Stage actor Chris Peluso, who appeared in London’s West End productions of “Miss Saigon” and “Wicked,” as well as Broadway’s “Mamma Mia!”, passed away last week. He was forty years old. It was made known to the public a year ago that the well-known actor had stopped performing to receive treatment for schizoaffective disorder. This week, Peluso’s family gave Playbill confirmation of his passing; nevertheless, they withheld the reason for his death. Peluso’s death was also verified by the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, where he had studied before beginning his career on stage.
The department’s acting chair, Linda Goodrich, commented, “The Michigan Musical Theatre family is heartbroken as we announce the passing of our dear family member/alum, the loving, charismatic, and divinely gifted Chris Peluso,” in a message shared on Instagram on Thursday. Our thoughts are with his family.”
As the Balladeer’s backup in the 2004 Tony-winning revival of “Assassins,” Peluso made his Broadway debut. Even after that, he was still in high regard as an understudy for musicals, such as “Lestat” and “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” which had its original cast. During the 14-year run of “Mamma Mia!” as the lead character’s love interest, Sky, Peluso was cast in a leading role as a substitute. Later, he played the lead in the Broadway hits “Les Misérables” and “West Side Story,” and he toured the country as Fiyero in “Wicked.” To play the male lead, Chris, in the West End production of “Miss Saigon,” Peluso relocated to London in 2015.
He was placed opposite Eva Noblezada, who played Kim’s character. Noblezada would return to the role in the Broadway revival a year later and get a 2017 Tony nomination. Peluso declared that his performance in “Miss Saigon” was his best role to date.2015 saw Peluso declare, “I’m definitely in the moment of the song,” to radio DJ Alex Belfield. “I’ve been performing for a long time—25 years—so to be honest, I feel comfortable in the situation where I can look out into an audience; in fact, it gives me more energy than it takes away.”
Peluso performed in the 2016 West End revival of “Show Boat” the following year. As a young performer, he had a connection to the musical, especially with the song “Ol’ Man River.” He laughed at himself during an interview with See Tickets, saying, “The first time I heard it was in a musical theater class when I was a freshman in college—I remember having a cassette tape; I’m old.” “I just started crying when I hit play on the cassette tape in my car; it was so beautiful.” Today, reports show that Aria Li Gomes-Peluso, Caio Lian Gomes-Peluso, his two daughters, and his wife Jessica Gomes survive him.
