Eric Lee Johnson appeared off-broadway in Gerard Alessandrini's FORBIDDEN HOLLYWOOD, and has toured extensively in that show, and FORBIDDEN BROADWAY. FORBIDDEN VEGAS is the most recent addition to the Forbidden cannon, and Eric is a member of the original cast performing in Las Vegas since the fall of 2004. At Detroit's Century Theater he was seen in FORBIDDEN CHRISTMAS, the Yuletide version of the now famously wicked revue. Elsewhere regionally, he was featured as the Gravedigger in the Kennedy Center's award winning production of SWEENEY TODD as part of their ground breaking SONDHEIM CELEBRATION.
Performing as a guest artist, Eric has sung the role of Sportin Life in the Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS with many renowned orchestras to critical acclaim. Most recently with the Zurich Symphony at the Tonhalle in Zurich. He has been prominently featured in performances on the Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts' Millennium Stage, as well as public readings and workshops of material being developed under the auspices of the Center. Most notably, THE HAPPY PRINCE, by Michael Silvescher and Elizabeth Wong. A modern children's opera commissioned by the Kennedy Center that was presented as part of the annual Page to Stage Festival.
During his first year at Howard University in Washington DC, Eric was cast as Asagai in the European premiere of the Tony Award winning musical RAISIN. That lead to a two year engagement at the State Theater in Bern Switzerland. Ossie in ON THE TOWN, Sam in TROUBLE IN TAHITI , and Chino in WEST SIDE STORY where roles he played there, as he learned to speak German fluently, and to perform in that foreign language.
Moving to Vienna, Eric added Judas in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, and Rocky in THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW to his repertoire. Appearing in the Austrian capitol's preeminent musical theater houses, Theater an der Wien, The Volksoper, and the Raimund Theater, he made a name for himself as a versatile performer, with an ear for the nuances of the German language. He was also engaged at the Schauspielhaus, and Akadamie Theater.
Relocating in Berlin, Eric spent five seasons as a principal company member at the historic Theater des Westens, under the directorship of Goetz Friedrich and Helmut Baumann. Sharing the stage with Leslie Caron, Ute Lemper, Steve Barton, Angelika Milster, Nicole Heesters, Ingrid Caven, Isabelle Weiken, Katja Ebstein, Sue Matthys Gaye MacFarlane, Michelle Becker, Donnie Ray Albert, Michel Bell, Clama Dale, Wilhemina Fernandez, Priscilla Baskerville, Gregg Baker, Andreas Mankopf, Guenther Koenig, Cusch Jung, Hartwig Rudolz, F. Dion Davis, and Hans Clarin, among others.
The Berlin audience saw Eric in starkly contrasting roles. Playing everything from the supremely outrageous Jacob in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, or the slick lawyer Billy Flynn in CHICAGO, and the sly Sportin' Life in PORGY AND BESS, to the tormented Judas in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, he gradually became a "Publikums Liebling".
Eric was the first company member to combine his performing assignments with behind the scenes work. Conceiving and directing his own cabaret act, as well as a series of evenings that were presented as events in the theater's lush grand foyer. On the strength of this early work, he was invited to direct a full production of CHICAGO at the opera house in Augsburg Germany, starring Sona Macdonald and Beate Grazow.
Bio
