joshuahmichael's Bio

Early Life

Joshuah Michael Suydam (Born January 18, 1988), known by his stage name Joshuah Michael, is an United States dancer and choreographer, contemporary R&B and pop singer, songwriter, dance instructor, record producer, and actor. Joshuah was born in Trenton, New Jersey but was raised in Memphis, Tennessee. He has Italian (Calabrian) and Polynesian (Hawaiian) ancestry. He grew up moving from home to home on the outskirts of Nashville, in a low-income family. His father, Michael Forman Suydam, is a blues/rock guitarist, and his mother, Rosanne Kelly, sang in a Catholic church choir and worked as a house cleaner. His parents divorced when he was a year old, and after moving home from Tennessee at age 8, he had lived with his mother in Cookstown, New Jersey until he was 17. He then moved in with his father, who lives in Manalapan, New Jersey.


Music Career

Joshuah Michael has been studying the art of performance with some of the industries best choreographers and vocal coaches since he was ten. In 2000, after all his years of technical training Joshuah joined a local band called Waters Edge. During that time, Joshuah and his band toured all over the Jersey shore, playing at theaters such as the Algonquin, Count Basie as well as more renowned clubs like Stone Pony. From cancer benefits to memorial shows, the highlight of his touring experience was his final show where he opened for Chuck Berry and Little Richard - performed at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey on September 13th, 2003. Furthermore, he has also opened for legendary performers such as Connie Francis, Peter Noone and Hermans Hermits, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere), Ben E. King, the Vandellas and Davy Jones (of The Monkies).


The Parade

During the same time period in 2002, Joshuah was chosen from thousands of teens to dance a tribute to the legendary Johnny Mercer called, "Accentuate The Positive" at one of America’s oldest family traditions, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In 2003, Joshuah was chosen again to perform, as well as cast one out of 10 people to record the parade’s TV tune. He also earned the opportunity to perform a special Christmas song at the unveiling of the Macy’s store windows in NYC, hosted by Harvey Firestein. That year Joshuah and his cast performed a tribute to 100 years of Bob Hope called, "When Hope Was There."


Six Flags

In 2002 Joshuah worked at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J. where he was cast in shows such as Warner Bros. Kids Club, The World of Magic, Spirit of the Tiger and Scary Okie. Throughout his 5 seasons there, Joshuah received the position of Six Flags' 2007 choreographer.


Broadway Career

Joshuah was cast in the Off-Broadway musical performance of Cinderella (the Balltet). During Joshuah's professional performances, he was approached by representatives of major record labels - SONY, ARISTA, and JIVE. He enjoyed a short stint with a label, but decided to stay focused on dance. Joshuah then returned to New York and auditioned for the musical Hairspray, where he landed an ensemble Member role, IQ. He continued auditioning for such shows as Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera, All Shook Up, Mamma Mia, and Alter Boyz. When he auditioned for the Broadway musical All Shook Up, Joshuah was greeted by the head of Bernard Telsey Casting, where he was also cast as an ensemble part.


CD Release

In December 2002 Joshuah released his first Christmas themed album, entitled ''Christmas Wish'' under the JAM Records label. April 2003 Joshuah released his first album entitled ''PûRE'' under joint labels as JAM Records and Dark Child Records. In 2004, the labels released a single entitled ''2PûRE'' which featured the few songs unrealeased on the ''PûRE'' record. Joshuah's musicality caught the attention of Jerry Lembo, who has promoted such artists like Gavin DeGraw, Melissa Etherigde, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, and many more. In February 2005, Joshuah released his sophmore album under JAM Records and JIVE Records entitled, ''Love Always''. After seeing such success with his first Christmas themed album, he recorded ''Rockin' at Christmas Time'' with JIVE Records in 2006 which did not make it to release as he expected. Joshuah then signed with SONY BMG and recorded ''Love Won't Leave You'' and released it under the SONY BMG and JIVE Records label in Japan in August 2006. The plans to release in the U.S. in 2007, fell through when Joshuah found personal differences with his labels and made the decision to cancel the release and seek other representation and promotion.


Secondary Schooling

After graduating high school, Joshuah was accepted into the official school of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre school of ballet and modern dance. He was also a part of the Circle in the Square Theater School. After an in-house audition amongst the summer students he was cast as the two-week replacement for "Leaf Coney Bear" in the Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Circle in the Square Theater.


Commercial Career

Over the past few years, Joshuah attended many TV auditions. He was selected for the opening credits of the reality television show, "So You Think You Can Dance.” He was also cast as one of the top 32 dancers for season one of the show. Additionally, Joshuah was cast in a 2006 Pepsi commercial featuring Mariah Carey. He also was a part of Brian Friedman's Pulse Tour as an assistant choreographer to Brian in 2005 and 2006. Continuing to audition for many other opportunities, he found himself face to face with the Laurie Ann Gibson of "MTV's Making the Band" and "MTV's Little Talent Show". After meeting Joshuah she referred him to Clear Talent Group where he was offered representation. A few months after signing with Clear Talent Group, he was offered the opportunity to choreograph a music video called "Because You Lied" for a new international band called Dandy.

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6 Feb 2008

13 Jan 2008

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