Corbin Bleu

Corbin Bleu
Bleu at the Summer with the Stars, Red Carpet in 2011
Born	Corbin Bleu Reivers (1989-02-21) February 21, 1989 Brooklyn, New York
Alma mater	Los Angeles County High School for the Arts High School of Performing Arts
Occupation	Actor model dancer film producer singer-songwriter
Years active	1996–present
Known for	High School Musical
Home town	Los Angeles, California
Spouse(s)	Sasha Clements (m. 2016)
Parent(s)	David Reivers Martha Callari
Musical career
Genres	Pop R&B dance pop rock[1]
Instruments	Vocals piano
Years active	2006–2009
Labels	Hollywood
Associated acts	Vanessa Hudgens Lucas Grabeel Zac Efron Miley Cyrus David Reivers
Website	corbinbleu.com

Corbin Bleu Reivers (born February 21, 1989),^[2] known professionally as Corbin Bleu, is an American actor, model, dancer, film producer and singer-songwriter. He performed in the High School Musical film series, the Discovery Kids drama series Flight 29 Down, and the Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In!. His first lead role was in the film Catch That Kid (2004).

Guest-starring roles include appearances on Hannah Montana, The Amanda Show, Cover Me: Based on the True Life of an FBI Family, Malcolm & Eddie, and The Good Wife. He appeared on the show Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, and the movie Free Style (2008). In 2009 he was cast as up-and-coming model Isaac Taylor in The CW Television Network drama The Beautiful Life: TBL.

He has also pursued a music career, and released his debut album Another Side on May 1, 2007, which included the single "Push It to the Limit". The album debuted at number thirty-six on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 18,000 copies in its first week.^[3] Bleu released his second album, Speed of Light, on March 10, 2009, in the U.S.^[4]

Bleu played Usnavi in the Broadway company of In the Heights.^[5] Bleu was considered as host for The X Factor USA.^[6]

On September 4, 2013, he was announced as a contestant on the 17th season of Dancing with the Stars. He partnered with professional dancer Karina Smirnoff.^[7] Corbin and his partner made it to the finals, but became the runners-up behind Amber Riley.

Early life

Bleu interview at Disney, 2007

Bleu was born in Brooklyn, New York , the son of Martha (née Callari) and David Reivers, an actor.^[8][9][10] His mother is Italian American and his father is Jamaican American.^[11][12] He has three sisters: Jag, Phoenix, and Hunter. As a child, Bleu studied dance for several years, focusing on ballet and jazz.^[13]

Bleu appeared in television commercials starting at the age of two, for products such as Life cereal, Bounty, Hasbro, and Nabisco.^[14][15] He began taking jazz and ballet classes, usually being the only boy in the class. By the age of four he was a model with the Ford Modeling Agency in New York.^[16] He appeared in print ads for stores such as Macy's,^[17] Gap, Target, and Toys R Us, and appeared in fashion spreads in Child, Parents, and American Baby magazines, as well as having his image on toys and game packaging.^[18] At age six Corbin appeared in his first professional theater production off Broadway, at The Town Hall. This three-concert series, created, written, and hosted by Scott Siegel, took place over one weekend and included a tribute to David Merrick. Corbin Bleu played an abandoned homeless mute in the play Tiny Tim is Dead.

Bleu graduated from Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. He trained in dancing^[19][20] at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. He attended the High School of Performing Arts in New York as a theater major, following in his mother's footsteps.^[21]

Acting career

Bleu at the Kids' Inaugural: "We Are the Future" 2009

In 1996 Bleu's family relocated to Los Angeles, and he soon gained a recurring role on the TV series High Incident and a guest star appearance on ER. Bleu also had roles in Malcolm & Eddie (1998), as Matthew,^[22] and Cover Me: Based on the True Life of an FBI Family (2000), as Nick Elderby.^[23] He also had small roles in films like Soldier, Family Tree, Mystery Men, Galaxy Quest, and The Amanda Show.

