Electronic Press Kit
Broadway · Theatre · Concert Artist
Lead Actor · Vocalist · Producer · America's Got Talent Finalist
American bass-baritone, recording artist, and leading man, Lawrence Beamen has played the roles of Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime and Joe in Show Boat, headlined Black History Month concert programs across San Francisco, and sung for Rosa Parks, Pope John Paul II, San Francisco 49ers, and dignitaries around the world. A Top 5 finalist on NBC's America's Got Talent, he was called "the next Barry White" by Piers Morgan and "a class act" by Sharon Osbourne. He has also performed Barry White tribute concerts.
At a Glance
Stage
Lead roles built for a bass-baritone of weight and stillness — Joe in Show Boat, Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime — played on amphitheatre and proscenium stages.
Featured rolesSolo Work
Paul Robeson 1956 HUAC Hearing Reenactment by Lawrence Beamen. A one-man historical theatre work drawn from the 1956 House Un-American Activities Committee transcripts, with Negro spirituals woven between the testimony.
Enter the hearingPERFORMANCES
Lawrence performs Broadway tunes, classical, spirituals, gospel, and the American Songbook — programmed for symphony, chamber ensemble or piano, from festival stages to gala evenings.
Concert repertoireAbout Lawrence
Lawrence Beamen is an American bass-baritone, actor, producer and recording artist whose voice has carried him from a small Mississippi church to a national television audience — and whose ambition remains fixed on Broadway.
On stage he works as a leading man. He has played Joe in Show Boat, the role that carries "Ol' Man River," and Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime, opening the fortieth season of the Woodminster Summer Musicals in Oakland. As a producer and solo performer he created The Paul Robeson Hearing, a one-man historical theatre work assembled from the official 1956 House Un-American Activities Committee transcripts.
As a concert artist he programs Broadway, classical repertoire, spirituals, gospel and the American Songbook, and has headlined Black History Month and Black arts programming across San Francisco with the Gold Coast Chamber Players and AfroSolo Theatre Company. He has sung for Rosa Parks, Pope John Paul II and dignitaries around the world.
In 2009 his audition of "Ol' Man River" on NBC's America's Got Talent drew a standing ovation from all three judges and carried him to the finals, followed by the America's Got Talent Live! residency in Las Vegas. He is a trained classical vocalist who also holds a master's degree in psychology — a background that shapes the interior life he brings to every role. Current work centres on The Paul Robeson Hearing, new theatrical productions and concert engagements.
Featured Theatre Roles
Lawrence secured lead credits in the bass-baritone repertoire, with video, production photography and press available on request.
Theatre Performance Video
Show Boat · Lawrence Beamen
Restored performance footage — cleaned, sharpened, and colour-graded for presentation.
LEAD ROLE #1 · 01
Show Boat
"The stevedore whose single song holds the whole river. Beamen's Joe threads the action of the Kern and Hammerstein landmark with "Ol' Man River"" — a performance The Oakland Tribune called the best voice its critic had ever heard in the role.
LEAD ROLE #2 · 02
Ragtime: The Musical
A story about a Harlem pianist whose dignity is answered with violence, and whose grief becomes an American reckoning. Beamen opened Woodminster's fortieth consecutive season in the role, July 7–16, 2006.
CREATOR · PRODUCER · LEAD PERFORMER #3 · 03
The Paul Robeson Hearing
One man, one committee room, and a transcript America has never fully acknowledged. Lawrence Beamen conceived, produced, and performs the confrontation between Paul Robeson and the House Un-American Activities Committee. He enacts the entire hearing word-for-word, singing Negro spirituals between the testimony segments to turn the reenactment into a box-office musical, rounded out with actors who portray the judges questioning Robeson.
Paul Robeson Hearing footage and audience response video appear here once added in the Artist Studio.
Performance Video & Audience Response
From the hearing room
by Lawrence Beamen
Lawrence Beamen performs the full word-for-word reenactment of Paul Robeson's powerful HUAC hearing, with Negro spirituals woven between the segments, produced as a box-office musical.
Footage arriving
Additional Show Boat and Ragtime footage appears here as soon as it is added in the Artist Studio.
National Television
NBC · Season 4 · 2009
Lawrence walked into the camera frame with no band, no staging, and no gimmick — one song, learned in a Mississippi church and carried across two decades of stages. "Ol' Man River" brought Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne, and David Hasselhoff to their feet at the audition.
He advanced through the Las Vegas round, the quarterfinals and the semifinals to the finals of the season, then headlined the America's Got Talent Live! residency at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The exposure introduced a legitimate theatre voice to twelve million viewers a night.
“The next Barry White.”
“A class act.”
Performance & Behind the Scenes
Footage arriving
America's Got Talent footage appears here once uploaded in the Artist Studio.
PERFORMANCES
Lawrence performs Broadway tunes, classical, spirituals, gospel, and the American Songbook — programmed for symphony, chamber ensemble or piano, from festival stages to gala evenings.
Concert
Concert Performance
Concert
Ol' Man River
Show Boat, Ragtime and the musical-theatre canon for orchestra or piano.
Classically trained repertoire for symphony and chamber ensemble.
Traditional Negro spirituals and the Paul Robeson songbook.
Concert gospel sets rooted in the Mississippi church tradition.
Standards and crossover, including "My First, My Last, My Everything."
Featured soloist with orchestras, chamber players and festival programmes.
Galas, civic ceremonies, dedications and Black History Month programming.
Footage arriving
Concert footage, interviews and the performance reel appear here once added in the Artist Studio.
