. On screen, he appeared in a few guest roles in various television series, before landing his first major film role as Boq in the two-part film adaptation of Wicked (2024-2025).

Early life and career

Ethan Samuel Slater was born on June 2, 1992, in Washington, D.C. He is the third child of Jay Slater, an employee at the Food and Drug Administration. He is Jewish and was raised Conservative, attending Ohr Kodesh in Silver Spring. After attending Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, his family moved to Silver Spring, Maryland. Slater's mother died when he was seven, which he describes as a "really big, formative thing in my life. She had left this huge imprint on me, even though I had so few memories." He graduated from Georgetown Day School in Washington, DC, and studied drama at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. During his time in college, he auditioned to apprentice at a Shakespeare workshop, which then got him an audition in front of director Tina Landau. Slater graduated from Vassar with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama in 2014.

His first theater appearance was at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in July 2015, in which he starred as Luis in the musical Claudio Quest, directed by John Tartaglia, earning a nomination for the festival's award in the category for Best Individual Performance. Between September 30 and October 24, 2015, he starred in Please excuse my dear aunt Sally in the One Year Lease Theater Company. In December 2015 he joined the Delaware Theatre Company in Wilmington, acting in Barry Levinson's play Diner, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall. During the same period he appeared in several short films, including Lightning Bugs in a Jar and Evol.

In 2016 Slater was cast in the lead role SpongeBob SquarePants in Kyle Jarrow's musical of the same name directed by Tina Landau at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago. The musical achieved success and was praised by theater critics, bringing the production to Broadway at the Palace Theatre in New York between 2017 and 2018. For his performance, Slater earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical in 2018, winning in the respective category at the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award. He is also awarded the Theatre World Award for Best Performance in a Broadway Debut in 2018.

Between 2018 and 2019 he appeared in a few episodes of television series, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Murphy Brown, Instinct and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. On March 4, 2019, Slater was cast by director Bartlett Sher in the theatrical special of Camelot at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York. Between 2021 and 2022 he starred in the musical Assassins with the direction of John Doyle at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater in New York, playing Lee Harvey Oswald. His performance earned him a Lucille Lortel Awards nomination for Best Performance. From March to April 2022, Slater originated the role of Max Weinbaum in the play Good Night, Oscar at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. From 2023 to 2024, he played the Historian, Prince Herbert, and other roles in the Broadway revival of Spamalot at the St. James Theatre.

In 2022 it was announced that he will play Boq in the two-part film adaptation of the musical Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu.

Personal life

In 2012, Slater began dating his high school sweetheart Lilly Jay. They married in 2018, and their son was born in 2022. In 2023, Slater filed for divorce from Jay, following reports that he had begun dating Ariana Grande. On September 13, 2024, it was reported that his divorce from Jay had been finalized.

Works

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2015 Lightning Bugs in a Jar Ben
2016 EVOL: Theory of Love Ronny Goldstein
2021 The Man Behind the Camera Gerald
2022 Intervenors Miles Writer and composer
2024 Wicked Boq Woodsman Completed
2025 Wicked Part Two Post-production
TBA Lost on A Mountain in Maine Henry Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2018 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Riley Porter Episode: "Revenge"
Murphy Brown Officer Reynolds Episode: "Thanksgiving and Taking"
2019 Fosse/Verdon Joel Grey Episode: "Me and My Baby"
Instinct Noah Episode: "After Hours"
SpongeBob SquarePants Himself Episode: "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout"
The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage! SpongeBob SquarePants Television adaptation of The SpongeBob Musical
2023 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Steven Episode: "Susan"

Web

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2015 Redheads Anonymous Sam
New Mayor of New York Nathan

Theatre

Year Production Role Venue Category Ref.
2015 Diner Modell Delaware Theatre Company Regional
Claudio Quest Luis NYMF
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally Cast One Year Lease Theatre Company (59E59 Theatres) Off-Off-Broadway
2016 The SpongeBob Musical SpongeBob SquarePants Oriental Theatre Regional
2017 Baghdaddy Jerry Samuel St. Luke's Theatre Off-Broadway
2017–18 SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical SpongeBob SquarePants Palace Theatre Broadway
2019 Camelot Mordred Lincoln Center Theater
2021–22 Assassins The Balladeer / Lee Harvey Oswald Classic Stage Company Off-Broadway
2022 Good Night, Oscar Max Weinbaum Goodman Theatre Regional
2023-24 Spamalot Prince Herbert / The Historian St. James Theatre Broadway
2024 Edge of the World Ben Lynn F. Angelson Theater Off-Broadway

Discography

Cast recordings

Release Date Title Type Label Ref.
September 22, 2017 SpongeBob SquarePants, The New Musical Original Cast Recording Masterworks Broadway
September 28, 2018 Who's Your Baghdaddy, or How I started the Iraq War Broadway Records
August 6, 2021 Edge of the World Concept Album
March 18, 2022 Assassins 2022 Cast Recording