Corbin continued dancing, becoming one of the first students at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy.^[24] While in his first year Corbin was cast in his first lead role in the feature film 2004 film, Catch That Kid, alongside Kristen Stewart and Max Thieriot.^[25] In his second year, he played the lead role of Ren in the musical "Footloose" and the role of Sonny in the musical "Grease". That same year Corbin won Theatre Student of the Year.

In the summer of 2004 Corbin became a part of the ensemble cast for the new Discovery Kids television series Flight 29 Down as Nathan McHugh, alongside Allen Alvarado and Hallee Hirsh and Lauren Storm,^[26] a drama series about a group of teens stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. He also had a small role as Spencer on Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, appearing in the episodes entitled Guide to: The School Play and Guide to: Revenge & School Records.^[27] and Mother Goose Parade as Grand Marshal in 2006 and 2007.^[28]

Bleu played "Chad Danforth" in the Emmy award-winning Disney Channel original movie High School Musical (2006), and reprised the role in the sequels High School Musical 2 (2007) and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008). He guest starred as Johnny Collins in the premiere episode of Disney's Hannah Montana. Bleu's next film, Jump In!, premiered on January 12, 2007, and has since become one of the highest-rated Disney Channel original movies.^[29] He appeared on The Tyra Banks Show in 2008,^[30] and in the 2007 Disney Channel Games as captain of the Blue Team.

In fall 2009, he had a lead role in the film Free Style as Cale Bryant,^[31][32] and appeared in The CW Television Network's new show The Beautiful Life: TBL.^[33] Also in 2009, he is Voice in Beyond All Boundaries, and appeared on Entertainment Tonight and The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet. He landed the lead role in the Broadway Musical In the Heights,^[34] and guest starred in one episode of The Good Wife as DJ Javier Berlin in October 2010.^[35]

Corbin starred in the short comedy film I Owe My Life to Corbin Bleu in 2010.^[36] In October 2010, Bleu was cast in the role of Jeffrey King on the ABC daytime soap opera, One Life to Live. In 2011, he performed the voice Lou in The Little Engine That Could,^[37] starred in the horror film Scary or Die,^[38] and started filming Renee, which was released in 2012.^[39]

In 2012, he returned to Broadway in the revival of Godspell.^[40] In March 2013, Bleu also has a role in the upcoming horror film The Monkey's Paw.^[41]

Music career

2006–07: Another Side

Bleu in 2007

In concert, July 13, 2007

Bleu's first professionally recorded song was titled "Circles" or "Circles in My Mind" for his then TV show, Flight 29 Down. Bleu signed a contract with Hollywood Records, a Disney-owned label. His debut album,Another Side, was released in May 2007.^[1][42] The album debuted at No. 36 on the Billboard 200 album charts, selling 18,000 in its first week.^[43] Blue worked with Ne-Yo on "I Get Lonely," and with other performers such as Matthew Gerrard and Eric Hudson. A music video for his first single, "Push It to the Limit", premiered on the Disney Channel, and was used to promote the movie Jump In! "Push It to the Limit" reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[44] peaking at No. 15.

Bleu toured with fellow High School Musical cast members from late November 2006 to late January 2007 in High School Musical: The Concert, and with Drake Bell and Ally & AJ^[45] performing in about 40 different cities.^[46][47] To promote his debut album, Bleu performed at the NextFest tour.

On Another Side, he wrote or co-wrote five of the album's twelve songs.^[48] He wrote two songs that appear as bonus tracks on the European version. One of those tracks was titled "Shake It Off", an ode to the musician Prince.

