Damon J. Gillespie – Former GSFTA Alumnus – lands major Series in “Rise”

Damon J. Gillespie is an Actor, Singer, Dancer, Acrobat, Musician and Playwright from Chattanooga, TN. He is trained in Ballroom, Ballet, Jazz, and Tap and can play six instruments including: Piano, Drums, Guitar, Bass, Bongos and Congas. He grew up a competitive Hip-Hop Dancer, but decided to branch out when he discovered his love for musical theatre at the age of 11. Following his passion, Damon attended and graduated from Chattanooga High School Centerfor the Creative Arts. From there, he went on to attend Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts, where he wrote his first play entitled, Morse Code, which was produced for a short run at Roosevelt and is also where Damon was discovered and signed to Gray Talent Group, Inc., in 2013.

After just two short years Damon moved to New York City to take on the role of Buttons in Disney’s Broadway Musical, Newsies. He has also performed in Disney’s Broadway Musical, Aladdin. He played Chino in Carnegie Hall’s West Side Story and was recently part of Alliance Theatre’s World premiere of The Prom, directed by Casey Nicholaw. In television, Damon was featured on Inside Amy Schumer’s Emmy Winning sketch “Girl you don’t need Makeup”. He has worked with incredibly acclaimed artists such as, Josh Radnor, Rosie Perez, Courtney B. Vance, Mary Louise Parker, Sara Bareilles, Uzo Aduba, Ben Platt, Alex Lacamoire, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Beanie Feldstein, Skylar Astin just to name a few. He is currently starring in the upcoming new NBC Drama RISE premiering March 13th at 10/9c.

In his spare time Damon enjoys cooking, creating music, teaching and playing video games. He is currently working on his first studio album. “Aspire to Inspire”.