Actor - SCREENWriter

 

David excels in playing characters who are vulnerable, highly sensitive, and intellectual.  Critics have called his performances "emphatic and nuanced" (TimeOut NY), "charming" (Talkin' Broadway and Show Business Weekly), and "well acted" (New York Times).  He has played everything from a concerned working class father, to an overly optimistic calculus teacher, to a British lovesick soldier, to a drunk Irish nationalist.

For the screen, David wrote and starred in the award-winning short films For Francis (executive produced by Project Runway’s Tim Gunn) and Backup Plan, the latter which is currently being developed into a feature film.  You can also catch him on youtube starring in the Streamy-award nominated and International Online WebFest nominated series Spring Street.

David is at home in the theatre, appearing in nearly 40 productions in New York as well as throughout the country, ranging from Shakespeare and Brecht to daring new works by playwrights such as Neil LaBute and Rajiv Joseph. He has worked with Emmy winner Brian Cox, Tony winners Jack Hofsiss and Randy Graff, and Tony nominee Robert Cuccioli.

In 2015, David began a non-profit film company The Great Griffon.  The short film "Backup Plan" is available on Amazon Prime.  In addition to being the writer-director, David stars in it alongside Jennifer Bobbi (Aunt Barbara and Pose) and Valeria Cotto (The Florida Project). Tubefilter has called The Great Griffon’s web series Spring Street "a complex, eye-catching show...the show is a lot like the classical music it uses as its soundtrack.  Give it time to piece itself together and it will impress you."  

Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, David has been devoted to creating art his whole life.  A classically trained pianist from the age of eight and the president of his high school Thespian Society, David ventured out to New York to pursue acting on scholarship at Marymount Manhattan College, graduating magna cum laude.  New York has been his home base ever since, even though he is deeply grateful for his Midwestern upbringing. He has received subsequent master class training from Kathleen Turner, Ted Sluberski, Sabra Jones, and Brad Calcaterra. 

 

 

News & Updates

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My acting has been featured in The New York Times, TimeOut NY, the NY Post, Huffington Post, IndieWire, Variety, GayCity News, and many others.  For professional references, visit the contact page.

Press photo for revival of  "Animals Out of Paper", featured with Nairoby Otero

Press photo for revival of  "Animals Out of Paper", featured with Nairoby Otero

Watch my interview on Fox 45 promoting "For Francis".  

Picture featured (with Mary Joy) in The New York Times

Picture featured (with Mary Joy) in The New York Times

Picture with Nicola Murphy featured in Show Business Weekly

Picture with Nicola Murphy featured in Show Business Weekly

Taking a bow at Primary Stages with the cast, including Tony Winner Randy Graff

Taking a bow at Primary Stages with the cast, including Tony Winner Randy Graff

Beck is charming as Andy, eliciting all of his naturally nervous qualities in actions as sweeping as confronting his idol or as tiny as donning or removing his jacket; he really seems to treat it as though he believes it doesn’t want it to touch him, which adds a sad pathos to a man you can’t help but like.”
— Talkin' Broadway for "Animals Out of Paper"
It is difficult to overpraise the cast...At the curtain call, just for a second, I looked at Beck and thought, who is this guy? He’d created such a completely other physical persona for Andy that I almost didn’t know him.
— The Front Row Center for "Animals Out of Paper"
One of the strongest elements of this production is its stellar cast...David Beck as Andy works for every ounce of sympathy and endearment. He is very grounding throughout the play...when you have a cast of talented actors and a smart script, all you really need is an audience. I recommend that you provide that element to this production. It’s well worth it.
— nytheaternow.com for "Animals Out of Paper"
David Beck shines as the uncomprehendingly self-involved Matt...Acted impeccably under the nuanced direction of Craig Baldwin, the show is, in a word, terrific.
— Backstage for "The More Loving One"
The cast is remarkable. Their characters possess them. David Beck take[s] the stage with honed skill and unwavering confidence.
— Indie Theater Now for "The More Loving One"
...If all that spells nerd, it’s true, but Beck manages to combine bashful gaucherie and yearning and self-knowledge without ever seeming week, effeminate, or just foolish. It’s a beautifully modulated performance.
— offoffonline.com for "Animals Out of Paper"
Press photo of "For Pete's Sake" with actor-writer Joe Capozzi (middle) and Alfredo Diaz (left).  

Press photo of "For Pete's Sake" with actor-writer Joe Capozzi (middle) and Alfredo Diaz (left).  

I’m just gonna get right on out with it—-one of the stars of this show looks like a young Patrick Wilson.

