Michael Chenevert

Biography

 

Michael grew up in the fervent city of Detroit Michigan. His family has American ancestry dating back as far as 1724. He attended Catholic Jesuit schools all his life, graduating from University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy and further studying in the BFA program at University of Detroit Mercy.

In Detroit, his family was active in city government and in the arts. At a very young age, Michael packed boxes of food for his family's community center, Operation Get Down. Michael's first professional acting job was performing in short plays funded by Planned Parenthood. Michael counseled many teens who found the freedom to come forward with their personal and social concerns after performances. On weekends, Michael would hang in the wings of the Detroit Music Hall and watch the productions of playwright Ron Milner, a very good friend of Michael's family. Milner's play "Checkmates" went on to New York and was Denzel Washington's Broadway debut.

For many years, under the nickname "Detroit", Michael worked in the AD department of numerous TV/film projects in New York. It wasn't until working on Ugly Betty that a director loved Michael's off camera read with Vanessa Williams and encouraged him to audition more.

Since then, Michael continues to land roles on stage, TV and film. He is coached by the great Susan Batson and continues ongoing scene study at the Barrow Group with Seth Barrish and Lee Brock.

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Michael's One Man Show, AN ADAM EXPERIMENT, which he has written and performed, about the pastor and politician Adam Clayton Powell Jr, is now being produced across the country.

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