Biography
Lawrence Beamen began singing at the age of six in a small church in Mississippi. At twelve his family moved to California, and at sixteen — living on his own — he was asked to sing for Rosa Parks at an NAACP event. That single "yes" set the course of a career.
Within a year he was performing for Pope John Paul II, and has since sung for dignitaries around the world. He pursued formal classical vocal training while earning a master's degree in psychology, then built a working life across the full craft of music: acting, singing, songwriting and producing.
On stage he is a leading man. He played Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime for the opening of Woodminster Summer Musicals' 40th season at the Joaquin Miller Park Amphitheater in Oakland, and Joe in Show Boat — the role that carries "Ol' Man River," the song that would later put him in front of a national television audience.
In San Francisco he became a mainstay of Black History Month and Black arts programming, headlining AfroSolo Theatre Company's Harmony & Melody: A Celebration of Black History with the Gold Coast Chamber Players, and performing spirituals and the works of Paul Robeson at the AfroSolo Arts Festival.
In 2009 he auditioned for America's Got Talent with "Ol' Man River" and drew a standing ovation from all three judges. He advanced through the Vegas round, quarterfinals and semifinals to become a Top 5 finalist, then headlined the America's Got Talent Live! residency at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Selected Credits
Lead roles in American musical theatre, Black History Month and Black arts concert programming in San Francisco, and a Top 5 run on network television.
2006
Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Lead)
Woodminster Summer Musicals · Producers Associates, Inc.
Woodminster Amphitheater, Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland, CA
Opened Woodminster's 40th consecutive season, July 7–16, 2006. Doctorow's epic of turn-of-the-century multicultural America.
2007
Joe (Lead)
Kern & Hammerstein II, after Edna Ferber
San Francisco Bay Area
"Ol' Man River." The Oakland Tribune called it the best voice its critic had ever heard in the role.
2011
Featured Soloist
AfroSolo Theatre Company with The Gold Coast Chamber Players
San Francisco, CA
Negro spirituals and traditional African American music, conceived with GCCP artistic director Pamela Freund-Striplen as a bridge toward racial and cultural unity.
2005
Baritone Soloist
AfroSolo Theatre Company
Fillmore District, San Francisco, CA
Spirituals with a program focused on the works of Paul Robeson.
2009
Top 5 Finalist
NBC
National broadcast
Audition of "Ol' Man River" earned a standing ovation from Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne and David Hasselhoff. Advanced through Vegas, quarterfinals and semifinals to the finals.
2009
Headline Vocalist
Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino
Las Vegas, NV
Residency engagement following the season, hosted by Jerry Springer.
Musical Theatre
Spirituals & Art Song
Crossover
Press & Coverage
Every item below links straight to the original article or reference — for your agent, a presenter, or a programmer who wants to verify the record.
The Mercury News
September 4, 2009
"He made hearts melt and goose bumps rise with his stirring rendition of 'Ol' Man River' on national television… observers began hailing him as a singing sensation, or the 'new Barry White.'"
Read the articleMercury News · A+E Interactive
September 7, 2009
"That's what happens when you seemingly come out of nowhere to take summer's most popular television show by storm with a pair of emotional, crowd-pleasing performances."
Read the articleMercury News · A+E Interactive
November 19, 2009
"The exposure he gained on the show is paying dividends," reported from the America's Got Talent Live! residency at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas.
Read the articleBroadwayWorld
June 15, 2006
Producers Associates, Inc. opened the 40th consecutive season of the Woodminster Summer Musicals with Ragtime, July 7–16, with Beamen as Coalhouse Walker Jr.
Read the articleTalkin' Broadway — San Francisco
April 22, 2007
Regional coverage of the Bay Area Show Boat production.
Read the articleAfroSolo Theatre Company
February 25–26, 2011
"The extraordinary bass baritone vocalist Lawrence Beamen (of 'America's Got Talent' fame), performing Negro Spirituals and traditional African American music in collaboration with The Gold Coast Chamber Players."
Read the articleCirne
August 24, 2005
"Lawrence Beamen, a baritone singer who sang spirituals focusing on the works of Paul Robeson."
Read the articleClassicalPlace
Profile
"Combines a rich bass baritone voice and smoldering stage presence with small town Mississippi charm… His performance of 'Ol' Man River' garnered a standing ovation from all three judges and ranked him in the top 5."
Read the articleAmerica's Got Talent Wiki
Reference
Full season record: audition, Vegas round, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, with judge reactions.
Read the articleOfficial Site
Current
Official biography, business ventures and community rebuilding initiatives.
Read the articleRecordings
A curated set of up to 10 recordings, streamed straight from this kit. No download required — press play.
Current Projects & Press Materials
Current & Upcoming
Now touring
The Paul Robeson Hearing
One-man historical theatre, available for theatres, universities, museums and civic seasons.
In development
Broadway and theatrical opportunities
Actively seeking lead and featured roles in the bass-baritone repertoire, on and off Broadway.
Open
Concert bookings
Symphony, chamber and recital programmes across Broadway, classical, spirituals and gospel.
Open
Speaking engagements
Artistic freedom, civil rights history and the working life of a performing artist.
Downloads
Press materials are supplied on request and sent within one business day.
Professional headshot
High-resolution, print ready
Theatrical resume
Full stage credits
Broadway resume
Industry standard format
Biography
Long and short form
Technical rider
Concert and one-man show
Performance one sheet
Single-page presenter summary
EPK PDF
Complete press kit