That should sells tickets on its own. I mean. He’s handsome. And so alarmingly Wilsonesque that you notice it the minute he steps on the stage. You can’t stop noticing it.
— The Craptacular for "The More Loving One"
The most appealing cast member is David Beck as the younger Paul, who wins the audience over with his boyish charm. He subtly navigates through each moment of the relationship, as he fights for his relationship with James to work.
— Indie Theater Now for "The Long Ride Home"
Beck, small of stature and with a child-like countenance, also deftly alternates among a number of sub-characters with falsetto voice or lordly demeanor or a commanding officer’s orders to charge into battle. Noonan and Beck more than deserved the ovation they received.
— The Examiner for "Walking the Road"
Equally adept was Beck’s performance, a tormented Hamlet coping with his demons and mortality, then striking out in an angry diatribe against Ophelia...

The dramatic range from Hamlet’s passion to Demetrius’ absurdity exacted a demanding performance by Beck.
— Hardwick Gazette, Vermont for "Shakespeare's Lovers"
As a companion who may be the poet’s younger brother or an emissary from beyond the grave, David Beck is memorable.
— The Irish Echo for "Walking the Road"
[An] emphatic and nuanced performance from David Beck.
— TimeOut New York for "On a Bench"
Well acted by David Beck
— New York Times for "On a Bench"
The two actors [David Beck and Mary Joy] fully inhabit their characters and share a strong chemistry that makes believable their propensity to confide intimate details of their lives so readily.
— TheaterMania for "On a Bench"
Both actors [David Beck and Mary Joy] are great and play off each other wonderfully.
— Broadwayworld for "On a Bench"
For Pete’s Sake is an intelligent, inspiring, and important piece of theater. I left this show truly excited by what it has to offer—and I immediately began to spread the word.

The use of two opposing voices in [Joe’s] head, brought to life wonderfully by actors Alfredo Diaz and David Beck, serves as the perfect device to illustrate his inner struggle. The three actors work off each other beautifully.
— Indie Theater Now for "For Pete's Sake"
It’s hard not to be engrossed by the couple’s ill-fated predicament and especially by the strong performances from Murphy and the charming Beck, both of whom convey the angst of love in a time of war with great sincerity.
— Show Business Weekly for "Never in My Lifetime"
A touching David Beck as Thesus’ son, Hippolytus.
— Curtain Up for "Confessions"
The ‘Piano Teacher’ is an artistic gem...

David Beck does an amazing transformation as this menacing, musically talented young man with mood swings, within seconds, from moments of gentleness to an anger of frightening fury.
— Hardwick Gazette, Vermont for "The Piano Teacher"
20116969_363324164086302_2404742758756899316_o.jpg
20116969_363324164086302_2404742758756899316_o.jpg

Piano

by David Beck (composer and pianist)

Selections from Spring Street - The Web Series and For Francis, a short film

As a voiceover actor, David has recorded a dozen audio books for the blind at the New York Public Library.  His voice can be heard at the Library of Congress and has been featured in PSAs, commercials, and infomercials.

Petrified of the light

Check out my TikTok, where I perform excerpt from my memoir, among other shenanigans!

Below is the BookLife Prize Critic’s Report for my new memoir Petrified of the Light:

Title: Petrified of the Light

Author: David Beck

Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir

Audience: Adult

Word Count: 67,000

Assessment:

Plot/Idea: Petrified of the Light is David Beck's sharp, funny, terrifically honest memoir of being young, gay, drunk and in the arts in NYC. It is also a bittersweet love story between David and his lover of ten years, Luca, a talented fashion designer, and the forces that keep them together as they tear themselves and one another apart.

Prose: David Beck's voice is acerbic and his wit is sharp, and the book is laugh-out-loud funny in spots. It is also an unsparing account of his spiraling into alcoholism and painfully trying, time after time, to get a handhold on sobriety before losing everything he came to New York hoping to find, including the love of his life.

Originality: This may be one of the best memoirs about being young, talented, gay, and risking throwing everything, including love, away that readers will have encountered since Augusten Burroughs' Dry and Magical Thinking, yet it is not derivative in any way. Beck articulates an experience that thousands who've come to New York to hunt fame and success have undergone; his narrative is both totally relatable and uniquely his own.

Character Development/Execution: Fledgling writers are warned by their instructors that "Just because it happened doesn't make it real," but Beck's memoir is real and raw and utterly convincing. Those who have walked New York's streets will recognize their city by sound and sight and smell; those who have lived there for a decade or more, especially those who've been involved in the arts, will recognize the people he describes as friends, neighbors, colleagues and folks they've stood in line with to get tickets to Shakespeare in the Park.

Score:

  • Plot/Idea: 10

  • Originality: 10

  • Prose: 10

  • Character/Execution: 10

  • Overall: 10.00

Report Submitted: February 22, 2022