Ethan Slater
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Born on June 2nd, 1992, Ethan Samuel Slater is an American actor and singer who truly dove into the depths of the ocean to bring us SpongeBob SquarePants in the hit musical of the same name. This iconic role earned him a prestigious Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. While he's graced the silver screen with smaller parts in independent films like "Lost on a Mountain In Maine" in 2024, his first major film role arrived with Boq Woodsman in the dazzling musical "Wicked" in 2024, a character he'll be reprising in the upcoming sequel, "Wicked: For Good," slated for 2025.
Ethan's journey began in Washington, D.C., the third child of Jay Slater, who worked for the Food and Drug Administration. Raised in a Conservative Jewish household, he attended Ohr Kodesh and the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School before his family settled in Silver Spring, Maryland. A profound loss at the tender age of seven, when his mother passed away, left an indelible mark on him, shaping him in ways he describes as a "really big, formative thing in my life."
He honed his craft at Georgetown Day School and then pursued drama at Vassar College in New York. It was during his college years, while auditioning for a Shakespeare workshop, that he caught the eye of director Tina Landau. He graduated from Vassar in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Drama.
Slater's professional stage debut was in July 2015 at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, where he starred as Luis in "Claudio Quest," earning a nomination for Best Individual Performance. He continued to build his theatre resume with roles in "Please Excuse my Dear Aunt Sally" and Barry Levinson's "Diner." During this period, he also appeared in short films like "Lightning Bugs in a Jar" and "Evol."
The pivotal moment came in 2016 when he was cast as SpongeBob SquarePants in the musical adaptation, a role that catapulted him to critical acclaim. The show's success led it to Broadway, where Slater's performance garnered him that coveted Tony nomination, along with wins at the Drama Desk Awards and Outer Critics Circle Awards. He also received the Theatre World Award for Best Performance in a Broadway Debut.
Between 2018 and 2019, he dipped his toes into television, appearing in episodes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Murphy Brown," "Instinct," and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." In 2019, he joined the cast of "Camelot" at the Lincoln Center Theater. From 2021 to 2022, he took on the challenging role of Lee Harvey Oswald in the musical "Assassins," earning a Lucille Lortel Awards nomination. He originated the role of Max Weinbaum in the play "Good Night, Oscar" in 2022 and, from 2023 to 2024, delighted audiences as the Historian, Prince Herbert, and others in the Broadway revival of "Spamalot."
In his personal life, Ethan Slater married his high school classmate, Lilly Jay, in 2018. They welcomed a son in August 2022 but separated in 2023, with their divorce finalized in September 2024. Since July 2023, he has been in a relationship with singer Ariana Grande, whom he met on the set of "Wicked."
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Ethan Samuel Slater (born June 2, 1992) is an American actor and singer. He played the character of SpongeBob SquarePants in the musical of the same name, for which he won a Drama Desk Award and received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical at the 72nd Tony Awards. He had small roles in multiple independent films such as Lost on a Mountain In Maine (2024), and had his first major film role as Boq Woodsman in the musical film Wicked (2024), which he will reprise in the upcoming sequel Wicked: For Good (2025).
== Early life and education ==
Ethan Samuel Slater was born on June 2, 1992, in Washington, D.C. He is the third child of Jay Slater, an employee at the Food and Drug Administration. He is Jewish and was raised Conservative, attending Ohr Kodesh in Silver Spring. After attending Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, his family moved to Silver Spring, Maryland. Slater's mother died when he was 7, which he describes as a "really big, formative thing in my life. She had left this huge imprint on me, even though I had so few memories."
Slater graduated from Georgetown Day School in Washington, DC, and studied drama at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. During his time in college, he auditioned to apprentice at a Shakespeare workshop, which then got him an audition in front of director Tina Landau. Slater graduated from Vassar with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama in 2014.
== Career ==
Slater's first theater appearance was at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in July 2015, in which he starred as Luis in the musical Claudio Quest, directed by John Tartaglia, earning a nomination for the festival's award in the category for Best Individual Performance. Between September 30 and October 24, 2015, he starred in Please Excuse my Dear Aunt Sally in the One Year Lease Theater Company. In December 2015 he joined the Delaware Theatre Company in Wilmington, acting in Barry Levinson's play Diner, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall. During the same period he appeared in several short films, including Lightning Bugs in a Jar and Evol.
In 2016 Slater was cast in the lead role SpongeBob SquarePants in Kyle Jarrow's musical of the same name directed by Tina Landau at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago. The musical achieved success and was praised by theater critics, bringing the production to Broadway at the Palace Theatre in New York between 2017 and 2018. For his performance, Slater earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical at the 72nd Tony Awards in 2018, winning Outstanding Actor in a Musical at the Drama Desk Awards and Outstanding Actor in a Musical at the Outer Critics Circle Awards. He is also awarded the Theatre World Award for Best Performance in a Broadway Debut in 2018.
Between 2018 and 2019 he appeared in a few episodes of television series, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Murphy Brown, Instinct, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. On March 4, 2019, Slater was cast by director Bartlett Sher in the theatrical special of Camelot at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York. Between 2021 and 2022 he starred in the musical Assassins with the direction of John Doyle at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater in New York, playing Lee Harvey Oswald. His performance earned him a Lucille Lortel Awards nomination for Best Performance. From March to April 2022, Slater originated the role of Max Weinbaum in the play Good Night, Oscar at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. From 2023 to 2024, he played the Historian, Prince Herbert, and other roles in the Broadway revival of Spamalot at the St. James Theatre. He played Boq Woodsman in the two-part film adaptation of the musical Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu.
== Personal life ==
In 2012, Slater began dating his former high school classmate, clinical psychologist Lilly Jay. They married in 2018 and their son was born in August 2022. They separated in 2023, and Slater filed for divorce in July of that year. Their divorce was finalized in September 2024.
Since July 2023, Slater has been in a relationship with singer Ariana Grande, whom he met on the set of Wicked.
== Works ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
=== Web ===
=== Theatre ===
== Discography ==
=== Cast recordings ===
=== Solo recordings ===
== Awards and nominations ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website
Ethan Slater at the Internet Broadway Database
Ethan Slater at IMDb
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