2008–09: Speed of Light

In an interview with Billboard, Bleu stated that he had begun working on his follow-up album.^[49] "There will be a lot of differences with the second album. First of all, it's just more personal. I'm involved in every aspect of the writing. As far as the direction of the music, it's very different. I wanted this album to have something that was a little bit of rock, a little bit of R&B and a little bit of pop."^[50]

Producer Eric Hudson was attached to the project, along with songwriter/lyricist Claude Kelly. Bleu performed the planned tracks "Close", "Whatever It Takes", and "Champion" on a summer concert tour with singer/actor Justin Stein.^[1][51] Speed of Light was released on March 10, 2009, via Hollywood Records. The album's first single, "Moments That Matter", was performed by Bleu at Kids' Inaugural: "We Are the Future".^[52]

The album failed to debut on Billboard Top 200 album charts.^[53] According to sources, the album sold less than 4,000 in its first week, despite promotion from MySpace.com.^[54] The album spawned the singles "Celebrate You" and "Moments That Matter," which was released with a music video.^[55]

Voice and musical ability

According to his interview with Paul Wontorek, Bleu discusses that he is naturally a Lyric Baritone.^[56] His trained voice has been described as being "decent and pleasant which fits well into both pop and R&B".^[57] As a musical theatre performer, Bleu has claimed that he is a huge fan of Brian d'Arcy James and says that he gets vocal influences from him.^[56] Due to his dancing, songwriting, and dance-influenced sound, Corbin Bleu has earned comparisons to Justin Timberlake.^[57]

Personal life

Bleu is a frequent volunteer worker, working for charities such as Starlight Children's Foundation,^[58][59] the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and served Thanksgiving's dinner and Christmas Eve lunch at a Los Angeles homeless shelter with Debby Ryan in 2008.^[60]

Bleu has been a supporter of Do Something. In 2009, he hosted the sixth annual Do Something Awards in New York.^[61] In May 2011, Bleu also attended the 2011 Do Something Awards kick-off event. He teamed up with Aimee Teegarden, Kevin Jonas and JoJo during the event to honor the thirteen nominees who were up for the Do Something Award and $100,000 in recognition of their outstanding activism.^[62]

In 2011, Bleu began dating actress Sasha Clements.^[63][64] On October 15, 2014, Bleu and Clements became engaged at Disney World.^[65] They married on July 23, 2016.^[66]

Filmography

Bleu in Disney Channel Games as captain of the Blue Team 2007 in Florida

Films

TV movies

TV

As a producer

Theatre

Discography

• Another Side (2007)
• Speed of Light (2009)

Awards and nominations

See also

• List of characters from High School Musical
• List of characters from Flight 29 Down
• Cordon bleu (dish)

References

Further reading

• Dee Scott. Corbin Bleu: Up Close. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020: Pocket Books, 2006. ISBN 978-1-4165-4114-1 .
• West Betsy. Corbin Bleu to the Limit. Penguin young readers group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.: Penguin Group, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8431-2685-3 .
• Mary Boone. Corbin Bleu. Mitchell Lane Publishers, P.O. Box 196 Hockessin, Delaware 19707.: Mitchell Lane, 2007/2008. ISBN 978-1-58415-674-1 .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Corbin Bleu.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Corbin Bleu

• The Official Corbin Bleu Site
• Corbin Bleu at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• Corbin Bleu at the Internet Movie Database
• Corbin Bleu at the TCM Movie Database
  
• Corbin Bleu at Facebook
• Corbin Bleu at YouTube
• Works by or about Corbin Bleu in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Corbin Bleu
Discography Songs
Studio albums	Another Side Speed of Light
Singles	"Push It to the Limit" "Deal with It" "Run It Back Again" "Moments That Matter" "Celebrate You"
Featured singles	"What Time Is It?" "I Don't Dance" "The Boys Are Back" "If We Were a Movie"
Motion pictures	Flight 29 Down High School Musical Jump In! High School Musical 2 High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Concert tours	High School Musical: The Concert (2006–07)
Related topics	Jeffrey King Nathan McHugh Johnny Collins Chad Danforth Izzy Daniels Isaac Taylor David Reivers Hollywood Records
Category