Photo by Larry Hamilton
Welcome, and thanks for stopping by.
Tommy Crawford is an actor, multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, songwriter, and Drama Desk Award-nominated composer.
As an actor, recent roles include Perks in The Railway Children (Northern Stage), Maks in Ironbound (Shaker Bridge Theater), Feste in Twelfth Night (Two River Theater), Paul McCartney in Only Yesterday (NYT Critics’ Pick: 59e59 Theaters; Northern Stage), Carl Perkins in Million Dollar Quartet (Weston Playhouse), Eamon in Once (Northern Stage), Alan in One Man, Two Guvnors (Florida Studio Theatre), Percy in SeaWife (White Heron Theater; Naked Angels / South Street Seaport). Tommy has appeared in readings, workshops, concerts, and productions with numerous New York and regional companies, including WP Theater, Ensemble Studio Theater, Joe's Pub, New York Stage & Film, Playwright’s Realm, Musical Theater Factory, The Cape Cod Theater Project, The Cell, Ars Nova, The Flea, The Invisible Dog, and many others. Tommy has also been featured in several independent feature films and short student films.
Current composing/lyricist projects include Today and Tomorrow, a new actor-musician musical inspired by the experiences of farmers in Vermont and New Hampshire (Northern Stage commission); Miss Mitchell, a musical inspired by the life of astronomer, comet-discoverer, and pioneer educator Maria Mitchell (2019 EST/Sloan Commission); Cry Eden, a retelling of the Cain and Abel story as a contemporary-mythic coming-of-age story; and Nia, an adaptation of the Iphegenia myth set in small-town Southern Gothic and military culture. Tommy recently created and produced a multi-part musical audio play series, Around the Campfire with The Lobbyists, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you stream podcasts.
As a composer and lyricist, recent productions include The Victorian Ladies’ Detective Collective (Shaker Bridge); Heisenberg (Northern Stage); Twelfth Night (Two River Theater); SeaWife (2016 Drama Desk Nomination, Outstanding Music in a Musical); From Cold Lake, an episodic radio play set in small-town Minnesota (The PIT); and The Burial at Thebes (UCSD/La Jolla Playhouse). As an arranger and music director, credits include SeaWife; Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, which Tommy and director Michael Moran re-imagined for UCSD’s MFA program at The La Jolla Playhouse and site-specific company Oakland Theater Project; The Tempest (Saratoga Shakespeare); and One Man, Two Guvnors and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (both with Chautauqua Theater Company).
Tommy is a founding member of NYC-based band and theater collective The Lobbyists. Tommy’s work, and The Lobbyists’ work, often explores the intersection between band performance and theatrical storytelling — plays that are concerts and concerts that are plays. Tommy’s songwriting and engaging, inventive, and dramaturgically integrative brand of actor-musician-driven storytelling have garnered him a shared Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Music with The Lobbyists. The Lobbyists were also 2021 Jonathan Larson Award finalists. They have been in residence at Musical Theater Factory, Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, Cape Cod Theater Project, Playwright’s Realm, Ensemble Studio Theater, Little Island NYC, and more.
As a solo artist and singer-songwriter, Tommy performs regularly in Vermont, New Hampshire, and beyond with a catalogue of over 100 songs, mostly originals with some folk and traditional covers. He released his latest studio EP, Athena and the Moon, in Sept 2022. Since becoming a dad in November 2020, he has written many songs for kids (some released under his “Dirty Diapers” project on his Bandcamp). His live shows are known for his humor, strikingly original songwriting running the gamut from silly to gut-punching, skillful playing and singing, and connection with an audience. His work and background in theater and as an actor make him a natural storyteller, giving an arc to each show — playing is not just a “gig” to Tommy, but a way to meaningfully connect and commune through music. Tommy occasionally performs with guest musicians on bass, fiddle, drums, and more. Check out the contact tab if you are interested in booking Tommy.
Tommy is a lifetime member artist of Ensemble Studio Theater in New York City. He graduated from Yale University with Distinction in Theater Studies and received the Metcalfe Prize. Tommy is also a sought-after tutor and educator in many subjects. Tommy lives in White River Junction, VT, with his wife and frequent collaborator director Sarah Elizabeth Wansley, their beautiful daughter Athena, his sourdough starter, and many many instruments.