Forrest McClendon

Forrest McClendon is an American stage actor, singer and professor. McClendon received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical nomination in 2011 for his portrayal of Mr. Tambo in the Broadway musical The Scottsboro Boys.^[1][2] The Scottsboro Boys marked McClendon's Broadway debut.^[3][4]

Biography

McClendon was born and raised in Norwalk, Connecticut.^[2][3] He was raised in the Roodner Court housing projects in South Norwalk.^[3] His mother, Ruthie Mae Brown, still resides in Norwalk.^[2] He attended Nathan Hale Middle School and graduated from Norwalk High School in 1983.^[2] McClendon received his first formal singing lessons from Lewis Cisto, a teacher in the Norwalk High School music department.^[2] He also received lessons from Betty Jones, a Connecticut opera singer, and Cassandra Eaton, the music minister of Grace Baptist Church in Norwalk.^[2]

He initially studied engineering at the University of Connecticut.^[2] However, he switched majors to vocal studies, for which he obtained a bachelor's degree.^[2]

Career

In 1993, McClendon appeared off-Broadway in Faith Journey. He also appeared as CC White in a 2005 Prince Music Theatre revival of Dreamgirls: The Musical in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[5]

He made his Broadway debut as Mr. Tambo in the 2010 musical The Scottsboro Boys, after appearing in the musical off-Broadway.^[4] The role led to McClendon's first Tony Award nomination in May 2011 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.^[2][6]

In 2011, McClendon performed in a regional production of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris at the Two Rivers Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey.^[4]

McClendon is a faculty member at Temple University and an adjunct associate professor at the University of Arts in Philadelphia.^[2] He is a resident of East Lampeter Township, a suburb of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as of 2011.^[4][7]