Darrian Ford

The Chicago native began his professional theater career at age 13 in Oscar Brown Jr's THE GREAT NITTY GRITTY. At 15, the dance prodigy joined The Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theater, and at 19 moved to NYC to dance in the companies of Alvin Ailey and Donald Byrd/The Group. He made his Broadway debut as Charlie in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s STATE FAIR, about which the New York Times said “...note the irrepressibly comic Darrian Ford.” He also appeared in The Who’s TOMMY (B’way/First National), SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE (First National), for which he won The Black Theater Alliance Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and the First National tour of THE COLOR PURPLE. He finally re-debuted in his first Chicago Production since 1998. Of the Court Theater's 2017 production of FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE, The Chicago Tribune said "Little Moe (Ford) lends High Tenor zest to these songs... the long-time dancer has lost nothing to the years." Get a load of that! Darrian also co-starred opposite Halle Berry in HBO’s INTRODUCING DOROTHY DANDRIDGE as Fayard Nicholas of the legendary Nicholas Brothers and recurred on Disney's THAT'S SO RAVEN.

In addition to a dozen appearances on daytime talk shows as musical guest, he has been featured on several of his Broadway colleagues’ albums, original workshop recordings, and concept albums. Since its 2006 debut in NYC, Darrian continues to tour and perform his original concept concert, THE COOKE BOOK - The Music of Sam Cooke, around the country. The reviews everywhere have been stellar, and along the way he's initiating a whole new generation of Sam Cooke fans. As a performing singer/songwriter, you can catch him in top Jazz venues, Performing Arts Centers, Cabarets, and Clubs around the country with the most refreshing, exciting and new voice in Jazz. Prior to the release of his latest album, he released two EPs, EVERYTHING and HEAVY DEMONSTRATION. In February of 2018, he gratefully released his first full-length album of original vocal Jazz, NEW STANDARDS. It debuted a #1 on the NACC Jazz Album Debut chart, #9 on the ROOTS Chart, and #11 on the VibeUK Top 20 Jazz Albums of 2018. You will hear influences from his theatrical background and some of his music heroes like Al Jarreau, Mel Torme', Nancy Wilson, and Tony Bennett.