Josh Grisetti, Broadway Performer and Cal State Fullerton Professor, Dies at 44

Broadway and off-Broadway favorite Josh Grisetti has died at the age of 44.

According to social media posts from friends Rob McClure and Sierra Boggess, Grisetti took his own life on the morning of Friday, July 10. He had recently directed a production of Legally Blonde for the Trentino Music Festival, but had to step away for personal reasons, according to his own social media post.

A genius comedic actor, Grisetti came to New York’s attention in the York Theatre Company’s 2008 production of the musical Enter Laughing, earning a Theatre World Award and Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Lortel, and Drama League nominations.

He was originally slated to make his Broadway debut as Eugene Jerome in David Cromer’s revival of Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound. However, the production was canceled before opening after disappointing ticket sales for its companion revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs. Grisetti’s real Broadway debut came in 2015 as Marty Kaufman in the musical It Shoulda Been You, for which he received OCC and Drama Desk nominations, as well as a Clarence Derwent Award. He returned to Broadway as Nigel Bottom in Something Rotten!, and played the role on tour.

His extensive resume also included Peter and the Starcatcher, Rent, Red Eye of Love, Candida, and After the Ball. He was a regular face at many of the country’s leading theaters, including the Muny, La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, the Kennedy Center, Goodspeed Musicals, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Cape Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Ogunquit Playhouse, Bay Street, and Broadway at Music Circus.

In recent years, Grisetti devoted himself to teaching, serving as associate professor and head of the BFA Musical Theatre program at California State University, Fullerton. He had previously taught auditioning for musical theater, the business of theatre, acting, musical theatre technique, and scene study at Fullerton College and Loyola Marymount University.

A graduate of the Boston Conservatory, where he earned a BFA in Musical Theatre, Grisetti later completed an MFA in Theatre Pedagogy at Loyola Marymount University after also studying drama at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

His survivors include his wife, Mackenzie.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. If this is an emergency, call 911 or your local emergency services immediately.