Director, Composer Michael McElroy:
The Man Behind Broadway Inspirational Voices

“Healing, forgiveness, strength, love, patience -- and hope.”

Michael McElroy says these are the powerful virtues that listeners can glean from gospel music.

He should know. This Broadway favorite (Rent, The Wild Party, Blue) and Tony AwardŽ nominee (Big River) was raised in the Baptist church founded by his grandfather in Cleveland. “All the musicians in the church were my (biological) family. We played all the instruments and directed the choir.”

A versatile actor, singer and musician, Michael has held fast to his roots by recruiting some of the best voices on Broadway to sing in his renowned choir, The Broadway Inspirational Voices.

Everyone in The Broadway Inspirational Voices volunteers his or her time and talent to sing for Michael, and in return they get an opportunity to express themselves in a way that performing in their own respective shows might not offer. After all, McElroy says, “The demands on our lives sometimes drain us. Gospel music touches us on the deepest levels and fills us up again. Not many genres of music can affect people in that way.”

Although the choir’s genesis stems from its founder’s Baptist background, the Voices’ music extends beyond the strict confines of “Gospel” and its message is highly inclusive, Michael says.

“The choir speaks to everyone. We are united and we are proof that people of all races, religions and backgrounds can come together. There are so many voices in the choir, and we all bring something to the table. When we come together, we create a unique voice with a universal theme.”
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“Singing for Broadway Cares is always the highlight of what we do. We need to believe that in spite of all the negative things that are happening in our world, there are forces for good,” McElroy says.
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And that theme, McElroy reiterates, is hope. Perhaps this explains why The Broadway Inspirational Voices have been performing for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS for over a decade now. “Singing for Broadway Cares is always the highlight of what we do. We need to believe that in spite of all the negative things that are happening in our world, there are forces for good,” McElroy says. “We need to hold on to the fact that love can still conquer all.”
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Michael McElroy
came to New York City in May of 1990, after finishing his BFA in Theater from Carnegie Mellon University. His Broadway credits include Big River (Tony nomination), The Wild Party, Rent, The Who's Tommy, Miss Saigon, Hair, Patti Lupone on Broadway, and The High Rollers Social Pleasure Club. National Tour: Sarafina. Off Broadway: NY Shakespeare Festival's Richard III with Denzel Washington, Violet (Playwright's Horizons: Drama Desk Nomination). Regional credits include Angels in America Pts I and II, Alley Theater; Fences, Riverside Theater; Dreamgirls, Pittsburgh Playhouse; Thunder Knocking on the Door, Minetta Reperatory Theater; Blue, Grammercy Theater. He was also a featured vocalist on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." Michael is featured on CD recordings of The Who's Tommy, Blue, Violet, Thunder Knocking on the Door and Leslie Uggams' upcoming CD project. He founded the Broadway Gospel Choir in 1994, then founded the Broadway Inspirational Voices in 1999.

Broadway Inspirational Voices
was originally founded by McElroy in 1994 as the Broadway Gospel Choir and in 1999 was reincarnated in its current form. In addition to numerous concerts, the group has performed on “The Rosie O’Donnell Christmas Special,” Broadway Sings Elton John, The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation Benefit, The 2000 Tony Awards 2000, and OpSail 2000 for President and Mrs. Clinton. The Broadway Inspirational Voices second album Great Joy: A Gospel Christmas was released on Sh-K-Boom Records in 2003 and received a Grammy Award nomination.

Some of the shows represented by its members are Aida, Rent, Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, Cabaret and Off-Broadway's Godspel, Hairspray, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Man of LaMancha, The Look of Love, The Producers, The Full Monty, Moma Mia, Dance of the Vampire, 42nd Street, Into the Woods, and The Color Purple.