DEREK ROLAND
A B O U T
Derek is a NYC based writer, choreographer, director, teacher and performer. Having recently returned from touring German Variete performing in Parallel Exit's show Exit, Derek's new play Peace and Quiet was performed in the 2017 NY Theater Festival (winner for Best Actor, Scott McCord.) In October, he was nominated for a Barrymore Award in Philadelphia for "Best Choreography" for the Resident Theatre Company's production of Spamalot. Derek also recently collaborated with Karla Garcia (Broadway's Hamilton) to create a new piece for the 2017 International Human Rights Festival in NY, for which he composed original music and poetry. He is currently attending the University of Edinburgh's Masters Playwriting program in Scotland, where he was awarded the William Hunter Sharpe Memorial Scholarship for playwriting.
Derek is a long-standing company member of three-time Drama Desk Nominated Parallel Exit Theater Company in New York City (www.parallelexit.com). He co-created and co-choreographed their original Off-Broadway show Time Step, about which the New York Times said "It’s a reminder of how eloquently the body can speak and of how little it takes to create entertainment." Derek recently completed a 12 month tour of Germany with their show Exit and is currently writing a new original show to be workshopped and developed by Parallel Exit in the near future.
Originally from Rochester NY, Derek's performance credits include National Tours of Kiss Me Kate (playing Bill Calhoun), Showboat, Cinderella and Funny Girl, as well as the Italian Tour of West Side Story. His New York credits include performances at NY City Center, Town Hall, Lincoln Center, the Alvin Ailey Theater, NY Fringe Festival, American Theater of Actors, The York Theater, The Actors Playground, Merkin Concert Hall, and the New York Musical Theater Festival.
"Roland is effortless, smooth, and elegant, all beautiful angles and lines..." -nytheatre.com
UPDATE: My new play "The Exhibit" received a professional staged reading at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland on
August 13th 2018 during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!
The reading was produced by Playwrights Studio Scotland and
the University of Edinburgh and was directed by Jemima Levick.
Parallel Exit just returned from a 12 month tour of German Variete
As Brock Stockton for an immersive performance at the Future of Storytelling Conference
Tapping away in Melinda Sullivan's new show "Gone" at the Alvin AileyTheater
Bowing with some of Broadway's brightest after "Broadway By The Year" at Town Hall
Onstage in Germany as Rolando Magnifico