Solo recordings

Release Date Title Notes Ref.
February 5, 2019 Richmond Rewrites Single
July 11, 2019 Wanderer EP
July 21, 2020 Life Is Weird EP

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2015 NYMF Award Outstanding Individual Performance Claudio Quest Nominated
2018 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical SpongeBob SquarePants Nominated
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical Won
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical Won
Broadway.com Audience Awards Favorite Breakthrough Performance (Male) Won
Favorite Leading Actor in a Musical Won
Theatre World Award Honoree
2022 Lucille Lortel Award Outstanding Featured Performer in a Musical Assassins Nominated

References

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  4. ^ Marks, Peter (June 26, 2018). "He absorbed all her high school drama expertise. And now he's SpongeBob". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
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  25. ^ Gordon, David (March 5, 2024). "Broadway Revival of Spamalot Sets Closing Date". TheaterMania. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  26. ^ Jackson, Angelique (December 7, 2022). "'Wicked' Movie Casts Ethan Slater Opposite Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on December 13, 2022. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  27. ^ Deb, Sopan (November 22, 2017). "He Knows Bikini Bottom. Now He Gets to Swim There". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 17, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  28. ^ Engel, Margaret (April 2, 2018). "Showstopper". Bethesda Magazine. Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  29. ^ Juneau, June (July 27, 2023). "Ethan Slater's Ex Breaks Silence About His Romance with Ariana Grande: 'My Family' Is 'Collateral Damage'". People. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  30. ^ Clack, Erin (July 27, 2023). "Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater Are 'Full-On Dating' After Being 'Sweet' with Each Other on Set: Source (Exclusive)". People. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  31. ^ "Ariana Grande's Boyfriend Ethan Slater Finalizes Divorce from Lilly Jay". Peoplemag. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  32. ^ "Wicked". Variety. December 7, 2022. Archived from the original on December 13, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  33. ^ "Lost on a Mountain in Maine". IMDb. Archived from the original on September 10, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  34. ^ Aniftos, Rania (July 20, 2023). "Who Is Ethan Slater? 5 Things to Know About the Actor". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 21, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  35. ^ Clement, Olivia (December 13, 2019). "How Did The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage! Fare in the Ratings?". Playbill. Archived from the original on July 21, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  36. ^ "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally". One Year Lease Theater Company. Archived from the original on July 20, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  37. ^ Collins-Hughes, Laura (October 6, 2015). "Review: 'Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally,' a Phone's Tale". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  38. ^ Clement, Olivia (March 31, 2017). "Spongebob's Ethan Slater Joins Cast of Baghdaddy". Playbill. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  39. ^ Brantley, Ben (December 5, 2018). "Review: 'SpongeBob SquarePants,' a Watery Wonderland on Broadway". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
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  41. ^ McPhee, Ryan (January 13, 2020). "Tony Nominee Ethan Slater Joins Off-Broadway Assassins Revival". Playbill. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
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  43. ^ White, Abbey (August 9, 2023). "Michael Urie, Ethan Slater Among Cast of Broadway's 'Spamalot' Revival". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 9, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  44. ^ Nick Blaemire and Ethan Slater’s Edge of the World to Have One-Night-Only Concert
  45. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (July 20, 2021). "Lilli Cooper, Ethan Slater, Nick Blaemire, More Star on Concept Recording of Edge of the World". Playbill. Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  46. ^ Harms, Talaura (March 18, 2022). "Assassins Off-Broadway Cast Recording Drops Digitally March 18". Playbill. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  47. ^ Hetrick, Adam (February 6, 2019). "SpongeBob SquarePants Tony Nominee Ethan Slater Releases New Single 'Richmond Rewrites'". Playbill. Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  48. ^ Fierberg, Ruthie (July 21, 2020). "Tony Nominee Ethan Slater Releases New EP Life Is Weird". Playbill. Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  49. ^ Viagas, Robert (July 28, 2015). "Check Out the Winners of the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival Awards". Playbill. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
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  51. ^ Fierberg, Ruthie (June 4, 2018). "Nathan Lane, Tina Landau, Ethan Slater and More React to Their 2018 Drama Desk Wins". Playbill. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  52. ^ McPhee, Ryan (May 7, 2018). "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, My Fair Lady Win Big at 2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Playbill. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  53. ^ "Mean Girls Leads Broadway.com Audience Choice Award Winners; Ethan Slater, Hailey Kilgore Also Take Top Prizes". Broadway.com. May 17, 2018. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  54. ^ Evans, Greg (May 8, 2018). "'Harry Potter & The Cursed Child', 'Angels In America' Broadway Newcomers Among 2018 Theatre World Honorees". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 21, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  55. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (April 7, 2022). "2022 Lucille Lortel Awards: See the Complete List of Nomiees". Playbill. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
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